A Question of Morals

People often interpret their emotional response, to a moral question, as an indication that their feelings justify their belief. It is the other way around. Their beliefs justify their emotional response and cause their behavior.


A recent study demonstrated that people need time to respond morally, because morals are not internal traits as much as internal decisions. They were able to circumvent the participant’s morality by stopping their ability to think about the moral dilemma. Forcing someone to make a quick decision without thinking about is a sure fire way to make them do something they wouldn't normally do.

Why is peer pressure so powerful, because peer pressure doesn't allow the individual to debate the issue, let alone think about the consequences of their actions? The psychology of groupthink probably contributes to peer pressure.

"Groupthink is a type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing, analyzing, and evaluating ideas"

In my observations, I've recognized that individuals often do things in groups that they wouldn't do on their own. They don't want to upset the group so they put aside their objections or questions in order to fit in. I've never seen a church that doesn't do this to some degree. People want to fit in so they stop asking critical questions. Those that do question are often rejected and ostracized from the community.

Churches by nature are not places where truth is debated, tested, or the morality of a belief vetted. Churches are places where people reinforce the groupthink. I used to believe I went to church to discover truth. That was the farthest thing from the truth. LOL! I went there to re-enforce what I believed.

Much of the debate that I see in this country about morality, politics and religion is about us vs. them. It is not usually a collaboration of people trying to discover what really works, or what we can prove objectively, nor is it about taking responsibility for our mistakes. It is about dividing into teams which shut down open minded thinking.

In my opinion, religion, ideology, political parties don't seek truth. They make truth in their image. They reinforce their beliefs and agenda. I always tell people, just because you feel something doesn't make it true, or right. Truth needs to have objective facts which can be tested; otherwise we run the risk of believing that our habits and beliefs are the truth. David Hume said something about the fact that our habits become our truths. I agree. People often interpret custom, or the way it's always been done, as truth.

I remember watching the Reverend Rick Warren on TV. during the California voter proposition to define marriage as between a male and a female. The interviewer asked him why he believed marriage needed to be defined in California as between a man and a woman. His answer was marriage has been between a man and woman for 5,000 years.... My thought, at the time, was so! What kind of logic is this? People often appeal to custom or tradition in their attempt to justify their reasons.

What does all this have to do with morals? Morals are more then a set of does and don'ts. They are means to evaluate what is acceptable in the eyes of an individual, family, society, culture, nation and the world. Morals stem from beliefs whether they are rational or not. My point is simple. Morals need to be based on what we can prove does no harm and allows people the libery to live life as they choose. It should not be based purely on custom, habit, religion, politics or ideology.

Bill Jeffreys