Moral Knowledge, Crime, and Persecution

            The certain moral belief that, I am a good person, and this other person, they are a bad person, has justified some of the most heinous crimes. For example, consider the Holocaust. It was founded on the belief that the Jews, they are bad people. Take torture during the Global War on Terror. It was founded on the belief that these radical Muslims are bad people, so they were tortured. The certain belief that I am a good person, and this other group of people, they are bad people, has justified some of the heinous crimes. What Hannah Arendt said was the banality of evil, how ordinary people commit horrible crimes. This is also the story of Stanley Milgram's prison experiment. People who don't have the self-awareness that they might be evil or do something bad or who believe themselves morally superior, commit some of the most horrible crimes.

            I have at times thought that I could escape this trap of thinking I am a good person and therefore justifying horrible crimes against another group people by telling myself that I am a bad person. To quote the New International Version of the Bible, “Jesus Christ came to the world to save sinners, of which I am the worst.” However, a more accurate response is moral uncertainty. We may only be able to tell the consequences and morality of our actions years after we are dead. Think of the existence of slavery throughout human history, and how we now know that slavery is wrong. I have written in another blog post about I think that moral truth is abstract and eternal. We will not know what eternal truth is discovered in the future that makes us seem barbaric now, just as we have discovered the eternal truth that slavery is wrong. I am willing to bet that our current prison system will be seen as inhumane, and that prison reform, or maybe even at some point abolition, and more humane treatment of people with mental illness, substance use, and criminal convictions will be prevalent. I believe that LGBTQ+ rights will still be moral truth a century from now, regardless of what happens politically in the United States in the next few years.

            Take the 13^th amendment to the Constitution, which outlawed slavery, except as a punishment for a crime. As a society, we look at people who have committed crimes, and think to ourselves, they are bad people, so they deserve to be enslaved and in prison, but this is little different from what the European slave traders told themselves about the Africans who they enslaved. There is technology now to monitor people such as GoPros, GPS tracking, that allow us to know where a person is and what they are doing constantly.

As I have said in other blog posts, I do not support defunding the police, because I believe that privatized police will be even less accountable, but I am warming up to the idea of prison reform, and maybe at some point abolition. Some people are dangerous and should be separated from society, but there are humane ways to do that, that support reform and mental health treatment, rather than slavery.

To think of law enforcement, or Republicans (are bad people!), or Democrats (are bad people!), or the prison guards, or the military, as evil, is to commit the very same dehumanization and morally certain belief that I am a good person, and this other group of people is evil. I think that certain conspiracy theories are grounded in the moral belief that I am a good person, and this other group of people, they are bad people. I am not advocating for moral neutrality or lack of accountability, I do not think that white supremacy and multiculturalism have the same moral value, but a little moral humility and uncertainty. Multiculturalism, on the other hand, is rooted in more moral uncertainty and moral humility. Consider Jesus and the Romans. The Romans looked at Jesus, and thought, we are good people, and Jesus, he is bad person, so they executed him.

A good way to discover eternal moral truth is to help those who are oppressed, whether that is the poor, mentally ill, children, immigrants, people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, or different religions or cultures. Whether if that is by totalitarian governments or totalitarian corporations. It is not only governments that can be oppressive, but corporations and the free market can be oppressive too. Jesus’s life and moral teaching was timeless, and continues to be a moral guide, even two thousand years later. Jesus did not advocate for violence against his persecutors, instead he loved and forgave them. He did not think, I know I am a good person, and the Romans, they are bad people. He did not tell his apostles to take up arms. He blessed those persecuted him.

The degree to which we pursue a goal should be directly proportional to its morality. We should only pursue goals as doggedly as we are certain that they are moral goals. For example, would we want a very determined bank robber? If a bank robber continues to pursue bank robbing, they are in effect saying that bank robbing is very moral, and it is a worthy goal. I want to be a social worker and therapist, so that I can help those who are oppressed and advocate for human rights. I believe that trying to limit the damage from the climate crisis is probably another eternal moral truth.

We often need to see ourselves as good people to protect our egos. However, it takes a truly confident person to admit their flaws, weaknesses, and admit moral uncertainty of their own actions. To admit you might not be a good person, is different from saying, I am definitely a bad person. Who knows how our actions and lives might be seen two hundred years from now, or a thousand years from now? I admire the bible saying, “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief,” it takes a great deal of courage to say that.

P.S. I want to clarify that in this article, I am saying that I see the difference between the person and the belief. I strongly disagree with white supremacy, but I still see the humanity of a white supremacist. That does not mean that I condone white supremacy, or view it as acceptable. People who commit crimes or who are immoral should be held accountable, but that doesn't mean that I think they are "bad" people.