I’m fascinated by the groups of people we’ve granted moral authority – turning them into demigods. We have given these exalted ones the power to draw the line between right and wrong for the rest of us. I wonder if it was wise to cede our responsibilities so casually.
Let’s look at physicians for example. If I break my leg and decide to take a prescription-only narcotic on the way to the hospital, that is not okay. Drugs are bad. If, on the other hand, a clinician hands me a narcotic in a little plastic cup, then it is no longer wrong. That drug is a necessary good – all because someone in a lab coat deemed it so. I even expect a nurse to tell me “Good job” if I swallow the tiny pill on the first attempt.
Occasionally, I hear the phrase “That‘s a decision between a patient and doctor.” I interpret this to mean that physicians are not just trusted advisors. As long as you are under the care of a licensed physician, that individual has a say in your life-and-death decisions.
Those who govern morality
Now, clinicians are not the only demigods around us. Here are a few other groups that we make our moral betters:
- Military leaders have the power to make heroes out of killers when such behavior would make them murderers in unsanctioned-but-otherwise-similar circumstances. With other government officials, they decide1 what violence, death, and destruction are acceptable and good.
- Judges determine who deserves punishment, who needs oversight, and who should be excluded from society altogether. The laws guide them, but they have some discretion on how to apply it.
- Work supervisors make the rules defining ethical behavior for their employees. They have power over rewards, punishments, and when their underlings can start and stop working.
- While establishing our laws, senators and congressman also institute right and wrong for a country’s citizens. The law has a normative component, meaning that it speaks to what is moral and immoral behavior for the nation’s residents.
Like lifeguards, police, and coaches, there are other groups of people who have moral authority over us, but these examples are sufficient for now.
Attributes of our moral authorities
What are the characteristics of those with moral authority? They are generally educated, skilled and credentialed. Neat uniforms signal their trustworthiness and respectability. Demigods also tend to have lofty titles. They have written and unwritten rules of decorum that set them apart and above the rest of us. They say their only ambition is to help you.
These individuals see themselves as having some dominion over us, and enough people agree that it is so. Even when I resist, there are others who will step in and enforce the demigods’ rule. For they are fearsome and powerful.
When to abdicate your moral authority
When should you bow the knee? Who speaks for you with moral power of attorney? And in which circumstances?
We had a rule in my house growing up that we were not allowed to watch television on Sunday. One day, my father announced that we were old enough to make our own decisions about TV, and he trusted we would choose wisely. We cheered and began running up the stairs toward the television. He shouted for us to stop… and then changed his mind. No TV allowed. I was unprepared to choose the best option and am glad he made it for young me. My father could not make the same choice for me today.
You should not jealously guard agency in every circumstance. Some decisions you made a long time ago and no longer need to make again: firm resolutions, habits, and traditions. I keep a few of the promises I made when I was 14. I handed the decision over to my habits and let them run with it so that I can focus my energies elsewhere and avoid being unduly influenced during stressful moments.
Here are a few other reasons to hand your choices over to others:
#1 You are incapable
Young children, the infirm, and people in comas may need a guiding hand. Those who have lost the ability to choose because of severe addiction may need someone to step in. In short, others should make decisions for you when you are incapable of making them yourself.
#2 The choice is unimportant
There are also some kinds of unimportant decisions that we can outsource to others. If you offer to pick up lunch for me, go for it. I welcome you to take that decision so that I can focus elsewhere. Decision fatigue is real. The more hard choices you make during the day the more depleted you feel. Save some decisive energy for what matters.
#3 You have a destructive track record
A small percentage of people use their agency in a consistently destructive manner. They are a danger to themselves and those around them. These may be removed from society and lose their ability to make most choices. They could even forfeit every future decision and lose their lives.
Do not let moral authoritarians take your right to choose
If you can avoid the most damaging decisions, you are reasonably capable, and the circumstance matters to you, reserve the right to choose. Carefully consider the demigods’ direction, and then do what is right anyway. Accept responsibility for the outcomes whether they be good or bad. Don’t blame those who influenced you to make the wrong decision.
Citing your imperfections, some may attempt to restrict your agency. Sadly, demigods have been known to look out for their own interests instead of those they are supposed to care for. Instead of adopting a kind of learned helplessness and blindly following these leaders, maintain responsibility for our own resolutions. Those who suffer the most direct consequences of a choice should be the primary decision-makers.
Physicians do not select my course of treatment. I do, even though I lean on them for advice. I decide when violence is necessary, and no one can make me take a human life against my will. Even if a judge has the power to send me to prison, I still retain the right to decide what actions I will take. If my supervisor attempts to me make me act unethically, I will not comply even if it means that I could lose my job.
If it’s important to you, make the final choice. Let it be a decision between you and the mighty, loving, and all-knowing God – the one with moral authority.
And click here if you’d like to learn about how the laws we make for ourselves can make us miserable.