Morality of Individual Pt 1

The Morality of the Individual, pt 1

Thank you for coming here tonight.

In a previous discussion, I defined what morality is and used biblical examples to prove is validity for Jewish and Christian faiths.

With this established, I am going to use it as a platform for several discussions concerning how this can be used in a practical manner in our everyday lives.

I will eventually cover three types of morality: the Morality of the Individual, the Morality of Society and the Morality of Destination.

For this study, as well as for several more, I will focus on the Morality of the Individual.

So, just what is the Morality of the Individual?

By using the definition I presented earlier and limiting its focus to oneself, we get "of using fundamental source(s) of good or bad in regards to oneself in one's choices for action or inaction".

Morality of the Individual applies to one's own life. It encompasses one's soul and one's body.

So, what fundamental sources will impact the morality of self?

As Jews and Christians, the Bible and the religious traditions of our particular brand of faith is prominent and considered the most important fundamental source, or the ultimate (as in original) fundamental source.

People from other religions will likewise have a fundamental source with regards to their views on spirituality.

Other key fundamental sources include, but is not limited to, parents, teachers, peer groups, local laws and customs and, for the last few hundred years, social media.

In the end, we ultimately take all this information and form a core of fundamental beliefs that is unique to each of us.

While there are lots of fundamental sources, I will be focusing on the biblical ones here.

Government is interested on the good of the people, not so much the individual. Cultural influences likewise tend to address groups of people over the individual. These will be dealt with in a later study.

Sadly, way too few people have strong families they can look towards for strong moral values, and the education system is increasing being controlled by political expediency.

Religious institutions, therefore, may be the only stable institution many people have to learn values from.

It is not my intent to promote a specific religion or denomination, but as this is a Christian room, I will look to the bible for discussing the fundamental spiritual source as it applies to the individual.

Even so, the bible is so full of lessons on the Morality of the Individual that I can only hit a few highlights.

I will start with Deuteronomy Chp 6 v 5, where we are famously told to love God with all our hearts. We also see in Leviticus Chp 19, v 18 that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.

These two principles are united by Jesus in all three synoptic gospels (Matthew Chp 22 v 39, Mark Chp 12 v 29-31 and Luke Chp 10 v 27).

There is indication in Luke's gospel that this was already known to the learned, as it was the scholar, and not Jesus, who combined them. Mark's gospel hints, but does not confirm, that this was indeed the case.

If this supposition is true, then we do not have a new teaching, but rather a justification of man's earlier interpretation of these laws.

Another key foundation is the Decalogue, also known as the 10 commandments (Exodus Chp 20 and Deuteronomy Chp 5 v 6-21).

The "Greatest Commandment" and the 10 commandments are all directed towards an individual's behavior.

If your bible is cross referenced, like mine, you can see how these commandments were the basis for other biblical law.

The Morality of Society and Destination, which will be discussed later, is clearly rooted in the Morality of the Individual.

Now that the definition of Morality of the Individual has been made and its fundamental sources identified, I want to point out that there are practical applications to be considered.

Having knowledge is one thing, but being able to use it in everyday life is often difficult. We inevitably find that what seemed so clear in the class room is not so clear in reality.

To help with the transition, we have various devices at our disposal.

While I do not wish to impress my personal faith on others, I do want to note that Catholics believe that the scripture the devil hates the most is found in Matthew Chp 5 v 29-30.

Here, Jesus tells us to simply avoid temptation.

If we know in advance that going someplace, doing something or meeting someone is going to tempt us, then it is virtuous for us to avoid that action and sinful to embrace it.

Another such tool is the parable.

They are entertaining, easy to remember and are direct to the point.

Jesus gave us no less than 31 of them in the synoptic gospels, and I see no reason not to follow His example.

As a personal standard, I do not consider myself to have mastered a moral concept unless I can create a believable parable of it.

The last tool I will speak of here are the virtues and sins, with virtues corresponding to "good" behavior with respect to God and sins being "bad".

