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Moral Compass

Went to Google for this, like I always do.  For those of you who don’t have access to the Google. Often reading comments and questions online it seems Google isn’t available. I’ll add some detail.

And for those of you who think differently than I do, so as to not impose my opinion or interpretation of, moral compass, morals or morality.  Went straight down the list of the search. Didn’t skip. Including something from Texas!  I am of the opinion currently that Texas is running low, so wanted an opposing opinion.  Well, Texas and others.

So here we go.

What is a moral compass? And since a compass is kind of like a clock, how many points should there be? This one has eight. How about four?

Good, bad, right, wrong. Do we need all the stuff in-between? Can there be too many choices? 

Difference: (n) a point or way in which people or things are not the same. So much is not the same. Yet, it is.

I don’t feel that I am really any different than many.  I’m not special.  Don’t have any special skills or talent or insights.  I try to be kind, descent, fair and not cause harm.  Listen or try to listen to understand and consider the alternative. Check my bias at every level.

What’s a challenge right now for me is the extraordinarily enormous gap in the way some things are different. Things that seem or feel wouldn’t normally necessarily be different.  Yet they are.  

moral Adjective 
a: of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior
b: expressing or teaching a conception of right behavior
c: confirming to a standard of right behavior
d: sectioned by or operative of one’s conscience or ethical judgment
e: capable of right and wrong action

moral Adjective
relating to the standards of good or bad behavior, fairness, honesty, etc. that each person believes in, rather than to laws:

-It’s her moral obligation to tell the police what she knows.
-It is not part of a novelist’s job to make a moral judgment.
-She was the only politician to condemn the proposed law on moral grounds (= for moral reasons).
-The Democrats are attempting to capture the moral high ground (= are trying to appear more honest and good than the other political parties).

moral
Other forms: morals

The moral of a story is the lesson that story teaches about how to behave in the world.

Moral comes from the Latin word mores, for habits. The moral of a story is supposed to teach you how to be a better person. If moral is used as an adjective, it means good, or ethical. If you have a strong moral character, you are a good member of society. If someone is a cheat and a liar, you might say, “She is not a moral person.”

The definition of Morality | Stanford University

  1. descriptively to refer to certain codes of conduct put forward by a society or a group (such as a religion), or accepted by an individual for her own behavior, or
  2. normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational people.

MORALS: Morals are society’s accepted principles of right conduct that enables people to live cooperatively. | Univ. of Texas

Synonyms: good, honorable, clean, moralistic, incorrupt, virtuous

Any of you out there still working and yearly are required to take online or in person training that are about ethical behavior, code of conduct, harassment, etc. I have for years. For the last few years as I take them I think about our government.

Growing up I knew what this meant.  Growing up I also didn’t have to think about it. I knew what it meant to me and those around me. It was pretty clear what was right and what was wrong.  Now…if feels like wrong is right, right is wrong. At least in my definition of morals. What I see happening in the world right now, is diametrically apposed to my moral compass. The glass is cracked and possibly cracked beyond repair.

Right: Ethical. Be fair. Be honest. Obey the law. Be respectful. Be kind.  

Wrong:  Lying. Disrespect. Racism. Dehumanizing another human being. Name calling.  Mocking. Self-righteous indignation. Unprincipled. Corrupt.

Our gap between right and wrong is immeasurable.

How did we get here?

It’s important to note that these points are generalized observations, and individual experiences and moral beliefs can vary widely. Additionally, societal changes are complex and multifaceted, influenced by a multitude of factors. To gain a more precise understanding, one would need to consider specific regions, cultures, and demographics. -ChatGPT

My truth will offend some. Or some of you are already left.

I refrained for four years, and then some. Now I worry my silence was to some, showing respect or acceptance of the behavior or actions of some. 

Wrong. I respect the office, but I did not in any form respect the man.  On my moral compass he is completely bankrupt, deficient, amoral, nonmoral, unmoral, what ever else you can call it.  Destructive and dangerous.  I search for something, anything redeeming. I can’t.

He fully unlocked and gave license to racism, white supremacy and misogyny discrimination, injustice, bias as the norm.  Cheating, lying and disregard for the law. Fears are being fed, with deep untruths about the world, its history, its people and a path to move forward together in peace and harmony.

