Morality Without Ethics
Before I start this post, don’t get me wrong: rules, order and structure are important for a society, a community or for a group to thrive. With that being said, it’s important to remember that the rules, order and structure are meant to support the people within a group or ecosystem, small or large, to not just survive, but to thrive. And they’re also meant to protect the dignity and just treatment of human beings. At least, this is from a moral and ethical perspective, where ethics is a significant component in morality. True morality cannot be separated from ethics. Morality without ethics is farce and a performance of righteousness.
This post is about how the United States, or at least, the people with the most privilege and power in the United States, have prioritized a conception of moral superiority with an absence of ethics. This shows up in our current presidential administration, and an overwhelming amount of the US American people who admire and support him and the bigoted ideologies he promotes, which are heavily embedded into his policies.
Most of the time in US American conservative and republican political ideologies, there is an emphasized attachment to rules and order. There is a widely held belief that by maintaining rules and order and expecting people to abide by them unconditionally, morality and an ethical society are being promoted; however, the upholding of conceptualized morality, very often influenced by political and religious tradition, is largely prioritized over being ethical in these more conservative and of course nationalist groups. Ethics almost seems to become irrelevant even when it comes to considering law and order. Or at least, the worthiness of ethical consideration and treatment only becomes reserved for a select privileged group of people– which, in this exclusion in turn, cannot be fully ethical.
And it makes sense why the neglect of ethics is so popular and justified by many, when you consider the bigoted hierarchies and systems that most modern conservatives and no doubt US American nationalists strive to uphold. Being able to separate ethical consideration from morality gives someone justification to separate them from the ecological role they play in the world as they chase their own selfish desires, being able to shift blame away from themselves for contributing to the harm of the marginalized individuals they step over to get what they want. One of the most prominent examples of this comes from those who promote US Christian nationalism in particular, and laud Trump as some divinely appointed hero who is going to “save America” from their discomfort and perceived evils of diversity and people who are different from them.
It is easy for people from many conservative and even nationalist groups to feel a connection to a conceptualized God who they believe favors them for their moral compass. They manifest their perceived religious, “godly” moral compass through behaviors like attending churches that laud God while promoting bigotry and oppressive hierarchical systems including patriarchy, antagonizing and dehumanizing queer people, celebrating patriarchal men for having power and status even as they have a reputation for abusing women and children, believing that women are intellectually deficient and must submit to men to whom they are second class citizens to, ignoring the life threatening conditions women face in pregnancy by blocking healthcare and access to abortion, justifying slavery, in addition to so much more.
Image by Aditya Vyas (@aditya1702) on Unsplash.
In other words, there is an entitlement to inner peace, pride in moral virtue and “godliness” despite, and even through, the neglect of ethics. People with this affiliation favor a conceptualization of God that is neglectful and even opposed to dignifying all human beings.
For non-Christian US American conservatives, whether they ascribe to an organized religion or not and claim to care about their country through expressing deeply conservative and nationalist ideologies, they are also guilty of prioritizing rules and order over ethics and morality. Whatever ethical considerations they have, just like religious Christian nationalists, may only be reserved for people that they personally relate to and give value based on bigoted ideologies created by bigoted hierarchies. For example, they will be in support of Ukrainian civilians while calling for the annihilation of Palestinian people. In other words, their ethical considerations only go as far as their selective humanity will allow.
Religious or not, people from these ultra conservative groups still feel an entitlement to stolen US American land while shunning undocumented immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants of color, for wanting to and very often needing to find new opportunities for better lives. Not to mention, these entitled ultra conservatives and nationalists act like they have more claim to the land and resources than the very people indigenous to it.
Who are these entitled people to get mad over immigrants coming to the United States because they’re (immigrants) not “following the law” when they’re (entitled US citizens, most often white) privileged enough to be here from their ancestors breaking moral and ethical “laws”?
And it’s funny if you ask these same entitled, bigoted people why following the law perfectly is so important, even if it neglects ethical and humane consideration, because they will likely justify it as rules and order being necessary for the protection of the people, which will be rooted to a moral and ethical lens if you keep asking further.
These same people are proponents of people being locked up in jail for drug use because it was illegal, even if these people didn’t cause harm to other people, yet have double standards for male rapists and other abusers, including their own beloved orange president. They will scapegoat marginalized groups for violence, yet make excuses and justifications for murderers when they happen to be police or a white man while refusing to reconsider how accessible guns should be. Not to mention, they will also justify the US playing offense in terrorizing, dominating and stealing from people in other countries.
They claim to be worried for the safety of the girls and women in their lives and scapegoat transgender women and people of color while mingling with and looking up to people with the likes of Andrew Tate and again, Donald Trump.
Why should a moral and ethical lens only be considerate of the humanity of a privileged some, and not for all? And then why are criminals like the president and Tate given immunity from consequences by self proclaimed God-fearing, self-proclaimed morally conscious people if they truly care about being “righteous”? Why do these same people justify their ancestor’s colonization and brutality, using the phrase that “your land is the one you defend,” yet harbor a double standard against immigrants who aren’t harming anyone to create or continue their new life in the United States? Why do these people think that being privileged enough to be born into the United States means that they are more worthy and deserving of being here (again, may I remind you on land stolen from indigenous people who are still being exploited to this day), of the safety and opportunities that this country has to offer than an undocumented immigrant who did not have that same privilege of access? Why do these people get up in tears about being pro life and pregnancies being terminated while not having given a single damn about the countless babies, pregnant mothers, and others being bombed by their beloved United States government in conjunction with the Israeli government (and even encouraging it)?
Because again– it’s not about righteousness at the end of the day. It’s about control.
It’s about power.
It’s about feeling entitled to morality and feeling a sense of inner peace from moral superiority, and perhaps a sense of godliness.
It’s about bigoted people wanting to equate righteousness with their lack of humanity; it’s about them wanting to reconcile their evil with righteousness.
