Origins and Foundations of Morality

One thing and only one thing will unfailingly and alone secure the undoubted triumph of this sacred Cause, namely, the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold aspects the splendor of those eternal principles proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh.

(Shoghi Effendi, Baha'i Administration: 66)

To better understand the phrase used by the House of Justice that spiritual principle “harmonizes with that which is immanent in human nature” we should go back to the difference between origins and foundations.  The first is an event that starts a process in time, an evolutionary or historical origin, while the other is an eternal structure that progressively unfolds in time.  The first, the manifest foundation and origin, is connected to and manifests the second, or essential foundation and purpose; that is, the origin and life of the temporal structure is an eternal, spiritual one.

Thus, by the foundations of morality I mean that eternal, metaphysical foundation laid at the creation of the universe and in the very creation of the spirit of humanity, and which is, too, the foundation and origin of community, what Jesus called “the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (The Book of Matthew 25:34) Living these eternal principles is the goal of human action, the behavioral aspect of the soul’s “mysterious nature” that “inclines it towards transcendence”.

The essential foundation of the human reality is, as Baha’u’llah stated that “all were made for harmony and union.”  The essential purpose of human social activity—i.e. how that essential foundation develops from origins in time and history—is that: “All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 214)

For me the origins of morality are in the interaction between an innate moral faculty and the Word of God.  Or, in the absence of the Word directly, in any moral code that the faculty encounters and stimulates into action.

But first: Is there a moral faculty? 

 Linguist and social theorist, Noam Chomsky, stated the argument for the existence of an innate moral faculty, writing that “it certainly seems reasonable to speculate that the moral and ethical system acquired by the child owes much to some innate human faculty and is rooted in our nature.” (Noam Chomsky, Language and Problems of Knowledge: The Managua Lectures, Cambridge MA: MIT Press p.153)

In the following passage, Baha’u’llah identifies the moral faculty in every human being: "Indeed, there existeth in man a faculty which deterreth him from, and guardeth him against, whatever is unworthy and unseemly, and which is known as his sense of shame. This, however, is confined to but a few; all have not possessed and do not possess it.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah: 63) (An important passage for Him as He repeated it in Epistle to the Son of the Wolf: 27-28)

This moral faculty, like every other faculty, must connect with some dimension of life.  Wayne Meeks states: “Morality names a dimension of life, a pervasive and, often, only partly conscious set of value-laden dispositions, inclinations, attitudes, and habits.” (Meeks: 4)  Psychologist and self-styled atheist, Jonathan Haidt, writes in his book The Happiness Hypothesis: “My claim is that the human mind perceives a third dimension, a specifically moral dimension that I will call ‘divinity’….  In choosing the label ‘divinity’, I am not assuming that God exists and is there to be perceived.  Rather my research on the moral emotions has led me to conclude that the human mind simply does perceive divinity and sacredness, whether or not God exists.” (The Happiness Hypothesis: 183-184) To perceive “a specifically moral dimension” via scientific research means there is an objective dimension there to perceive. 

This beautiful description of the spiritual dimension of human nature comes from a Bahá’i document: “Although there are mystical aspects that are not easily explained, the spiritual dimension of human nature can be understood, in practical terms, as the source of qualities that transcend narrow self-interest.  Such qualities include love, compassion, forbearance, trustworthiness, courage, humility, co-operation and willingness to sacrifice for the common good—qualities of an enlightened citizenry, able to construct a unified world civilization.” (Baha'i International Community, 1993 Apr 01, Sustainable Development and the Human Spirit)

However, like all those other dimensions and higher worlds that are the source of qualities that characterize our better natures, moral virtues are, because of the powerful undertow of egoistic self-interest, for the most part, and for most people, not within human power to consistently manifest without the assistance provided by the divine Manifestation of God and His Revelation. 

‘Abdu’l-Baha issued this trenchant comment on how the higher virtues come forth: “These virtues do not appear from the reality of man except through the power of God and the divine teachings, for they need supernatural power for their manifestation. It may be that in the world of nature a trace of these perfections may appear, but they are unstable and ephemeral; they are like the rays of the sun upon the wall.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions: 79-80)

He reinforced this idea to an American audience: “Through the breaths of the Holy Spirit man is uplifted into the world of moralities and illumined by the lights of divine bestowals. The moral world is only attained through the effulgence of the Sun of Reality and the quickening life of the divine spirit. For this reason the holy Manifestations of God appear in the human world. They come to educate and illuminate mankind, to bestow spiritual susceptibilities, to quicken inner perceptions and thereby adorn the reality of man—the human temple—with divine graces.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace:  330)

