Morality Essay

Throughout human history, we as people have been faced with moral conflicts and
lack of ethics involving our choices and in society. Often we have blindly followed and obeyed the laws within a community or religion without taking any consideration whether they are morally justified. Our current society has advanced from the one of the Puritanic times; however, it does not necessarily mean that we have morally developed. In the novel The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the people of the 17th century society live an exceedingly religiously-bound life. They were restricted in many ways which the author mentions by saying, “They had no novelists- and would not have permitted anyone to read a novel if one were handy. Their creed forbade anything resembling a theater or ‘vain enjoyment’. They did not celebrate Christmas, and a holiday from work meant only that they must concentrate even more upon prayer” (Miller, 4). Even during their days of freedom they were forced to follow religious procedures. Their idea of enjoyment was to become completely dedicated to serving God. A thing as simple as dancing was discouraged, and nothing that was opposed to the court or the Bible was permitted. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, this behavior and general outlook was described by saying, “There was very much the same solemnity of demeanour on the part of the spectators, as befitted a people among whom religion interfused, that he mildest and severest acts of public discipline were alike made venerable and awful” (Hawthorne, 30).
People of their time had no sympathy for one another, and should a crime or mistake be committed it would be open for the mockery and involvement of the public.
Judgement wasn’t the only punishment a culprit would receive. As witchcraft became a growing issue in Salem, hanging was the most popular penalty. During the frustrating times when every other person was accused of witchcraft, one of the judges from the Crucible stated, “I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statues” (Miller, 129). The law was immensely important to many people in the Puritanic society, and there were no exceptions and no acts of leniency or mercy. People were forced to go against their better judgement and moral values in order to survive this crisis. Reverend Hale, also a character of the Crucible, claims that he is doing the “devil’s work” by counseling Christians to lie for the sake of their own freedom (Miller, 131). The only question was whether a person was able to live with this lie on their conscience, or die for the pride.
An article concerning the conscience of people refers to the main character from Sophocles’ play, Antigone, who was faced with two choices: either obey the command of the King to leave her brother unburied, or to do as her moral conscience tells her, which is to rebel against the orders of the authority. Antigone did what she considered righteous, even though it went against the laws of the society (Dombrowski, 2016). This shows that laws set in a community or religion aren’t necessarily ethically correct. Is it wrong for a person to steal even if it’s to feed their starving family? Is it wrong to lie even if it’s to protect the feelings of a loved one? These are all considered sins within many religions, but may be what is morally right in those specific situations.
During times of war countries involved send troops to fight, but is it ethical to kill people who are simply obeying the orders of an authority in the same way as yourself? In an article called “The Morality of War”, the issue of morals and ethics are debated. The subject was about World War II and the differences between the powers used during and after the war. It is stated that, “It was not soft power that freed Europe [in the 1940’s]. It was hard power. And what followed immediately after hard power? Did the United States ask for dominion over a single nation in Europe? No. Soft power came in with the Marshall Plan. Soft power came with American GI’s who put their weapons down once the war was over and helped those nations rebuild” (Weigel, 2003). The use of ‘hard power’ may have been what saved Europe during the war; however, it does not justify the extreme use of force and the number of deaths and devastation that followed in each country during post war times. Converting to ‘soft power’ after the war was over was their way of redeeming themselves for the damage caused by the brutality of the military. This shows that the choices made in more recent times aren’t better than the ones made a long time ago.
What has changed in our current society are the religious boundaries and conservative views from the majority of our population; however, we do continue to judge people in our surroundings. Whether or not we are standing on a scaffold or appear in a newspaper, we are still exposed to the public eye and are still mocked and judged today just as much, if not more, as during the Puritanic times. We condemn each other for sins we may as well have committed ourselves. Making an immoral decision is as simple as ignoring the ongoing issue of poverty and hunger despite of our awareness (Foy, 2010). We are no better today than we were four hundred years ago, we have merely changed the targets of our judgement and immoral behavior.