Sherilyn Ifill said, “the thing that Trump realized was that there were all of these white people who wanted to be “free of the requirements of decency.”

Seriously.  Who really thinks that the average person, you or me, today would get away with what he has done? Mostly he has. Now, slowly a few juries are attempting to right the wrong.  The average person is NOT getting away with even less.

That aside, I’ll be the first to say that our justice system is beyond broken. Justice is not blind. Justice sees color and is greedy.

Let me just put this out there, take everything he has said.  Everything he has done and replace his name with, Obama said, or Obama did.  Right. He would be in prison, period.  You know it.  You’ve probably said it. And why? Hypocrisy and the double standard doesn’t align my compass.

Some are and have essentially replaced Biden’s name for what the other has done. And the former is a champion of that. Much of what he says is projection of his own lies and miss deeds.

If only it were pre-internet, and three networks.  How many times have I heard the former president accuse the current of something he actually did. Everyday. You aren’t listening. That has to be it. Why? I’m not that biased or niave.

I am no scholar.  I am not book smart.  For those of you that I believe are academically superior to me, you surprise me and cause me great pause.  I chose to keep what ever intelligence I was gifted with, emotional, heart, what ever you want to call it.  I will continue to embrace mine and wish you well.

What also causes me pause in the anger and ease with which some project onto others.  And almost always, someone that they can’t know or know their story. What happened?  Who abused you?  Who disenfranchised you that it has left you this bitter? Who took your freedom? Who took your house, your land, your family wealth, your history? Or is that guilt driving you to cover insecurity. 

relating to the standards of good or bad behavior, fairness, honesty

This is my foundation. This was how I was raised.  And as I began my Buddhist studies, I was met with basic goodness. ‘Our essential nature is good, workable, and worthwhile. This is sometimes contrasted with the idea of original sin, although it is arguable that both notions include the concept of a primordial purity that is stained or covered over. The experience of reality and also basic human Nature.Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche  

Do no harm.  If you can’t say something nice…  Be a decent human being, honest and in a way that most approve.  Yet, here we are.  In my view approving of or just accepting this reprehensible behavior is destroying us. No matter how it is explained, I will not understand.  Actually, I don’t want to because the trail of tears and destruction is overwhelming and needs to be cleared and healed.

I think I’ve been pretty quiet about this.  Or maybe things snuck out when the level of insanity got to a breaking point…every day.  I’ve tried to not add to it, I don’t post disrespectful things. I’ve tried to remain respectful.  I’ve tried not to call people names, and I don’t mock others.  If I have and it’s out there, I apologies.

Then I thought about something I posted a while back, they say silence is golden, it also speaks volumes. Silence can be misinterpreted and misleading.

My heart breaks.

Offended or heartbroken? I’ve thought about the difference. Our difference is manufactured. And the architect or the creator of that difference, their agenda is not for the greater good. It is as he has intended and said, for retribution. How will this serve anyone?

If you listen to and hear DJT, really hear him and do not hear the lack of understanding of the human condition, do not hear his disregard or decency and disdain for others, especially women.  Just his complete lack of respect for anyone.  Including the office he held.  His inability to know more or limited interest beyond more than himself, rules, laws, legislation, human decency is obvious. His complete dearth of a moral compass is alarming. What sounds like early or even advanced stages of a cognitive decline, where is his family?  If you listen and do not hear this,  please check, what is he feeding in you? Where is the anger living in you? If his disregard and disrespect for women isn’t enough, I question self respect.

I also wonder and worry a little about this man, who by his own admission has everything. Yet daily he speaks ill of, well everyone in and outside of his orbit.  Mocked the handicap.  Calls the men and women who fought for your freedom losers. “I like people who weren’t captured.” Calls humans vermin, poison, rapists. A shit hole country. That doesn’t say something, anything about his character? His intention?

What I ask with all the love, respect and compassion I can gather, what in you finds any of this okay?  What will this man do other than destroy us?  Break democracy and the rule of law.  His path is clear.  He’s said it, retribution. Even his steadfast supporter will not be safe or exempt of his intent. He is dismissive of loyal staff, ‘barely knew them’. He’s going to protect you? No. We are nothing to him. And you and I will be long gone before there is even a hint of recovery. Even from just where we are now.

One last thing, not that I believe that there is or will be an anti-christ, but I found this unnervingly interesting.

We need a compass recalibration.