In Galatians Chp 5 v 19-21 St. Paul speaks of works of the flesh and in v 22-23 he speaks of the Gifts of the Fruit.

St. Paul gives us a fairly extensive list of behaviors and how God would see them.

The most famous list does not come from the bible, but from Christian governor Aurelius Clemens Prudentius in his epic poem Psychomachia (Contest of the Soul) in early 5th Century AD and endorsed by Pope Gregory in 590 AD.

The Seven Deadly Sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride) are each counted by the Seven Virtues (chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness and humility).

Of course there are many more sins and virtues to be found specifically in the bible and in Christian tradition.

By reflecting on the sins and virtues and how they apply to our everyday lives, we can mentally prepare ourselves for the decisions we may have to make in our lives.

Another benefit from the lists of sins and virtues is that we can measure how we have grown in our faith in God.

If we find the virtues are getting stronger, then we should feel secure in believing we are getting closer to God.

If honest reflection shows the sins are growing, then we should admit we are pulling away from God and make an effort to reverse the process.

I have now given the definition of the Morality of the Individual, identified the fundamental sources (or principles) that can be used to shape it and what Christians believe is God's principle to make choices by.

I have also given a short list of tools we can use to measure our morality by.

I will address some specific issues and their practical applications to the Morality of the Individual in the next few studies and then move onto the Morality of Society and then Morality of Destination.

Any questions?

The Ten Commandments and Golden Rule of Debate

The Ten Commandments and Golden Rule of Debate

1-Thou shalt enter a debate to improve thine self. For the purpose of debate is not to prove one's counterpart is wrong, but to improve one's own position. For every point one's counterpart makes, one must either learn what was not known or become even more confident in one's original position.

2-Thou shalt seek a better to be thine counterpart. For there is no glory in challenging those incapable of properly defending themselves. For it is truly written: "school yard bullies do as much with lunch money."

3-Thou shalt agree, with respect to definitions, with thine counter-part. For communication is not possible between those who do not share a common language, and only a fool would attempt to try.

4-Thou shalt debate thine own position, not that of another. For if one's counterpart had wished to debate against another, then one's counterpart would have sought the other to debate.

5-Thou shalt not debate more than one topic at a time. For to bounce from topic to topic before any is concluded is to show that one is not prepared to discuss any.

6-Thou shalt not offer opinions that cannot be supported by facts. For there is no glory in presenting oneself as an idiot to one's counterpart.

7-Thou shalt not offer feelings for a position. For feelings are unique to each individual, and a particular feeling also a unique event in time and space to that individual's total life experience.

8-Thou shalt admit when one's counterpart has stumped thee. For it is better to admit one does not know enough than to show that one does not know anything at all.

9-Thou shalt admit when one's counter-part has disproved one's position. For it is better to admit one is wrong than prove one is unreasonable.

10-Thou shalt agree to disagree when all the facts are known and conclusions still differ. For only the crazy can expect a different outcome by repeating the process.



The Golden Rule:
Thou shalt in all things and at all times express the utmost respect for thine counterpart. For when one expresses respect to the counterpart, then one obeys the commandments. If one were to obey the commandments but fails to express respect, then one has not truly obeyed the commandments but, instead, circumvented them.

Morality and the Bible

Today I am going to discuss what morality is.

When I google the Merriam-Webster dictionary for "morality", the first of its definitions is "of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior". I will make a biblical argument to support this secular definition.

Please note that the definition does not use the words faith or belief. It does not discriminate between cultures or societies. It implies knowledge as a necessity for morality, but does not make knowledge itself morality.

Rather, morality is using a fundamental source (ie-principles) of good or bad (ie-right and wrong) in action or inaction (ie-behavior).

Of course, any action we take or don't take ultimately comes down to choices we make.

As we proceed through the study, I will address each of these components in detail.

So, what does the Bible say about this secular definition? Quite a lot, I believe.

Most of this lesson will reference the Book of Genesis. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, all references will be to this book.

The first issue to address is the fundamental source. As Jews and Christians, we have in common at least one fundamental source: God.

