Rightness

Be Moral, Not Moralistic

Photo by Alex P, Pixels.com.

Key Assertions That Help To Summarize This Article:

Displaying mercy is one of the best ways to practice being moral.

Mercy keeps you focused on what you are for rather than on what you are against.

Mercy encourages one to find loving solutions rather than angry reactions.

Mercy helps you rectify affronts rather than exacting retributions.

Seek to relieve the suffering that is likely to be behind bad actions.

Moralistic attitudes (which stem from moralism) often occur in people who demonstrate signs of a constricted heart and who exploit morality as a way to repress desire, love, and longing.

A sign that Eros is being constrained, moralism is a neurotic complex, a failed attempt to be moral, a set of attitudes and behaviors that leads to poor judgment and—ironically—an obsession for what is being denied.

Yielding appropriately to temptation, therefore, is one way to get rid of unwanted enticements.

Unlike moralism, morality leads to positive ethics and compassion, the latter being hard to give away because it always comes back.

Do not allow your vision or perspective to be too small and personal. Moralistic attitudes (which stem from moralism—undue emphasis on morality, the habit of moralizing) often occur in people who demonstrate signs of a constricted heart and who exploit morality as a way to repress desire, love, and longing. Moralism is a sign that Eros is being constrained. Moralism is a neurotic complex, a failed attempt to be moral, a set of attitudes and behaviors that leads to poor judgment and—ironically—an obsession for what is being denied. Yielding appropriately to temptation, therefore, is one way to get rid of unwanted enticements. Unlike moralism, morality leads to positive ethics and compassion, the latter being hard to give away because it always comes back.

Photo by Dax Dexter Delada, Pixels.com.

HumaNatureConnect Activity

Addressing The Difference Between Expressions Of Morality And Moralistic Expression

For this activity, look around to find examples, if any, of morality in animals or imagine an animal displaying morality—that is, chastity, virtue, or conformity to the rules of right conduct. Note that such examples of moral behavior do not require a belief in God unless you believe that animals have a belief in God or the Absolute. Morality, whether in animals or people, is shown by praise, condemnation, reward, and punishment. Moral actions, human or otherwise, are done to alter the dispositions of other members of the group. Examples in nature of condemnation include such things as the bearing one's teeth, making aggressive sounds, taking a threatening posture, displaying telltale facial expressions, or ignoring the perpetrator in a particular context.