© 2008 Doreen Heyne
© 2008 The Urantia Book Fellowship
The following was presented as a workshop at the 2007 Summer Study Session at Dominican University, River Forest, IL
What is morality? It is the act of choosing how we ought to behave in society, in our community, and the influences of our own personal behavior. It involves making choices that are best for the individual and for the advancement of the whole.
According to James Q. Wilson, “Determining what behavior is unacceptable is the province of morality, which is essential to all civilized societies. Religion is one important source of moral insights, but it is not the only one.” Also, “Every voice urging greater recognition and implementation of morality in this nation is entitled to respect and consideration, religion no less that any other.”[1]
Cosmic morality determines the supreme ends of life and exercises faith in a commitment to these ends. It may merge with ethics and religion to become altruistic values. It is my hope that as a collective humanity we can responsibly participate in transforming the future.
While studying a few time periods in civilization, you may discover a pattern of progress or stagnation—where we are today and where we would like to be in achieving moral order in this world. Civilizations are not cosmic, they come and go; but science, morality, and religion always survive the crash.
The Babylonians had documents showing precepts that may date back to a period around 1800–1000 BC. They are called Counsels of Wisdom.[2] The writings were very similar to those of the Hebrew writers—appeals for forgiveness, confessions of sin, pleas of universal human ignorance, retributive divine acts, and acts of purification, as well as sacrificial offerings. All religions have some moral codification.
Because Israel was the crossroads of the ancient world, over many generations her wisdom became international. Over time, her sages and priests borrowed material from her cultural environment, influenced by different currents of thought as well as by observing and discerning between natural consequences and human nature. This resulted in insight on behavior, studying cause and effect, while always seeking insight into the divine order of creation. Another viewpoint was discovering wisdom through suffering, anguish, and reflection. This reasoning was inherited from the Greeks, Egyptians, and Babylonians, that we are citizens of the world and everyone’s needs are fundamentally the same regardless of cultures that divide and conflict. Through years of experience, their love of wisdom helped develop a moral code for a way of life.
The Jewish people were given a set of laws of right conduct to govern their social morality. Israel had codes for her tribal society. Early on it allowed for retribution or revenge such as “an eye for an eye.” This law was designed for a people who were barbarous at the time to maintain some sort of order, realizing getting even was a normal feeling.
There are two types of laws in the Pentatuch (the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures): conditional and absolute. The conditional laws include acts and consequences; unconditional laws meant no ifs, ands, or buts. “Israel could not claim to be better than other nations, either morally or religiously, for the people displayed the same weakness and strength that are found in the life of any people. It was with the conviction that Yahweh, their leader, was going before them that the people faced the future.”[3]
The first four commandments present a moral norm on how to personally conduct oneself with God. The other six are social moral laws dealing with man’s relationship with other men. Without these moral laws for man’s conduct, he would be ethically and spiritually lost. Penal codes do not teach real love or charity.
Early Christianity did not encourage social change like abolihing slavery; owning slaves at that time was acceptable. Paul of Tarsus claimed that although the Jews made a covenant with Yahweh they were not able to keep it. The inward assistance of Jesus would help them destroy the urge to sin with a new covenant of Christian love, an attitude of self giving toward others. At the same time, the Christian church also said that women were the originators of sin and that giving them equal rights would go against God’s will. Both the old and new testaments are full of what we now feel to be errors and contradictions written to instruct the people in that period of time.
True morality consists in having allegiance to universal principles such as, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” for all humans are your neighbors. Well, if you set yourself higher than your neighbor because he is different, you justify doing wrong to him. The Christian church based its teaching on Aristotle’s morality— to attain the supreme good. When you want to attain good, you do good things from within and without; you develop moral habits.
Christian love, “agape,” is the ethical foundation for morality. Thomas of Aquinas, the 13th century philosopher and theologian, said “either you live in harmony with each other, or you live in disharmony and kill each other. If you do the right thing you will be rewarded; the wrong, you will go to hell.”
How important is the fear of hell or the desire to live as God wishes in motivating people?
The morality of the religions of evolution drives men forward in the God quest by the motive power of fear. The religions of revelation allure men to seek for a God of love because they crave to become like him. [UB 5:4.1]
Can we have moral values without religion? Can we be good without God? Does freedom exist without morality?