For us, this is the first and foremost source. But is it the only one we are called to follow?

God gave man (later identified as Adam in Chp 5, v1) two tasks to perform: cultivate the garden and to avoid the tree of knowledge (Chp 2, v 15-16). This was the fundamental source for which Adam would be judged moral.

It is also said that God gave Adam dominion over all the earth (Chp 1, v 26, 28-30, Chp 2, v 15). Adam was allowed to create his own fundamental source. We say he was given authority.

A question may arise if this authority was perpetual or if it was lost during the fall of man.

After all, nearly all those who claimed authority to act in the name of God in the Old Testament were either self proclaimed prophets of God, or appointed by those who were self proclaimed prophets.

But such a view is superficial. The Hebrews lived among many, many other cultures. The Egyptians and Philistines, in particular, seem to pop up over and over again.

I have seen many disparaging things said about these competing cultures. Many plagues, defeats and disasters have been leveled against them.

But I do not recall seeing where these cultures, even the Babylonians, were ever called illigetimate by any prophet.

This, by itself, does not support the idea that Adam retained authority outside the Garden of Eden, but it certainly calls into question any suggestion that Adam lost it.

Fortunately, the New Testament gives us more insight.

I find the New Testament rich in this regards, but for me the most convincing argument is St. Paul's Letter to the Romans, Chp 13, v 1-7. In it, we are told that any authority that does exist has already been established by God (v 1).

It seems the authority of man on Earth is part of God's plan, therefore not in conflict with the definition.

The second point I want to make from this definition is that morality is about right AND wrong.

As Jews and Christians, anything that brings us closer to God is "right" and anything that takes us away from Him is "wrong" in a spiritual sense.

We even have a special name for wrong: sin.

We are told that man and woman (later identified as Adam and Eve in Chp 5, v1 and Chp 3, v 20 respectively) committed the first, or Original, sin by eating from the forbidden tree (Chp 3, v 6).

We are told that the tree (introduced in Chp 2, v 9) would cause their deaths (Chp 2, v 17 and Chp 3, v 3). This implies that life would continue if they did not eat of it.

Here, we clearly have a right (life) and wrong (death).

The bible is filled with those who did God's will and were rewarded (right) and those who opposed God's will and were punished (wrong).

Clearly, the bible supports the concept of right and wrong. So far, the bible supports my choice of secular definition.

The final point is one of action (behavior), and this is perhaps the most complex.

Bionically, the first sin (or wrong moral action) was eating the fruit. The question comes to be, was it the action of eating the fruit, or the fruit itself what made them sinful?

If the bible supports the action as being sinful, then my definition of morality is correct. I can use it as a platform for future bible studies concerning how we are supposed to live on Earth.

If the bible supports the fruit as being sinful, then I need to find another definition to account for sin being forbidden knowledge.

To begin my defense of my position, Adam and Eve knew the tree was forbidden before the sin. Obviously certain knowledge must not sinful.

For those who suppose the fruit to be what made Adam and Eve sinful, they must now classify knowledge into categories of right, wrong and neutral.

By accepting that the fruit defiled man, we also have to accept that if a bear had walked up to Adam and Eve and knocked the fruit out of their hands before they ate, then no sin would have been committed.

For many, this is actually sound logic.

Indeed, this was the primary view in biblical times and remains strong today. But there is more than just a gut feeling something is wrong here.

The sinlessness mentioned of Job implies Jesus was not the only perfect person. Warnings from several prophets are meaningless.

In Matthew Chp 15, v 11 and Mark Chp 7, v 15, Jesus specifically tells us what passes the lips does not make one unclean.

I plan to go into greater detail on these teachings in a later study, but they seem to be directed specifically against the idea that the fruit was what defiled Adam and Eve.

Finally, the apostles in Acts and the letters have had much to say about "clean" and "unclean" food, with the final decision drawn along cultural lines instead of spiritual ones.

If, on the other hand, we accept that the act was the sinful part and the fruit was merely incidental to the act, then these inconsistencies go away in a very clean manner.

