"Foundational" Moral Impulses
End of a long week. I preached at both services today. Seemed well-received, but oh, boy, I'm exhausted. (I don't preach regularly anymore. When I preached every week, or even every six weeks on a schedule, it didn't take this much out of me. Whew. ) A friend sent an interesting article from AlterNet this afternoon concerning the moral reasoning of liberals and conservatives. According to this article, Jonathan Haidt has come up with five foundational moral impulses: 1. Harm/care . It's wrong to hurt people; it's good to relieve suffering. 2. Fairness/reciprocity . Justice and fairness are good. People have certain rights that need to be upheld in social interactions. 3. In-group loyalty . People should be true to their group and be wary of threats from the outside. Allegiance, loyalty are virtues. Betrayal is bad. 4. Authority/respect . People should respect social hierarchy. Social order is necessary for human life. 5. Purity/sanctity . The body and certain aspect...