Morality is not necessarily spiritual; it may be wholly and purely human, albeit real religion enhances all moral values, makes them more meaningful. Morality without religion fails to reveal ultimate goodness, and to provide for the survival of even its own moral values. Religion provides for the enhancement, glorification, and survival of everything morality recognizes and approves. [UB 196:3.27]
Secularism (humanism) questions the moral authority and absolute truth of the Bible. Some people think the Bible consists of fairy tale stories to help teach us morals. Therefore, the concepts of right and wrong are left to the individual—a morality of reason, not religion.
Though reason can always question faith, faith can always supplement both reason and logic. Reason creates the probability which faith can transform into a moral certainty, even a spiritual experience…Reason alone cannot achieve harmony between infinite truth and universal fact. [UB 102:6.6]
Is it moral to force someone to live who wants to die? Is it the same as forcing someone to die who wishes to live? Where is respect for the individual? Another controversial issue of today is: do we have the right to improve the genetic makeup of a fetus by using biotechnology? Are we playing God? Is this immoral or virtuous? The Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, said virtues are rational.
When man wishes to modify physical reality, be it himself or his environment, he succeeds to the extent that he has discovered the ways and means of controlling matter and directing energy. Unaided mind is impotent to influence anything material save its own physical mechanism, with which it is inescapably linked. But through the intelligent use of the body mechanism, mind can create other mechanisms, even energy relationships and living relationships, by the utilization of which this mind can increasingly control and even dominate its physical level in the universe. (Emphasis mine) [UB 111:6.5]
Has the notion of personal rights weakened society’s values? Have we lost the idea that family is a human commitment, our jobs are commitments, friendships are commitments, all expressing our accountability? Intelligence alone cannot explain the moral nature. Morality, virtue, is indigenous to human personality. Moral intuition, the realization of duty, is a component of the human mind. “But a moral being possesses an insight which enables him to discriminate between ends as well as means. He knows what he is doing, why he is doing it, where he is going, and how he will get there.” [UB 16:7.4]
Dostoyevsky said: “If there is no God, then everything is permitted.”
What moral values can be accepted by all religions? Can we start with treating all human beings with dignity and respect and take the interests of the entire community into account? Aren’t we all interdependent?
We are told that “family life is the progenitor of true morality, the ancestor of the consciousness of loyalty to duty.” [UB 84:7.30]
An early example of family loyalty was the Han dynasty of China, 206 BC to AD 220. The Chinese people excelled all other races in family loyalty, group ethics, and personal morality. Families were accountable for the conduct of their members, duty, self-control, and group ethics. Confucius, 551 BC, said the ruler had to be a shining example for everyone. The powerful had to act with self-constraint and modesty. He taught that education and music helped create harmony. Confucius encouraged his disciples to master historical records, music, poetry, and moral philosophy, expressing that by nature man was good and everyone is born to recognize what is right and act upon it.
China gave Europe a legacy, the modern civil service. In 165 BC, candidates for public office had to take an exam of their moral excellence given by the emperor. His achievement was setting up schools that produced statesmen with a strong sense of state and duty, known as the “School of the Literati.” He said a man should practice what he preaches as well as preach what he practices. His simple moral and philosophical teachings lasted two thousand years. Love others, honor your parents, don’t do to others what you would not do to yourself, rule by moral example not force and violence, and if a ruler has to resort to force he has already failed. Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized qualities of men. These are the patterns of morality carried forward from civilization to civilization. Was this the early recognition of cosmic citizenship?
Hans Kung, theologian, said there can be no peace among nations unless there is dialogue and peace among religions. If barbaric acts are not denounced by the world in outrage and silence becomes acceptable, when national leaders selfishly seek their own benefit, wisdom will not prevail; and we will never unify. The world will not progress. Can the major religions work together to proclaim truth, justice, peace, harmony, and tolerance? Do we need a world ethic and moral code?
Education : Teaching morality helps to make it habit forming. Aristotle understood virtue perfectly. “We acquire virtue just like we acquire crafts, you learn to build by building.” We become brave by acting brave. It is a habit repeated by small acts in youth.[4]
Citizens need to be taught how to intelligently evaluate their leadership. The civil rights movement was a moral recognition of the highest ideals in the struggle for the soul of America. Social movements have spiritual foundations. Hopefully in the near future more people will care about social justice in other parts of the world, but religions need the moral will to eradicate global poverty.