We find Job my not have performed any ritual sins (no small feat, to be sure) and was probably a genuinely nice guy, but was still subject to sins not specifically part of the written law.

The warnings of the prophets and the teachings of Jesus and the apostles are not contradicted.

I, of course, endorse the belief that it is the choice (even if hampered or stopped upon reflection) that is the basis of morality.

In this study, I have defined what morality is and presented biblical evidence to support my definition.

With this completed, I plan to use it as a platform in future studies.

Any questions?

Temptation of Jesus: What It Tells Us About the Enemy

Today, I will talk about the temptations of Jesus. I like to start off by explaining why a lesson is important. To begin with, this is only time we really get to see the devil in action.

Of course, Satan made a few other appearances, but not like when he went up against Jesus.

Adam and Eve were so naive, it was no challenge. The devil had the full approval of God before he did anything to Job. In the Book of Tobit, no details were given on the demon, nor how the angel overtook him.

But 3 gospel writers talk about Jesus in direct conflict with the devil (Mt 4: 1-11, Mk 1: 12 and Lk 4: 1-13). Mark only mentions it happened, but the others go into detail.

The details are remarkably the same, with the biggest difference being Luke switching the sequence of the temptations. This is believed to be so as to match the rest of his gospel better.

Most people focus on how Jesus responded, which is certainly a good thing. But I want to focus on how the devil acted.

In Afghanistan, several soldiers in my battalion were killed from their arrogance. By that I mean, they failed to respect the power and danger the enemy presented.

Our body armor, armored vehicles and superior weapons did not make us completely bulletproof. The enemy was patient and found our weaknesses. I believe Satan is the same way.

The difference is, when we become a casualty in an earthly war, we only die. If we become casualties in a spiritual war, then the consequences for our soul is infinitely worse.

Moving on to the study.

First of all, I want to point out the fact that this event did take place. That in itself is to be noted. The devil was not afraid to confront Jesus in the Flesh.

Makes me wonder just how concerned the devil is with confronting Jesus the Name?

I suspect the devil looks at it as a challenge, and perhaps that his victory will be so much the sweater if he can overcome it.

If this is true, then we must never assume anything is completely safe. We must constantly look at the condition of our defenses and see if he has made any inroads to it.

My other points will not be so speculative.

Next, notice how the temptations didn't take place until after 40 days of fasting. This is the devil's timing, Jesus was led there to meet him.

Jesus, who is human as well as God, would have been very low on energy.

The devil loves to attack when our defenses (in spiritual warfare, this is energy levels) are down. We must double our awareness in times of physical and emotional weakness.

We must also realize that we will lose ground at times, and be able to forgive ourselves if he does make a small gain. We will eventually come to a position of strength and have an opportunity to make good the loss.

The first temptation of the devil was a reasonable one, he tempted a hungry Jesus with food, although there was a price. Jesus would have had to abuse His power to get it.

In todays information age, this is especially important because it is easy to use information that can be leveraged against us.

The devil will attack us with things that seem reasonable, but we must be on guard against trickery. We must develop a sense of morals to help us determine which offers are legitimate and which are destructive.

As mentioned above, Mathew and Luke reverse the next two temptations as far as sequence.

Using Luke, the 2nd tempation is power and glory. I don't think Satan will limit himself to just these. The devil seeks to appeal to our baser nature.

There are many base emotions he can attempt to manipulate, and I believe he knows which ones we are most vulnerable to.

We must be aware of our own weaknesses, and take measures to ensure the devil can not take advantage of them.

We only have limited resources (ie-energy) to defend with, and it is our emotions that we are most vulnerable to. We must ensure that we are not carried away by our emotions and feelings.

In the last temptation (by Luke's sequence), the devil uses scripture to disguise his intentions. This is perphaps the scariest of all the lessons.

Just because people quote the works of God does not mean they are Godly.

We have a duty to not only KNOW what the bible means, we must attempt to understand WHAT it means. Otherwise, it will be used against us for our own destruction.

