Posted on by Abe Austin

False Moral Dilemmas- Nazis at the Door

A Real-Life Example)

Yesterday I made the assertion that most moral dilemmas are manufactured. By far, the correct moral option is apparent in our day-to-day choices, and that thought experiments like the trolley problem tie themselves in unrealistic knots to try and force a situation where every action seems to be morally compromised.

But are there any other thought experiments that are based on historical fact? Situations that people really faced where every action was wrong?

Well, another common thought experiment that seems at first glance to fit the bill is that of the Nazis at the door. This one is at least based on an actual historical occurrence. During World War Two, there were people that would hide Jews, and Nazi soldiers would be sent from door-to-door, investigating whether anyone in the community knew where the Jews were. So, the thought experiment is simply to put yourself in the place of someone who knows where the Jews are hiding, with a Nazi officer having just asked you to reveal them.

The question is, would you lie and say that you don’t know where they are? Or, because lying is wrong, would you tell them the truth, resulting in their likely death? This is presented as an example of a time where obviously the “correct” choice is to lie. The example is given to convince us that sometimes we must do wrong to prevent a greater wrong from occurring.

The Third Choice)

But the whole thought experiment is flawed. As with the trolley problem, the situation is always presented with only two choices, implicitly discouraging any sort of moral creativity. But to suggest that lying or betraying the Jews are the only options is false.

How’s this for a third choice: refuse to engage with the Nazis by principle? Whether you know where Jews are hiding or not, you could always just refuse to say a word to them. Of course, that might have some very painful repercussions on you. You might be hurt, you might be killed, but there’s no denying that this way you didn’t do anything to compromise your conscience.

Perhaps we don’t feel that we have the moral fortitude to commit to such a course of action. Perhaps we would rather compromise our soul than suffer the consequences of silence. Fair enough, we’re all a work in progress, but let us admit that the error is in us, not in the logic of the universe. There is no paradox of having to do wrong to achieve right, our dilemma is that our fear has precluded the only good option, leaving only bad ones before us.

So, once again, we have a thought experiment designed to force us into compromising our morals, but once again it is contrived and forced. Purely moral behavior still remains an option.

Posted on by Abe Austin

False Moral Dilemmas- The Trolley Problem

A Cultural Fascination)

I do not know if moral dilemma thought experiments were a fascination of earlier ages, but they certainly are in this era. We have many theoretical situations, torturously contrived to try and force the participant into morally compromising him- or herself, no matter what choice is made.

In this series I’m going to try and discredit these false moral dilemmas and also try to see where the desire for them comes from. Why do we think that it is sometimes impossible to be moral or why do we want that to be the case?

For today, we’ll start by examining one of the most popular moral dilemma thought experiments out there.

Imagine a Trolley)

We’ve all heard of the trolley problem, in which a trolley is barreling down the tracks towards five people tied to the railway. You, alone, stand by a switch that can divert the trolley onto a second track, but there is another person tied to that track. Is it better to remain uninvolved and let more people die, or to take action, making you personally responsible for the death of one person?

This is, of course, a ludicrous setup, one that I think we can safely say no one has ever encountered in the real world. What is more, if you try to find any creative options outside of the two originally provided, the person presenting the problem will always artificially shoot those down.

“No, you can’t signal the train to stop in time. No, you can’t untie the people on the tracks. No, you can’t throw yourself on the tracks to try and force the train to stop. Why? Because you just can’t, you have to only choose from the two options that you’ve been given.”

Manufactured Dilemmas)

While the intention of the thought experiment is to get you to appreciate and consider difficult moral dilemmas, the fact that it is so unrealistic speaks to how scarce moral dilemmas really are. I’m not saying that they don’t ever exist, we’ll examine some genuine ones later, but if most of these situations have to be manufactured, then clearly moral clarity is the norm, not the exception.

