by Sandi Crain

Created on: August 07, 2011

Morality is a code of acceptable behavior for a particular culture.  In early tribal cultures, the morality of each tribe could be very different from each other because of the geographical isolation.  That is why you hear of some early cultures demanding their people be wonderful hosts to their guests while another culture finds cannibalism perfectly acceptable.  Today there are very few cultures that have remained so isolated that they are not affected by other cultures so morality is quickly being defined as an accepted global code of conduct. 

One of the challenges of today's global morality is agreeing what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad.  Historically, religion played a major role in deciding the morality of society.  In early American history we see this with the Puritans who imposed a strict theocracy on the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  This ended badly with the Salem Witch Trials.  Today, we can see similarities in places like Saudi Arabia where the government imposes a very strict moral code that is based in the Salafi school of Islam.  

In a few of today's western secular nations we can see where some religious groups are trying to enforce religious dogma on a society that they feel has gone crazy with permissiveness.  They believe that the dogma of other religions is threatening to their own and are actively fighting to keep other religions out of their communities.  Some individuals steeped in this war of religious dogma are actually killing other people in defense of their own religion. 

Fortunately, the majority of humans have learned that morality and religious dogma don't mix.  For example, most religious texts have a code of conduct that forbids killing another human being.  However, when a religion dictates morality, the punishment for breaking the moral code is often death.  This is contradictory to accepted morality and only confuses the society.  In the early stages of a theocracy, the people will be afraid of the punishments and obey this strict moral code.  But, if this contradictory morality continues, it will eventually result in open rebellion where all sense of morality goes out the window for a time.  And, we can see this today in the Middle East where the people are demanding the right to choose their own moral code apart from religious dogma.

In the future we will look back to the beginning of the twenty-first century as the time when humans struggled to find a planetary morality.  We will finally learn that, if we are all going to work together to keep humanity from destroying itself, we have to get along.  To get along we need to have a basic understanding of what is right and wrong, what is good and what is bad.  If killing other people is wrong then killing is wrong at all times and in all circumstances.  We won't need a library of law books, religious texts, and treaties to make sure we don't step on each others rights because we won't be confused by contradictory dogma anymore.  We'll instinctively know what is moral and immoral behavior.  We'll understand that promoting the well-being of our fellow man-every last one of them regardless of nationality or religion-is the only acceptable morality of a global society. 

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