Finally, we are told the devil left Jesus "for a time" in Luke's gospel. In Christian tradition, this time was until the passion of Jesus.

Even after this loss, even after all the defeats his minions suffered under Jesus for 3 years, he still came back for one last time.

We must never forget that the devil is relentless in his pursuit of our souls. We must never take for granted that our souls are safe. We must be on guard until our dying breath.

No matter how many victories we win, there will be another challenge until we reach heaven.

I now leave the floor open for discussion

Plasticware Olympics

The cafeteria had a couple TVs in the eating area for our entertainment. This may sound frivolous, but they represented nearly all the television assets the camp had. For many service members, eating was the only time available to watch TV anyway. Unfortunately, there were only about three channels to choose from. If one wanted to watch TV, then one could not be too picky.
Towards the end of our deployment, the 2006 Winter Olympics were the only thing we got to watch. This turned out to be a very educational experience for me. Prior to watching them, I was under the mistaken impression that the Olympics were comprised of dozens of exciting sporting events that guaranteed a wide variety of athletic entertainment. I quickly learned that the Winter Olympics consisted of curling with a few interruptions by the skiers.
Now, for those that don't know what curling is, it is basically shuffleboard on ice. Having to watch this event night after night was more annoying than watching Barney. As a parent of three children, I know what I am talking about. My youngest daughter was taught all the words to the songs from me. This was before she started watching.
Another fact of cafeteria life that is important to this story is the plastic utensils we eat with. I can assure any conspiracy theorist out there that there is no fraud in the food procurement service. We were definitely getting the lowest bidder to supply us with these things. I won't say that they are thin, but I took pride in never breaking a single piece the whole fifty-four weeks I was in country. I haven't met anyone who claimed to have matched that feat.
Anyway, back to the TV. One night while eating dinner, the U.S. won yet another curling match. I suppose we did so well because we are such a forward looking country. We want to know that there will be sports heroes to inspire us when we go the retirement homes. At that time, I saw a friend of mine break three of his four fork tines in a single stab. I announced right then and there that plasticware eating should be an Olympic event.
Everyone laughed so hard that tears came to our eyes (it doesn't take much to get a soldier on deployment to laugh). When we calmed down again, one of my friends asked, "how would you announce an event like that?"
I said, "if they can talk like curling is an exciting event, they can announce an eating event."
That drew another round of laughter, although it was not as strong as the first. But the question came back as a statement. "Well, I wouldn't know how to do it."
I said, "oh, it's easy. It would go something like this . . ."

"Hello eating sports fans, this is Frank Earnestine. With me is "Pepper" Sneze. Today we're here at the Hard Rocket Cafe for the latest round in Plasticware Competition."
"That's right, Frank, and today the favorite from South Carolina is going to have a real challenge because it's steak night."
"Pepper, you're the former reigning champion. What do you feel is the secret to Carolina's success?"
"That's easy, Frank. He is a very careful competitor. For example, I watched him during today's breakfast match, and he didn't use his knife to open his milk carton like many others do. Instead, he used the straw that comes with the carton. Now, if the straw bends instead of cutting through the protective cover, then it can seriously delay the contestant in being able to eat, and we all know how important time is in this event."
He has become a master of this seemingly unrelated skill of opening a milk carton with its straw and is able to avoid the risk of breaking a utensil trying to drink milk! He minimizes his risks by being creative in the finer points of the game. Frank, that's a winning combination that can't be beat."
"But some would question why such a careful player would choose the weakest plasticware the cafe offers on steak night."
"He's a careful competitor, but he is not a timid one. He's not afraid of taking risks, but he does balance the risk with the rewards. Right now, he's going for points that can only be made by using these utensils tonight. If he's successful, he will be well placed for the semi finals next month."
"And successful he's been, Pepper. To clarify any rumors going around, it is a fact that there was a chipped spoon in his set yesterday. It was chipped before he opened the plastic, and he immediately brought it to the judge's attention. He was given a bye for it and a chance to get a second set of utensils to eat with."
"That level of attention to detail, Frank, is the hallmark of a champion."
"Showing on your television sets right now is an interview with Carolina Kid taken a few weeks ago after a hard fought match against an MRE, which is Meal, Ready to Eat for those of you new to the event . . ."

