Right from Wrong

In Francis Collins book, The Language of God, one of the underlying supports for his work is that we all are created with a Moral Law - and understanding of right and wrong.  This is a theory that C.S. Lewis discusses in Mere Christianity, the book that led Collins to this theory.

Later in the book, Collins discusses four ethical principles that T.L. Beauchamp and J. F Childress argue undergird much of bioethics, and are "common to virtually all cultures and societies."  They are:

• Respect for autonomy - people should have freedom for person decision making
• Justice - requirement for fair, moral and impartial treatment of everyone
• Beneficence - treat others in their best interest
• Nonmaleficense - do no harm

As I read about the innate moral law and these ethical principles, I started thinking about how we treat each other in society.

We believe that the moral law and ethical principles are part of everyone's creation because of God, but the presence of them, and our adherence to them, isn't dependent on faith - it's part of who we are. 

For me, as I see how we fight each other (thinking about politics), and how we judge each other (thinking about politics), I react in disbelief. This is not how we were created; this is not how we are to live. We know this, and yet we do it anyway.

This is why I believe character matters in an election. This is why I an disgusted with congress. I see a lack of honor and a lack of ethics. It's not that some politicians aren't behaving as I think they should, but that they are ignoring the moral law that makes us human. We all do that, but we don't all do it in such consistent "me first" actions.

They need to do much better.