Decline
in human morals
Sir,
There is
hardly a day when declining trends in
human morals are not reported in the
media. We have the reports on
pornographic movies, rapes, killing for
extortion etceteras and etceteras. This
definitely makes us bereft of our speech
and thinking too.
Happiness
is the ultimate end of morality, human
dignity is its measure, conscience its
source. Morality denotes the quality of
our free actions, which make us good or
bad people. It stipulates how what we do
enables us to realize our dignity and
achieve our ultimate end as human beings.
That ultimate end is eternal happiness,
personal liberation, union with God.
Conscience, the voice of God echoing in
the heart of each one, prompts each
person at the right moment to do good and
avoid evil, and so search for the right
thing to do; it also judges the quality
of our actions. It is not
self-sufficient, but needs help from
outside, which it seeks: the moral wisdom
of others and ultimately of God.
Conscience appeals to our freedom, but
does not compel us, we can freely act
against our conscience. This is sin,
which among other things muffles
conscience, though it cannot eradicate
it. Because sin, original and personal
wound all, neither knowledge of what is
right or wrong nor the inner freedom
which moral integrity confers can be
achieved without personal struggle or
without help from outside. Morality is
not simply personal. It is also communal.
Human society is a spiritual reality
constituted by the decisions of those who
make up the society. Special
responsibility rests with those who
represent society; that is, the
legislators, judges and government
bodies. Morality is the ultimate measures
of every positive law (what gives it its
binding force), the ultimate guide in its
interpretation and the ultimate safeguard
against corruption in its application.
Laws and customs, in turn, influence
personal morality, for good or
evil—good, if the laws and
recognized customs are in harmony with
the moral law, evil, if they are contrary
to the moral law.The basic principles and
precepts of morality are objective,
universal and indivisible.
They are
found in all peoples at all times.,
though not practiced by all. They are
insights into the requirements of our
humanity, of our conscience, which
measure and guide the actions of
individuals and communities. They are
constant and unchanging amid the flux of
history and cultures, and are handed on
in various degrees by great religions and
the world’s sapiential traditions.
They all apply, cannot be played off
against each other, and so are
indivisible. They constitute what
pre-Christian philosophers called the
"Natural Law", namely, what the
reasonable, balanced human being in any
culture, across time and space, would
with an upright conscience judge good and
right. They were definitely articulated,
summarized and clarified in the TEN
COMMANDMENTS. To live in harmony with the
objective moral order, the natural law,
requires help from above. Likewise, to
know the full implication of the demands
of that law also requires help from
above, not least because of our sinful
human condition. In this backdrop I fully
agree with Dr. Vaid, Inspector General of
Police, Jammu that unless we concientize
the entire society to the happenings
around us little could be achieved. With
regard to this outside help should come
from well-meaning citizens particularly
the educational institutions, religious
groups, parents and the people themselves
who induce people to go in for immoral
acts. Galsworthy in his
"Justice" was not wrong in
remarking "Law is a machine, which
keeps on grinding the victim. It does not
shape him." Let we consider
thoughtfully the valuable suggestion put
forward by the learned Inspector General
of Police.
Yours
etc...
Predhuman K. Joseph Dhar, Catholic
Journalist,
Via e-mail
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