In response to this week's lesson on the nature of ethics and morality, we've received the following email from Mick in Germany, who indentifies himself as a Reform Mormon without an LDS background:
"I fully agree with the article! To state that morality is clearly set forth in the Bible or any other held-to-be authority is as wrong as the opposite, - that ethics and morality are totally relative and up to one´s own taste. The latter statement is worse because it would undermine ethical reasoning altogether: If you claim all morality to be relative, you necessarily also embrace even the most authoritarian and intolerant moral codes as legitimate. To say that it is wrong to suppress women is then not any better than the opposite claim. To me that would imply an unbearable consequence!
I am inclined to put it that way: Ethical codes are useful guidelines that have to be adjusted according to the demands of the situation. But not to the demands of selfishness! Ethical reasoning and acting should always try to live up to the ethical principles of love, peace, truthfulness, empathy and justice.
Therefore, we should clearly distinguish between moral codes or rules (which are indeed relative), and ethical principles (the most important one´s are stated above) which are by no means relative but absolute; - yes, even sacred!"
About Me
- ROB. LAUER
- Rob. Lauer is an award-winning playwright, theatrical and television director, actor and TV talk show host. Rob’s first play, “Digger,” won BYU's 1982 Mayhew Award; was produced to critical acclaim that same year, was published in 1988, and republished in 2013. In 1990, he became the first playwright to win both awards for drama at the Deep South Writers Conference. His satire “Tom & Penny’s Yard Party” (available from Steel Spring Stage Rights) won the Best Play of the Year Award, while his urban drama, “The Church Street Fantasy,” won the Paul T. Nolan Award. Rob's New York City theatrical credits include three years as an actor with the acclaimed Prince Street Players and four years as Artistic Director of Sail Productions, Inc. From 2002 through 2005, he served as Artistic Director of “Swamp Gravy”—the State of Georgia's Official Folk-Life Play. He has taught playwriting at University of the Pacific and Western Wyoming Community College. Rob currently lives in Virginia where he produces and hosts a local TV talk show. He was Associate Director of the LDS Church's Hill Cumorah Pageant from 1997 through 2003. He has been a Reform Mormon since 2004.