Higher virtues will not come forth and appear naturally and unannounced.  Rather, to receive heavenly assistance the individual must make a conscious decision to act in a certain way. Choice is of the essence of the free will.  The most important decisions are moral.  “Some things are subject to the free will of man, such as justice, equity, tyranny and injustice, in other words, good and evil actions; it is evident and clear that these actions are, for the most part, left to the will of man.” (Some Answered Questions: 248)

Nonetheless, divine assistance, like the light of the sun, is there regardless of human choice, for it is the propulsive power for motion and action in either moral direction.  That is, though an individual may be propelled by the divine, the direction he takes is up to him.

The Master again: “… man’s stillness or motion itself is conditioned upon the aid of God. Should this assistance fail to reach him, he can do neither good nor evil. But when the assistance of the all-bounteous Lord confers existence upon man, he is capable of both good and evil. … This condition can be likened to that of a ship that moves by the power of wind or steam. Should this power be cut off, the ship would be entirely unable to move. Nevertheless, in whatever direction the rudder is turned, the power of the steam propels the ship in that direction. If the rudder is turned to the east, the ship moves eastward, and if it is directed to the west, the ship moves west. …

“In like manner, all the doings of man are sustained by the power of divine assistance, but the choice of good or evil belongs to him alone.” (Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, newly revised edition, pp. 288-289.

The Moral Faculty: Leadeth Him to that which is Right

As religion inculcates morality, it is therefore the truest philosophy, and on it is built the only lasting civilization.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks: 32)

“Peace”, the House of Justice, explains “stems from an inner state “supported by a spiritual or moral attitude.”  Now an attitude is a settled way of thinking or feeling that is demonstrated in behavior.  Thus there are two moral dimensions to explore in the following discussion, the inner spiritual attitude that supports peace, and the outer practical action that builds peaceful community on the global scale.  It is what statements originating with the Universal House of Justice call the twin duties of individual and social transformation.  The change in scope of human community from national to global and universal parallels and occurs with an advance in being from human to spiritual being. From a long historical perspective this is, again, another example of the changing temporal/organic social form embodying more fully the unchanging eternal/spiritual pattern.  Now it reaches its highest form, that of maturity.

With the practical side of morality we are in the realm of actions that everyman can do to bring about world peace. Here, morality means not the abstract rules and principles of right behavior, but what transpires between human beings under the guidance of those rules of engagement of individuals.  That is, out of the interplay between moral rules and practices and the relations of individuals with those authorities that are the guardians of these rules there gradually emerges both a normative canon of concepts of economic, legal, cultural and social justice, and civil institutions that adjudicate, apply and mediate these. However, while principles and systems are real enough, in a social context the essence of all morality is to be sought for in the respect which the individual acquires for these rules and institutions.  Morals comes from mores and ethics from ethos, which are, respectively, customs and habits.

In many respects morality is the glue building community and holding its members together, especially in times of stress. In fact, it is difficult to think of the formation and evolution of morality without also thinking of forming, building, and maintaining distinctive community. Wayne Meeks, in his book, The Origins of Christian Morality, wrote: ‘Making morals means making community.” (Meeks: 5) Yet, because images of reality differ, codes of behavior that set out what is and is not moral differ, and when systems and beliefs differ clashes occur. 

Morality, then, is, socially, deeply conservative and communal, identifying an individual as a member of a community.  From this view, in any society moral advances are individual acts of courage of moral reformers in the name of higher principles or powers that go against the settled way of thinking, but which nonetheless constitute a broadening or humanizing, of established morality, and which often cost these pioneers, such as Socrates, Martin Luther King, and Gandhi, their lives.  Today, there is little traditional community left.  But a new global community is emerging.

The situation today was summed up by Baha’u’llah: “No two men can be found who may be said to be outwardly and inwardly united. The evidences of discord and malice are apparent everywhere, though all were made for harmony and union.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah: 163-164)

Now, if moral rules and principles harmonize with that which is immanent in human nature, as the House of Justice says that spiritual principles do, and if institutions embody the same spiritual principles and seek the same moral goals as individuals, then the moral faculty has a situation of coherence or unity, i.e. a harmony between inner and outer aspects.  Thus there is no contradiction between the individual’s inner sense of what is right and his outer behavior that demonstrates and expresses that moral potential. 

