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Moralism
Moralism is defined by Leonard Nelson as “a system of normative moral principles sufficient for the positive regulation of life. In other words, moralism excludes the possibility of morally indifferent actions. According to it, every action must be characterized as either fulfillment or violation of duty.” In other words, moralism asserts that there is no alternative to the moral—one is either adhering to the moral line or crossing it. Albert Mohler provides an alternative definition to moralism by viewing it through a religious lens: he states that “one of the most seductive false gospels is moralism…he basic structure of moralism comes down to this—the belief that the Gospel can be reduced to improvements in behavior.” To better understand what moralism is, let’s define the term by way of example.
For example, let’s say you have taken a piece of chalk and drawn a straight line down the road to the ice cream store—which just so happens to be where everyone on your ball team wants to be. The only problem is they don’t know how to get there. You do—and since you aren’t good at explaining things, you’ve taken out your piece of chalk, told the team to wait there and while they are waiting you drew a line down the road all the way to the ice cream store. Then you walk back to your team and say, “Okay, guys, all you have to do to get to the ice cream store is follow that line that I’ve drawn on the road. If you go off the line, you’ll never get there. Whatever you do, don’t deviate from the line because that is the only way to get to the ice cream store. Do you hear me? It’s the only way!” So the team starts following the line, but as they are doing so some of the members look up and notice other roads along the way, other paths the cut away from the chalk line that you’ve drawn. They start wondering where those roads go and their curiosity gets the better of them so the meander off to have a look. Others who took your word to heart start shouting at them, “Don’t leave the line—you’ll never get there! You’ll be lost! You’re being immoral!” They have believed you and they are committed to the line you drew with chalk.
Those who broke away, they end up reaching the ice cream shop after all. While their path maybe didn’t lead there directly, they were able to stop and ask people along their way how to get to the ice cream shop. After several sets of directions they got a good feel for the layout of the town and finally...…big mirror looking at himself and saying, “Yes, see how pretty I look?”
So both people who have very different definitions of moralism can say of the other that the other is being a moralist even though neither thinks he is being a moralist and neither believes moralism to be a good thing—though they both think that for completely different reasons. How this is so is one of the great examples of the subjective experience. People have so many inputs in their minds and experiences that they are capable of seeing things in ways that no other can possibly imagine until they articulate them and communicate them for others.
In conclusion, these examples show how moralism can be defined in different ways. On the one hand, it is like a chalk line down a road that everyone is told they have to follow if they want to get to their destination—even though there are other ways to get there. On the other hand, it is like a chalk line that people make for themselves and follow to their own big personal mirror where they can go to look at themselves and admire themselves for being so clever as to find such a great big mirror in which they could see themselves. In either case, moralism indicates a narrowness in one’s thinking that is not wholly reflective of…
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