Some thoughts on moral reasoning . . .

I originally intended to submit this to the U.S. Naval Institute's flagship periodical Proceedings a few months ago but held off.  So now I will publish it here.

The original article appeared in the April 2017 issue.  I can't post it here without violating the terms of my USNI membership.  However, I'll summarize.  The author, a Reservist LCDR, wrote a three-page essay explaining why being of Judeo-Christian character is essential to being a good leader of Sailors.  Moreover, he strongly implies that one cannot lead effectively without religion.

A retired Captain answered the mail in a more concise manner than I would've.

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2017-05/comment-and-discussion

Anyway, here goes:

GOOD LEADERS FOLLOW THE GOLDEN RULE – AND MANY DO SO WITHOUT RELIGION

                Full disclosure: I grew up in the Catholic Church and was even confirmed.  While Catholicism certainly informed my world view, I have become a secular humanist over the past two decades.  In the April 2017 issue of Proceedings, LCDR  William Monk, USNR, argues that the Golden Rule is a pillar of good leadership and strongly suggests that leaders of faith have an advantage.  While I have served with Sailors and Marines of strong religious principals and the highest standards of character, I argue that religion is not necessarily a critical requirement for one to follow the Golden Rule.

FREEDOM OF – AND FROM – RELIGION

                LCDR Monk points to the Constitution that we support and defend and correctly highlights the constitutional right of “every citizen to practice the faith of his or her choosing.”  But he omits the first clause of Amendment I – that Congress “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”  That the Constitution was informed by the Enlightenment and a significant shift toward modern secular governance is certainly a matter worth consideration.  The order in which the Framers arranged each clause of Amendment I is certainly no accident.  One could, and should, consider the real possibility that the Framers placed freedom from religion above freedom of religion and that the order in which each concept appears is not coincidence.

EMPHASIS ON “JUDEO-CHRISTIAN VALUES”

                Assuming that our country and her political tradition is rooted in the aforementioned freedom from religion and Enlightenment perceptions of the natural goodness of humans, it is not necessarily correct or proper to attribute morality and ethics to a particular religion or group of religions.  The Golden Rule is not exclusive to Judeo-Christianity.  My deployments to the Middle East and Asia made me appreciate that people are people and generally have the same goals that we Americans tend to have.  People generally treat each other with dignity and respect.  People across the world go to work every day and share a common goal of making the world a better place for their children.  I challenge LCDR Monk to show me a good Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or atheist who does not abide by the Golden Rule.  Neither Americans, nor Judeo-Christians, or to cast a wider net adherents of all three Abrahamic religions, are exceptional.

GOOD, EFFECTIVE, MORAL LEADERSHIP

                Jesus was certainly a moral leader.  But Jesus was not the only good moral leader to walk our planet.  Nor was Jesus the originator of the Golden Rule.  In fact, one can easily find various iterations of the Golden Rule that existed in every major civilization.  Is the Hindu principle of Karma not a valid version of the Golden Rule?

GOOD AND EVIL

                Religion is an institution that exists within the framework of society.  According to the late British-Czech political scientist Ernest Gellner, the agro-literate society that spawned modern civilization ­­­relied on “stratified, horizontally segregated layers of military, administrative, clerical and sometimes commercial” ruling classes that collectively exercised control over laterally insulated communities of agricultural producers.   America is not, even today, much different.   We have our government and various institutions that protect the supremacy thereof.  Law enforcement ensures the general obedience of citizens.  The military provides for our protection from external threats.  America’s political system acts per Gellner’s model, with the exception that we do not require an official religious class.  But some other countries do place religion into Gellner’s framework.  Notably, Saudi Arabia’s government has a long-standing symbiosis with the Wahhabi clerics.   Iran, even with a constitution and political structure that resembles our own, is ultimately beholden to the Ayatollah and his unilateral power to dissolve the governing institutions and even the Iranian constitution.   Ultimately, the role of a clerical class in a society is rooted in that society’s specific traditions and history. 

                It has been stated in academic circles that the difference between good and evil is choice of cause.  A review of the history of Judeo-Christianity is full of examples of religious leaders committing horrific acts in the name of religion.  Consider the absolute power the Pope wielded during the Middle Ages.  Consider the massive amounts of bloodshed during the Crusades.  Consider the horrific acts, that we would today call “crimes against humanity,” that occurred during the Spanish Inquisition.  What good exists in such events beyond whatever benefits the victors reaped?

                LCDR Monk points to Hitler as a tyrant vice a “good leader.”  This is true, but I challenge LCDR Monk to read up on the history of Germany.  Hitler did not rise on his own.  He was a product of a long tradition of pan-European anti-Semitism dating back to the Holy Roman Empire (aka, the “First Reich”).

ATHEISTS CAN RAISE THE BAR TOO

                There are many good people among us who are atheists.   But there is no evidence to posit that atheism equates to evil, or that atheists commit more crimes than people of faith.  This is because people who are atheist tend to view themselves as members of society who are driven toward moral and ethical behavior out of respect for their fellow people vice adherence to religious dogma.  In Jacksonville, where I live and work, there is the First Coast Free Thought Society, which regularly meets at a local Unitarian church.  A visit to their website provides access to their monthly newsletter.  One article I found compares Mother Teresa and Dr. Jonas Salk.  Mother Teresa prayed for sick children; Dr. Salk developed the Polio vaccine – “not saintly but far better” because the vaccine was a physical action by an individual that yielded obvious measurable material results.  There is no evidence to prove that the act of praying produces measureable results.  Dr. Salk, incidentally, was an atheist.

                LCDR Monk lays out four supporting principles: Having a vision, actions speaking louder than words, being a servant leader, and being a leader of character.  None of these supporting principles are new or profound, but rather they are truisms.   One could ponder about what Jesus would do, but there are many other great people, living and dead, who we could choose to emulate.  I had a particularly effective Commanding Officer during a Department Head tour – a rational and calming voice of reason who I have tried to emulate in the performance of my duty to the Navy, to my country, and to my friends and family.

Importantly, none of these principles are predicated on religion.  Equally important is that we are all capable of living by these supporting principals.  We learn them through training and experience.   The Navy in fact stresses these supporting principals and the Golden Rule in one important concept: that we treat our Shipmates with dignity and respect.  As leaders (and all Sailors are expected to lead at some level), we stress adherence to dignity and respect.  We have our Core Values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment.  We stress the importance of knowing our people.  We also like to say, “Mission first, Sailors always.”  And we have several mottos that capture these principles: “Non sibi sed patriæ,” “Don’t give up the ship,” and (more recently) “Semper Fortis.”  The values LCDR Monk lays out are firmly ingrained in the Navy culture.

CONCLUSION

                Good leaders across the world follow the Golden Rule.  Good Sailors and military leaders follow the Golden Rule.  Religion is not a prerequisite for being a good leader.  And good leaders, particularly in the Armed Forces of the United States, live the Golden Rule.  No discussion of Jesus or any other specific religious leader is required or desired.  We allow our Sailors the opportunity to worship (or to not worship) as they see fit.  We also don’t publically invoke a particular religion in the execution of good leadership.  I would never invoke Jesus as my example in a public setting and I would prefer that my fellow naval leaders follow in like manner.