"Tell, me CK. I'd like to know, and I'm sure many of your fans would also like to know, is what inspired you to take up plasticware eating?"
"Well, sir, I'd have to give credit to my parents. We were kind of poor, you see. If we broke something, then we would have to do without. So being careful with what I have was something they always worked hard to teach me."
"Would you say your military training has helped in any way?"
"Of course. They teach us how to establish goals, create success indicators and measure progress."
"What do you think is the most important skill the Army taught you?"
"Focus. I would have to say the ability to stay focused amid distraction is the most important skill one can have in an event like this . . ."

"Sage words, Frank. Definitely ones to live by. Not just in the dog face eat dog face sport of the Plasticware Olympics, but in any other challenge of life."
"Everyone is standing up and crowding around the tent entrance as the Carolina Kid enters. The Military Police, or MPs as they are known here, have to clear the path for him. He is followed by his trainer and long time friend, Atlanta Fuzz."
"The MPs are having a hard time here today. The crowd knows what tonight means and they all want to see history happen. I haven't seen such devotion to a rising star since Tiger Woods attempted the grand slam of golfing."
"And well they should, Pepper. The Carolina Kid has had to eat 824 meals in country to get where he is today. Most people don't understand the kind of pressures that many performances can put you through."
"It is very grueling. He has had to eat in temperature ranges that go between -30 on the mountains in winter to 140 in the valleys in summer. He has eaten through drought and monsoon. Meals have varied from soup sandwiches to undercooked lobster. I can think of no other sport that requires players to be so versatile."
"Uh-oh, Pepper. There was a noise coming from the Carolina Kid's fork!"
"That's right, Frank. The crowd just went silent as the judge goes to inspect his fork. It'd be a crying shame to have to be so successful for over 800 meals just to lose it all now!"
"The judge has made his inspection, and is now ready to give his ruling . . ."

"Upon further review of the eating utensils, it was determined that no tines have come free from the fork. There will be no penalty. Restart the clock."

"No tines broke! No tines broke! The crowd lets out a roar of applause. He's still in the running!"
"You said it, Frank. And it's not just here. Right now the cameras are showing the Family Support Group back in Greenville. I can only use the word pandemonium to describe it. In the front, crying happy tears, is his lovely wife. I can only imagine how relieved she must be, knowing that the sacrifices of being separated for over nine months were not in vain."
"Well, he's not out of the woods yet. He still has half a steak left to go, and a pile of cut steak waiting to be eaten."
"I'll tell you what, Frank. If he can pull this one off, it will be the highlight of the tournament. Regardless of his future performance, regardless of who ultimately wins, this could be the play of plays right here, right now, right before our eyes!"
"Let's see how he's doing . . . it looks like . . . it seems like . . . he is! He is! He's no longer stockpiling his steak. He's eating his steak fresh from the cut! Pepper . . ."
"Genius! Shear Genius! He's cutting his contact time in half, effectively doubling whatever life remains in his fork! I really hope he makes it, Frank. The way he thinks while under pressure today, proves he has the right stuff."
"And pay off it does! The last piece is in his mouth. The crowd is on its feet and goes wild! The MPs can't hold them back any longer. His trainer has to fight his way to get to him. He has now reached him and begins to pat the Carolina Kid off with a towel."
"I tell you what, Frank. I have seen a mile long hot dog, I have eaten the leaning tower of pizza, and I have seen locals doing unnatural things on Thursday night! But nothing has prepared me for what I have seen today!"
"Well, Pepper, it has certainly been an exciting and fascinating show. The kid from Carolina has pulled off a miracle today, and we wish him all the luck for the rest of the tournament. In the background, you can hear the explosions from another rocket attack which tells us we are out of time. We now turn you over to Betty Toogood at Bagram Airfield for an update on the Afghan Grass Growing competition. Betty . . ."