Left Turns Must Yield to Oncoming Traffic
iman February 16th, 2009
Recently, I had a conversation with a self-proclaimed Anarchist. He was quite confident that his moral nature was sufficient to guide his life, that everyone possesses this inherent morality and should be allowed to express it without adherence to guidelines. It may be true for him and it may also be true that each one of us has a certain degree of innate morality inextricably linked to our spiritual nature. However, it is still up to every individual to refine their values. One could argue that, even if we don’t adhere to a set of rules in this day, one’s sense of “morality” has its roots from past laws or guidelines that have permeated humanity throughout the duration of our existence and made it the “norm”. But where do these guidelines stem from? It is globally evident that divine religious scripture past and present has had the most impact on our moral frameworks, in particular the commonly-held spiritual teachings.
... the foundations of the religions of God are one foundation. This foundation is not multiple for it is reality itself. Reality does not admit of multiplicity although each of the divine religions is separable into two divisions. One concerns the world of morality and the ethical training of human nature. It is directed to the advancement of the world of humanity in general; it reveals and inculcates the knowledge of God and makes possible the discovery of the verities of life. This is ideal and spiritual teaching, the essential quality of divine religion and not subject to change or transformation. It is the one foundation of all the religions of God. Therefore the religions are essentially one and the same.
An interesting article explains how a few trial cities, in Europe, have removed all traffic signs-with seemingly good results. It seems, nevertheless, that the sense of traffic etiquette of the drivers on these roads has derived from somewhere; their past experience on roads with traffic signs possibly?
Consider the following scenario. Say these same “sign-free roads” were all dirt roads, and that the drivers on these roads have only ever known dirt roads. Now, if one day the roads were to be upgraded to tarred roads, the rules on the road can also be modified — for example, it may now be safe to travel at higher speeds on the tarred roads. If the traffic signs aren’t there (because we figured we didn’t need them), the benefits of the new road will remain unknown:
The second classification or division comprises social laws and regulations applicable to human conduct. This is not the essential spiritual quality of religion. It is subject to change and transformation according to the exigencies and requirements of time and place. For instance in the time of Noah certain requirements made it necessary that all sea foods be allowable or lawful…
…During the cycle of Adam it was lawful and expedient for a man to marry his own sister, even as Abel, Cain and Seth the sons of Adam married their sisters.
But in the law of the Pentateuch revealed by Moses these marriages were forbidden and their custom and sanction abrogated.
Other laws formerly valid were annulled during the time of Moses. For example, it was lawful in Abraham’s cycle to eat the flesh of the camel, but during the time of Jacob this was prohibited.
Such changes and transformations in the teaching of religion are applicable to the ordinary conditions of life but they are not important or essential. His Holiness Moses lived in the wilderness of Sinai where crime necessitated direct punishment. There were no penitentiaries or penalties of imprisonment. Therefore according to the exigency of the time and place it was a law of God that an eye should be given for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It would not be practicable to enforce this law at the present time; for instance to blind a man who accidentally blinded you. In the Torah there are many commands concerning the punishment of a murderer. It would not be allowable or possible to carry out these ordinances today. Human conditions and exigencies are such that even the question of capital punishment, — the one penalty which most nations have continued to enforce for murder, — is now under discussion by wise men who are debating its advisability. In fact, laws for the ordinary conditions of life are only valid temporarily. The exigencies of the time of Moses justified cutting off a man’s hand for theft but such a penalty is not allowable now.
Time changes conditions, and laws change to suit conditions. We must remember that these changing laws are not the essentials; they are the accidentals of religion. The essential ordinances established by a Manifestation of God are spiritual; they concern moralities, the ethical development of man and faith in God. They are ideal and necessarily permanent; expressions of the one foundation and not amenable to change or transformation. Therefore the fundamental basis of the revealed religion of God is immutable, unchanging throughout the centuries, not subject to the varying conditions of the human world.
“Time changes conditions, and laws change to suit conditions.” So it is with the growth and evolution of Divine religion — sharing the same basic rules of the road yet adapted to physical conditions. Without signs to show us how to navigate these changing conditions, our own approximations would at best be sub-optimal. And at worst, catastrophic.
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- Baha'i Concepts , News & Current Affairs , Society
- Comments(4)
Thanks for this post! As the world becomes a neighborhood, there appear temporary “clashes” as old habits give way to support the larger good. Driving without road signs can be a challenge to the newcomer who is used to driving on the opposite side of the road… and catastrophic to all drivers if unity is not reached.
I love the title (don’t know if it was intended to be witty, but I took it that way).
There *are* places that have gone from dirt roads to tarmac without signs: visit many cities in Africa. No surprise, perhaps, that traffic fatalities are higher than malaria deaths in Nairobi. I recently blogged about an experiment with putting signs inside buses, which urge passengers to tell the driver to slow down. The result? A 75% reduction in the frequency of accidents.
It goes to show you that even if we do have an inherent moral compass, we don’t always express it in public. The bus signs solve a collective action problem — everyone wants the driver to slow down but no one wants to be the first to do the right think. In a similar way, perhaps, religion does something more cultivate personal morality. It also provides a social order in which we can express our inherent nobility with greater confidence.
Iman – I have been having some recent encounters with people with similar views as the anarchist in your post. When speaking about education, they think that universities shouldn’t teach content in courses meant to strengthen cultural and general intellectual concepts, but should rather teach processes so that each individual can decide the nature of his/her moral path. It is not as easy to refute this way of thinking as I thought, which is one reason I enjoyed this post. I recently posted about these encounters too, check out the entry called “Sesame Street Sermons”.
Hi Justin. You’re right in saying that it’s not easy to refute this way of thinking.
I was thinking about how science functions in today’s world and how it has been progressing so rapidly based on FUNDAMENTAL principles established by some of the great thinkers of the past. These basic principles have permeated science to such an extent that it is even possible to be entirely unaware of them. In the same way I feel fundamental religious principles have permeated society. Taking it a step further, what is “morailty” and how did it start?