Morality was probably self-enforcing in many societies in the past. In ancient Israel, for instance, the Law provided that persons who violated various moral law were to be executed -- usually stoned. When Jesus rescued the woman taken in adultery they were about to stone her to death. Sometimes the immoral person would be exiled. Morality was defined by the community and immoral persons were killed or thrown out. Today, we have hundreds of "moralities" in the U.S.: Roman Catholic, Reform Judaism, David Koresh, Tibetan Buddhism, etc. The worst any of these communities can do to enforce their morality is to expel the member (excommunicate). When one kills another (e. g. an abortion doctor)he may not violate his personal moral law, but is prosecuted under criminal law -- which has nothing much to do with morality any more. If a state defines sodomy as a crime, then sodomites will be imprisoned. If another state ignores sodomy, there is no penalty, even though most of the communities in the state consider it immoral. This difference seems to me to show different attitudes toward the morality of homosexuality, even though there is still a man in Indiana prison (I suppose) because his wife charged him with sodomy during their divorce.
I'll admit it is still an open question whether a multi-morality nation like ours can long endure. We survived the Civil War which was ultimately propelled by the morality of slavery. Whether we will resolve the questions of animal sacrifice in Coral Gables, sodomy in Georgia, physician murders in several states, gay lynching in Texas, etc. I do not know. The Christian right, I believe, intends to impose a system of morality on everyone in the country. If they do, it will not be self-enforcing morality, but imposed by the power of the State. |
