Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Rules: A Least Common Denominator for Morality.
Rules are like mini political talking points: they don't say much but give us a standard around which to form teams.
Rules, as it turns out, are best when they are (and in) black and white. This saves us from thinking to hard about the cloudy areas they overlook.
Rules give us simple answers to complex issues; they form meaning from the gray.
Best of all: they define boundaries over which we can wage our ethical wars.
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Human beings are complex moral fruit flies, and unless you cut off our arms and legs we don't fit well into boxes.
When we don't have rules determining the rallying cries of our ethical discussions we must continually provide backup information to clarify what we are saying. Even with this information, we will check back regularly - "Do you see where I'm coming from?" - to make sure our fellow conversees are keeping up. When there is a rule attached to the discussion, we do a lot less checking-in. We use short definite phrases like: "It's against the law," "It's a woman's right," "I was first in line!" We don't feel the need to check-in because there is an understanding that whatever we're talking about has exactly two familiar sides. All we're doing then is verbalizing where we stand relative to the standard.
No matter how cumbersome and unrepresentative they may be, we evoke rules, laws and social codes to lend weight to the most basic of our opinions. Despite being a cheap substitute for thought, there is a more dangerous issue at play when you argue from these rigid, codified perspectives. The rules you cite are not specific to your situation and carry their own weight, prejudice and subtext with them wherever they go. Statutory rape, for instance, means something quite different when referring to an incestuous uncle than it does when you're talking about an 18 year old senior in high school dating a 17 year old senior in high school. Rules touch on the theme but in no way get to the heart of the issue.
Please, don't misunderstand me: I'm not a rebel who hates authority and thinks rules are made to be broken. On the contrary, they should be neither obeyed nor disobeyed.
Rules should be politely ignored and substituted with our own morality.
Only then will we be able to have honest discussions about real issues. Only then will see our own hypocrisy reflected in the judgment we have passed on others. Only then will we be forced to evaluate ethical decisions for ourselves instead of turning blind eyes to injustice while falling back on whatever scaffolding was there when we arrived.
It might keep us from confusing ethical laziness with moral virtue.
It might help us see the gray
for gray.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
On Werewolves
While talking on the phone with my dad last night I heard a funny kind of howl. It was like the coyote song I've been enjoying every night since I moved to The Farm, but this time it was different - closer and more pained. One would call from deep within the woods and another would answer from just outside the old observatory 60 feet from my bedroom window. I walked outside, squinting into the darkness and wondering how close I could get without-
And it howled again, an agonized plea to a full moon too busy pushing a ring of clouds out of its wake to notice. I imagined the shallow pet cemetery in front of the observatory that had been dug up just a few nights previous, revealing the mangled carcass of a long-dead golden retriever. The new caretakers picked up the pieces and reburied what they could, but maybe, maybe those gasping, yelping howls were from that poor old dog just trying to claw its way back to the surface.
What about werewolves? I thought, staring up at the full moon. A werewolf would make the most sense...
And then I realized I hadn't slept in quite some time. So, I backtracked to my porch, found my bed and curled up in a nest of thick sheets. Soon I was elsewhere making my way through world after dreamy world as a great dark wolf with matted hair and yellowed eyes. And everywhere I went, I pleaded in whimpered yelps with the peasants I met along the way that I was not in fact the monster they saw before them but just an old retriever looking for a warm place to sleep.
When I awoke this morning, I remembered I hadn't written anything in quite some time and that it's good to let the crazy out every now and then if only to keep from bursting.
Sleep Tight.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Save the Gay Pot-Smokers!
Protect the rights of socially minded, earth friendly, gay, pot smokers who don't want their adopted children's education dollars being spent on unnecessary bureaucracy! VOTE: No on 1, Yes on 2, No on 3, No on 4, Yes on 5, Yes on 6, Yes on 7.
Vote early today or tomorrow or head to your poling place for the madness on Wednesday! For a better summary of the Ballot / Issues check out:
http://www.maine.gov/sos/c
or
http://ballotpedia.org/wik
(The latter of the two breaks down the measures and lists supporters and opponents on some of the bigger measures.)
... Read More
Happy Voting!
