Morality is social, and that’s a good thing
It’s common to hear Christian evangelists (and far right agitators) reference their strong moral code and its foundation in the bible. However it is just as common to have it pointed out to them they don’t worry about wearing clothes of more than 1 fabric, let alone do they often care about the poor. They might then contend these passages of the bible don’t actually matter, or even that it’s the belief in God itself that gives a person their moral weight. They might say that morals need authority to be real, and that it can’t exist if it doesn’t doesn’t come from a higher power.
However, this has been disproven by many studies show that Atheists and Theists alike have similar moral codes, https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0246593.
So then perhaps morals are just innate?
This is probably the most implicitly held belief today with regards to the origin of morals. It's common to hear folks people claim that their morals, as well as their political stance, has never changed since young adulthood. However, we can look to the growing acceptance (reacceptance) of gay people in society amongst all ages to see that this is evidently false.
So if our morals don’t come from a divine power and they’re not completely innate, then is the only alternative the dreaded “moral relativism”. Moral relativism in this simplistic sense is understood by most as arguing that no act can ever be criticised as it just depends on one’s viewpoint. For example we'll hear it used bluntly to argue that we can’t criticise genital mutiliation because it’s a cultural practice for many tribes. Genital mutiliation is obviously abhorrent for anyone with a conscience, and clearly demonstrates the limits of this framework
However, there is another subtler alternative to those three ideas which also better explains the disconnect between the un-Christian actions of many Christian evangelists.
Morals are social constructions.
They are among the most vital and important social constructions. This means morals can and do vary from group to group and place to place. However, the key difference to moral relativism, is that what is right and good, or moral, is always in a subconcious process of development and conversation between individuals in order to further develop it.
Understand that to say something is a social construct is not to say it’s not real or not important. Traffic lights are social constructs, and you should only ignore these at your own peril. And it doesn’t mean we can never say one action is more or less moral than another. If most people agree murder is bad, then it is obviously accepted that murder is bad. Our morals can be codified into laws or religions, but laws and religions can fall behind our own morals if they are frozen in time.
And this is actually an incredibly empowering realisation.
We can make a difference. For example people from a marginalised group can explain their pains and struggles to help others understand and develop our collective moral compass. In the same way language to describe gender or sexuality evolves over time to explain more experiences, moral understanding does too.
That said we shouldn’t take for granted that morals will always develop positively. It’s easy to point to early 1930s Germany which had some of the most progressive rights and opportunities for LGBT people, however these same groups were then among the first to be targeted by Nazis. Even after WW2 when soldiers freed victims from concentration camps, LGBT individuals were often left behind, or transported back to regular German prisons. Before this, Victorian culture and it’s export across the globe through colonialsm led many cultures who were accepting of sexual and gender variety becoming a lot less tolerant, and many still feel the repercussion of this today.
Human culture isn't a monolith.
One's worldview and morality will differ depending on who you are surrounded with. Therefore it's important to never close ourselves off to those outside our circles who might puncture our beliefs. And likewise it's vital for us to puncture the worldview of those who need to have it punctured.
"Afflict the comfortable, and comfort the afflicted".
In summation, morality is a process.
It’s a process of us sharing insight and knowledge, and listening to each other. Art has an important place in this conversation, but just existing even more so. Seeking moral understanding and knowledge and pushing the conversation forward is a valuable goal and a moral imperative for everyone.
Originally written 13th December 2023 Updated 14th of October 2024