During the October 2009 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave a talk titled Moral Discipline. I’ve listened to it and read it several times now, it’s a great commentary on why a society is much better off if individuals choose to be good on their own instead of trying to rely on outside forces (like governments) to compel people to be good. Here are a few choice quotes (emphasis mine):
The societies in which many of us live have for more than a generation failed to foster moral discipline. They have taught that truth is relative and that everyone decides for himself or herself what is right. Concepts such as sin and wrong have been condemned as “value judgments.” As the Lord describes it, “Every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god” (D&C 1:16).
As a consequence, self-discipline has eroded and societies are left to try to maintain order and civility by compulsion. The lack of internal control by individuals breeds external control by governments. One columnist observed that “gentlemanly behavior [for example, once] protected women from coarse behavior. Today, we expect sexual harassment laws to restrain coarse behavior. . . .
“Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we’ve become.”
Having a good and decent society starts one person at a time. In the grand scheme of things I’m unlikely to have a large scale impact for good, but hopefully I can have a positive impact on those that I come in contact with each day.
There could never be enough rules so finely crafted as to anticipate and cover every situation, and even if there were, enforcement would be impossibly expensive and burdensome. This approach leads to diminished freedom for everyone.
I’ve tried to explain this concept in other circumstances before. It feels like those who want a precise list of everything that would be considered right or wrong are looking for ways to do bad things while being able to fall back on the excuse of it not being on the list.
We cannot presume that the future will resemble the past—that things and patterns we have relied upon economically, politically, socially will remain as they have been. Perhaps our moral discipline, if we will cultivate it, will have an influence for good and inspire others to pursue the same course. We may thereby have an impact on future trends and events. At a minimum, moral discipline will be of immense help to us as we deal with whatever stresses and challenges may come in a disintegrating society.
Do the right thing, life is less stressful that way 🙂
If you have a few minutes go read the whole thing.