As I was doing some research today, I ran across a very interesting article written in Science magazine. Called "The New Synthesis in Moral Psychology", this study published in May 2007 sought to understand how morality plays into decisioning, specifically how fairness and harm, when factored into the equation, bring about moral judgments.
Liberals and conservatives were asked to judge five categories and rate them on how relevant the issue was to moral judgment.
Liberals tended to put a high moral value on fairness and lack of harm, but tend to value loyalty to their ingroup, importance of authority, and personal purity as less important characteristics.
The more politically conservative someone becomes, on the other hand, the more they tend to value all five categories of morality about the same.
This explains so much to me! I feel like I am peeking under the hood of the OCCUPY movement with a bit more clarity.
Basically, fairness boils down to this: most people, whether liberal or conservative, care about things being equitable. They want to help when they can. They give to those less fortunate. They sacrifice of themselves when a need is presented.
But, here is an interesting point from a Biblical (neither liberal NOR conservative) perspective: fairness is not a tenet the Bible speaks much about.* It truly is more of a human issue. And, often, our standard of fairness is judged by what is happening around us to other people, not what God has for our lives. We look at others houses and possessions and jobs and we think "He doesn't deserve that. What has he done, that I haven't, to deserve it more than I?" That kind of reasoning leads to a host of unholy thoughts. And it attacks liberals and conservatives with equal fury.
I think too many people look at what they don't have, see selfish ambition (an "act of sinful nature" as defined in Galatians 5:19-20) being glorified, idolized, and rehashed daily in every form of the media, and declare life unfair. The issue isn't that life is unfair; it's that people's selfish behavior is categorically wrong! Our media, in constantly inundating us with the lives of people who are selfish, greedy, and not at all charitable, is glorifying evil and placing it on our plates declaring it good. No wonder we're all so confused!
The other major point of agreement between liberals and conservatives is care about not harming others (and, I would tend to think that this would include other people, the planet, animals, etc.)
And, for me, this is a major sticking point. It's a "I want my cake and eat it too" argument.
If high value is placed on not harming others, why is abortion considered so acceptable among many liberals? Is it that a fetus isn't consider "human"? Is it that it isn't "fair" to the Mother to have to carry through with a pregnancy that she doesn't want? I'm not sure.
When I place that against the deafening screams of those who see all animals as valuable, worth saving from euthanization, and above humans beings in the pecking order, I wonder.**
If the research is right, then a large portion of our society wants their lives to be fair, they don't want to harm those around them, but they also don't want anyone telling them what to do (which includes not being loyal to any particular group, resisting authority, and using their sexuality any way they please.)
And, that, in my mind, explains more. It still doesn't make sense, but it explains the rationale.
Quite simply, I see a bunch of contradiction in this line of thinking.
God tells us to obey Him (obey authority).
He tells, for our own good, to be pure. He asks us to remain pure (Psalm 119:1-10), by walking according to the law of the LORD. By being obedient. By living according to God's word.
He tells us He has given us a group, His church, that we are to be loyal to, even though it isn't, and won't be, perfect. (reference here)
He trusted us to rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the livestock, the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground (Genesis 1:20). He left all of those animals and our entire earth in our care.
He told us not to murder (the sixth commandment).
Truly, if, somehow, we could all just dig into a Bible and look for these five issues and agree with what GOD COMMANDS, we wouldn't have these great divides.
Except, maybe that pesky issue of fairness. But, even with that one, if we would stop comparing ourselves, this would cease to be a point of division: "And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." Ecclesiastes 4:4. If envy stops, we've stopped comparing. If we've stopped comparing, nobody worries about fairness.
So, there's an "easy" fix...we all have to believe the Bible, agree with one interpretation of the Bible, and
live out what we've discovered, preaching the Good News across all nations until Christ deems us fit to return to our great planet again.
Now THAT plan? Sounds like one I've read about before.
And, frankly, it sounds like Heaven on earth.
*The Bible often speaks in terms of outcomes having to do with faithfulness, blessing, wisdom and other traits that have to do with following the commands of God/Christ, not with luck or out of a sense of fairness.
**Though, I do not see any clause in the Bible that says we are to treat our animals inhumanely. I firmly believe that is crossing over a line God didn't intend us to cross.
This is a GREAT post!! There is much wisdom and clarity here.
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