Basis for Morality

We are all interconnected, what happens to one affects the whole. Morality is not owned by any one group. True morality should be based on common sense, that applies to all, whatever their beliefs. It should represent the best that humans are capable of achieving.  A view that is long, wide, real, and life affirming.

It should include the long view through time, taking into account deep time and the distant future as well as the present.

It should be wide, acknowledging, respecting and benefitting the largest circle that humans are capable of perceiving, such as the interconnected web of life.

It should be real and maintain respect for physical realities.

It should be life affirming and nurturing to all.

The covenant of life

We did not make Earth or life. Everything was here long before we were born, before humans came into existence. Everyone who is alive today has been given the gift of life, and has accepted it. (The only way not to accept it is to commit suicide. So everyone reading this has accepted the gift of life.)

When you accept this gift you have a moral obligation to pass on life undamaged to the future. This is the covenant that comes when we accept this incredible gift.

A morality of nurturing life - Eco ethics

The morality that is usually talked about is based on the patriarchy whose goal is domination by males. We need a different morality, one that addresses the larger reality, and attempts to address today’s challenges. One that is based on respect for all and the nurturing and continuance of life on Earth.

Every decision should be based on its effect on the web of life, which we need to survive and thrive. Every decision should be based on it’s interrelationships, on how it will interact and affect others.

The goal would be to work within the matrix of the web of life and to carry the web forward intact and to the benefit of all.

The Proposal

WEB OF LIFE  It should be immoral to destroy the very gift of life, the web which makes all life possible. Every deliberation should  have as it's highest priority the interrelations and the preservation of the web of life.

COMMONS It should be immoral to pollute or in any way destroy or permanently alter the commons: air, water, earth, and biodiversity of plant and animal. The commons after all

supports all the life of the planet including humans.

BIODIVERSITY It should be immoral to

drive species into extinction and to permanently destroy ecosystems.

INTEGRITY OF LIFE It should be immoral to alter or destroy the very matrix of life. The integrity of Naturally evolved life on our planet Earth should be valued and maintained, now and in the future.

VALUE It should be immoral to devalue and destroy parts of the web, even the means of life, claiming they have no value other than the monetary profit or strictly human benefit that can derived from them. (Like rainforests or biodiversity.)

LIFE AFFIRMING RESPECT It should be considered moral to have empathy and respect for all life as well as the means of life.

WAR It should be immoral to commit or support the terrorizing and mass murder of people, animals and destruction of the environment, which we call war (True defense is something else.)

TORTURE It should be immoral to torture anyone including other animals, as we do routinely in factory farming and laboratories.

GREED It should be immoral to practice greed and exploitation, at the expense of people, other animals and the web of life. To take  from Earth / Nature more than it has the capacity to regenerate.

OVERPOPULATION Human population must take into account the carrying capacity of our planet, the ability of other species to survive, the health of the Web of life which supports us all. In a world so overpopulated that if we continue this way we are putting even our own species in jeopardy, it should be moral to encourage people to have fewer children and to take better care of those

we have.

How about, instead of trying to dominate and

own the procreation of life (patriarchy), why

not try to nurture and care for all life?  

How about shifting to respecting, protecting, nurturing and cherishing the means of life? 

We could foster respect for everybody, every creature, every ecosystem. We could define morality as dealing with the support and nurturance of life, for us and for the whole web of life, now and in the future.

Some indigenous cultures incorporated some of these values, and lived on Earth without destroying it for 100 thousand years. ‘Modern’ culture is destroying the web of life in a couple of hundred.

We don’t have to return to hunting gathering. If we take our modern knowledge and put it in the matrix of earth based morality, I believe we could achieve a comfortable sustainably into the future, to everyones benefit.

We have not made life, we have not made this precious planet, the only one we know of where life exists. We have been born into this great

gift which took billions of years to create. It is

our moral responsibility to pass it on to future generations healthy and intact. Perhaps an eco conscious morality can help do this.