We have lots of helpers and one group is described on page 1256: “The Angels of Enlightenment” “Urantia is now receiving the help of the third corps of seraphim dedicated to the fostering of planetary education. These angels are occupied with mental and moral training as it concern individuals, families, groups, schools, communities, nations, and whole races.” [UB 114:6.11]
Self-government: Can we govern ourselves? When our morals decline we need to have more authority governing us, which in turn limits our freedoms. When we develop a global consciousness, have a just society, work with other religions to find common ground for cooperation and agreement, we will move forward. We understand that in order to have less government there are prerequisite stages of social progress, unifying philosophy, science, and religion.
On page 1255 [UB 114:6.7] under “The Religious Guardians,” The Urantia Book describes how the angels of the churches maintain from one epoch to another those moral values worth saving. Since moralities sooner or later outlive themselves, the only ones that are sustainable are universal. The evolution of morals becomes obsolete in time unless they contain a way of living that transcends any present day mores and elevates itself to a godlike reflection driven by the Spirit of Truth. It must contain love for humanity through God, and faith in him that recognizes the spirit of God in each person. Our souls must be dominated by love.
In and through all the historic vicissitudes of religion there ever persists that which is indispensable to human progress and survival: the ethical conscience and the moral consciousness. Faith-insight or spiritual intuition is the endowment of the cosmic mind in association with the Thought Adjuster…Holy Spirit…[and] Spirit of Truth. [UB 101:3.1-2]
This combination constitutes man a spirit personality in potential.
How do you live as a cosmic citizen? Cosmic citizens have the mind and spirit to discern the cosmos. Because our world as a whole is far from attaining the level of cosmic citizenship in the near future, we can be hopeful that when we reach Jerusem, the system capital, the seraphic interpreters, the Quickeners of Morality, will assist us in becoming cosmic citizens. There we will learn liberty, loyalty, and universe brotherhood. Freedom will not be had until the finaliter stage.
Doesn’t it benefit all of us if we recognize we have a common destiny? While it is disheartening to acknowledge that civilization still has not passed beyond the religions of fear and superstition, we are told there is a new unrevealed planetary destiny that may bring us into a new dawn of spiritual awakening.
Cosmic citizens have the mind and spirit to discern the cosmos and recognize that the highest moral choice is to do God’s will. Are we at the level of progression where we are so in tune with God consciousness that we delight in bearing each other’s burdens?
In the Adjuster papers The Urantia Book describes how we can attain this now by “Joyful acceptance of cosmic citizenship— honest recognition of your progressive obligations to the Supreme Being, awareness of the interdependence of evolutionary man and evolving Deity. This is the birth of cosmic morality and the dawning realization of universal duty.” [UB 110:3.10] When we look back over history and recognize the ebb and flow of events, we could question whether the advances have outweighed the setbacks.
These decisions are in our hands. The choices we make lead to transforming ourselves, our society, our planet. Do we need a new way to love, to serve, to be kind, have peace? Hasn’t the groundwork been laid for thousands of years? The consciousness of the planet is transformed by each and every one as we see ourselves and treat each other as God would. Our past is filled with moral stories teaching us how to be more civilized, carrying truths and hope for our future. The spiritual consciousness of the planet will be reborn as individuals are reborn.
Do we have one foot in our tribal beginnings and one foot groping in the dark, reflecting a partial reality? There is in us the never-ending quest toward perfection, but some in society choose to see the imperfect, inconclusive, evolutionary steps taken, believing that humanity is regressing. It is not so. All humanity has not lost its soul. Together we will go forward towards our planetary destiny, sooner rather than later.
Doreen Heyne retired from 33 years of serving the public with a retail business. During some of that time she served as President of a spiritual institute before committing herself to Fellowship service. She was a member of the Outreach Committee before being offered an opportunity to serve the Fellowship as Secretary-General; and after six years in that capacity, she is presently Treasurer of the Fellowship.
James Q. Wilson, The Moral Sense, (New York Simon & Schuster, 1) 245. ↩︎
Bernhard W. Anderson, Understanding the Old Testament, (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 18. ↩︎
D. Winton Thomas, Editor, Documents from Old Testament Times, (New York, Harper Torchbooks, 1961) 104 - 108. ↩︎
John F. Wilson and Donald L. Drakeman, Church and State in American History, (New York: MJF Books, 2003) 269, ↩︎