The only way to achieve this goal in a world that is simultaneously unifying and fracturing along myriad of moral fault lines is to adopt an universal code of morality.  And if humanity is one then our collective moral development would occur with principles of right and wrong that resonate with something immanent to the native faculties of people everywhere. 

Now let’s note again that there are two natures in the human being, traditionally called lower and higher, animal and angelic.  It is here, also, within the soul of the individual, that the spiritual and social worlds meet, interact, and influence each other, where the two natures of the human being either contend or cooperate, where morality takes shape.  The phrase “harmonizing with that which is immanent to human nature” assuredly means this higher, spiritual nature.  It is this nature that responds with alacrity to spiritual principles, and not to principles that legitimate or support prejudice, oppression and discrimination, principles that so attract the lower nature.

Religion has been the foundation of nearly every code of morality.  Unity in the moral realm, then, is inconceivable independently from the teachings of the world’s greatest Spiritual Figures.  “All the Manifestations of God and His Prophets have taught the same truths and given the same spiritual law. They all teach the one code of morality. There is no division in the truth. The Sun has sent forth many rays to illumine human intelligence, the light is always the same.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks: 142)

These universal moral principles, the one code of morality spoken of by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, are not any eclectic mix of  the various cultural norms, nor man-made codes restricting and training behavior., which are often unconscious holdovers from simpler times or the mere articulation of abstract principles which have little power to actually change human behavior.  This one code of morality is not any cultural norm, but a spiritual one. It is those principles and attitudes that connect with that which is immanent in the human spirit and bring it forth in good behaviors and practices.

In short, it is the eternal principles of right behavior that are part and parcel of every Revelation that harmonize with higher human nature.  But, as we have learned, eternal structures don’t enter the world in their full form, but unfold as the human race develops and evolves in its understanding of spiritual reality.  Hence Baha’u’llah makes statements such as: “From the heaven of God's Will, and for the purpose of ennobling the world of being and of elevating the minds and souls of men, hath been sent down that which is the most effective instrument for the education of the whole human race. The highest essence and most perfect expression of whatsoever the peoples of old have either said or written hath, through this most potent Revelation, been sent down from the heaven of the Will of the All-Possessing, the Ever-Abiding God. Of old it hath been revealed: ‘Love of one's country is an element of the Faith of God.’ The Tongue of Grandeur hath, however, in the day of His manifestation proclaimed: ‘It is not his to boast who loveth his country, but it is his who loveth the world.’ Through the power released by these exalted words He hath lent a fresh impulse, and set a new direction, to the birds of men's hearts, and hath obliterated every trace of restriction and limitation from God's holy Book.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 95-96)

Spiritual principles and the latent potentials and inner powers they bring forth are in a reciprocal relationship.  That is, they educe and support each other.  For example, the House of Justice states that: “The essential merit of spiritual principle is that it not only presents a perspective which harmonizes with that which is immanent in human nature, it also induces an attitude.”  Thus spiritual principle induces an attitude that supports peace when it is evoked.  A little later they declare about the commonality of the revealed religions: “The teaching that we should treat others as we ourselves would wish to be treated, an ethic variously repeated in all the great religions…sums up the moral attitude, the peace-inducing aspect, extending through these religions irrespective of their place or time of origin; it also signifies an aspect of unity which is their essential virtue, a virtue mankind in its disjointed view of history has failed to appreciate.”  Hence the moral attitude that supports peace also induces it through spiritual principles. 

But, traditionally, this reciprocal relationship failed to endure and our moral faculties became stunted, for the same reason that the faculties of religion and justice failed to fully develop as they should have; namely, universal divine thought was twisted and deformed by human self-interest into narrow privilege and prejudice.  “Had humanity seen the Educators of its collective childhood in their true character, as agents of one civilizing process, it would no doubt have reaped incalculably greater benefits from the cumulative effects of their successive missions. This, alas, it failed to do.” (The Promise of World Peace: 1)

The same situation appears today.  The Master explains: “Now, in our own day, history repeats itself.

“Those who would have men believe that religion is their own private property once more bring their efforts to bear against the Sun of Truth: they resist the Command of God; they invent calumnies, not having arguments against it, neither proofs.” (Paris Talks: 102)

Baha’u’llah warned the moral and religious leaders of His time: "O ye the dawning-places of knowledge!  Beware that ye suffer not yourselves to become changed, for as ye change, most men will, likewise, change. This, verily, is an injustice unto yourselves and unto others.... Ye are even as a spring. If it be changed, so will the streams that branch out from it be changed.” (Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come: 83)