The Moral Component

Dear reader, to continue "On Thinking," classifications abound on the topic of thinking in general and generously populate the broad categories of Moral Thinking (good thinking, Godly thinking)--Mixed Thinking--Amoral Thinking.

One subcategory of human mixed thinking is Viewpoint Thinking--reliance on individual self-directed and self-justified thinking. This practice is very common and obvious in modern thought and though seemingly reasonable, all too frequently does leave God, if not entirely then largely, out of the proposition--a dangerous practice, making the thinking vulnerable to any strong contest against it.

I found this article in USA Today last week. It is a perfect example of Subjective Viewpoint Thinking. Though its Christ-Centeredness cannot be ascertained, it does have moral connotation to it, which encourages me to think God's value system might be behind it all, whether consciously on the author's part or not.

Regardless, it is most certainly an example of human mixed thinking, lacking any stated moral component and therefore the moral force necessary to rally much enthusiasm for it. The value of the piece as I see it is that it demonstrates that there is often more than total moral numbness in mixed human thinking. And that I find hopeful. The shame is that the author does not defer to (though the situation rightly calls for it), indeed, makes no reference to God's designation of humankind as stewards of our creation and resources and our responsibility to act rightly in protecting it.

See what you think.

"Scientists Unveil 1st Man-Made Bacteria"

. . . "This represents an important step in our ability to engineer organisms," says Howard Hughes Medical Institutes genome researcher Jim Collins."

"Technology assessment expert David Rejeski of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, D.C., warned that the advancement will spark some concern. 'If anything positive comes out of the (Gulf of Mexico) oil spill, it is that nobody is going to believe in 'fail-safe' technologies for a long time, and that will apply to scientists tinkering with biology as well,' he said."(USA Today. Nationline, Friday, May 21, 2010. P. 3A)

Though Mr. Rejeski shuns the word good in preference for the more politically correct word positive, I agree with him that the tragedy in the Gulf may inspire some new thinking (a least for a while) and raise him one (a favorite term from my bridge playing pastimes) by saying the tragedy may even inspire some human good thinking. But don't hold your breath. Man has a short memory (witness Aminijad's attack on the copiously documented verity of the Holocaust). And we do live in a fallen world where notoriously things do not regularly go right. To the contrary, in a secularized and pluralistic society, good thinking is sadly all too often no more than a subject of worldly scorn.

Another subcategory of human mixed thinking is Objective Viewpoint thinking. It is most notable in journalism and is a standard requirement for most articles. In news writing, anything other than objective writing is sectioned off into editorials, forums, letters, opinion pages, and so on. Objective Viewpoint Thinking also lacks any obvious moral component, most often deliberately and by definition.

Take for instance, the BP debacle currently playing out in the Gulf.

Headlines such as this one--Well Design was Cheaper, Faster, Riskier--point, I think, to man's arrogant presumption and irresponsible behavior when dealing with delicate and irreplaceable resources (Orlando Sentinel Sunday, May 23, 2010, p. A-1).

Even if the Orlando Sentinel value system being applied here does not deal with morality and focuses instead merely on the presumed value of factual reporting, preferring to speak of well-drilling accounts, engineering reports and quasi objective standards concerning some vague notion of safety; regardless of this major shortfall, it does in its clinical waydescribe a terrible tragedy of human error and disaster.

Obviously, the point of focusing on the presence or absence of the moral component in thinking, at this moment, is to spotlight it as the missing critical ingredient in this type of human mixed thinking. To the truly informed mind, discerning such matters is an ongoing necessity.

In short, dear reader, human thinking frequently is absent the moral component. All of God's thinking consists of Moral Thinking. The thinking of our Triune God is the eternal moral component. And learning to let God's good thinking gently and thoroughly pervade every aspect of our thinking, as the Word encourages us to do, is humankind's hightest calling.

That's why we're supposed to read our Bible daily. That's why we're supposed to look daily for what is really good for us in it, so we can keep God's good in the forefront of our thinking.

And it's worth the effort every time, don't you think?

I do.

My thinking.

My choice.


To be continued . . .