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Day We’re Not Trying

The day we’re not scared of the changes we’re making
Is the day we’re not really trying

Posted on by Abe Austin

Fundamental Error

Many feuds in our society today are a lost cause no matter which side of the debate you are on, because both positions are built on a false surface-level paradigm. To find true solutions we must first go deeper, identify the faulty paradigm, and dismiss it entirely.

For example, many of the most common disagreements in marriage, such as who gets their way between high- and low- sexual desire partners, the proper management of finances, and the conditions that justify getting divorced, are typically predicated on the misconception that even after the marriage union has occurred the individual is the supreme entity whose interests must be secured above all others.

People get married today, still believing that their individual happiness is what should be protected first, that their own interests must be sought most, and that their own preferences should drive their decisions. Then man and wife argue about how their individual egos are being bruised, how their individual desires aren’t being met, how the marriage isn’t justifying itself to them on an individual level. Whoever gets their way in such arguments, the answer is wrong, because this is not the paradigm that Jesus affirmed when he was tested by the Pharisees.

And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
-Matthew 19:4-6

Our Lord’s words shows that the correct view is that the man and the woman are “no more twain, but one.” They are supposed to subjugate the individual to the marriage, and protect that union’s happiness, seek its interests, and let its preferences drive their decisions.

So long as one holds onto the individual-supreme view, then any position they hold in every disagreement is wrong, and even the opposite positions are wrong, too. There are, therefore, no good options left, at least not until that person goes deeper inside and corrects their core paradigm.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Knowledge vs Practice- Conclusion

Deepening Theories)

I began this study simply to explain why I don’t like statements like, “action is better than knowledge.” While I saw some validity to that statement, I felt it obscured the fact that these two components of faith actually have a symbiotic relationship with one another, each requiring the other to properly exist. In the course of this study, I tried to clarify and express my own position, which ended up leading me to an even deeper understanding of the subject, as any good study should. Here are the three levels of depth that I identified in the relationship between these two components:

  1. Knowledge is fulfilled when we put it into genuine practice, and genuine practice is dependent upon us first gaining knowledge. Ultimately, all of our faithful actions have their roots in revelations of true knowledge given by God.
  2. Practice leads back to greater knowledge. It turns out that knowledge to practice is not a one-way street. The two exist in a cycle. Small actions are inspired by small knowledge, and they yield a testimony of greater knowledge, inspiring greater actions.
  3. Knowledge is the conceptual seed that only becomes part of physical reality through our practice of it. We are moved when we learn key concepts, such as mercy, but at this point that concept is only metaphysical. It is as we put that concept into practice, by actually extending mercy to another who has wronged us, that the metaphysical becomes a living reality in the world.

Essential, Thus Equal)

Thus, can we truly say that knowledge is inferior to practice? They are inseparably linked to one another, each performing a different but complementary role, neither existing without the other. Can we say that the conceptual is more important than reality, or that reality is more important than the conceptual? Both are essential, neither exists without the other.

Of course, when we look at a specific individual, we can probably identify some knowledge which he has not allowed to bloom as practice in his daily life, and in that case, yes, it would be better for him if he let his knowledge become truly alive through action. But that is a statement of how the person becomes better, not a measure of practice being more essential than knowledge.

Like anyone else, I am such a person who has unfulfilled knowledge in me. Having the knowledge isn’t the problem, the problem is that I have held it back, obstructed it from its destination. I pray that I learn to take some of my life, and give it to those ideals, so that the ideals become truly alive through me.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Knowledge vs Practice- The Mystery Connection

A Connection Between Worlds)

Two posts ago I spoke about the apparent limitless potential of knowledge to cause change in the lives of individuals and the world. Of course, while knowledge can be the catalyst for action it is not the action itself.

This is tied to an interesting phenomenon that has puzzled man for thousands of years. Many have noted how something that is merely conceptual can become something manifest in reality. It is a pattern that we observe, and know that this connection clearly exists, but we don’t actually understand how it works. The theologian, the philosopher, the biologist, and the physicist, none of them have found out the mystery of this connection.

Why do mathematical truths, purely conceptual, play out in physical reality? How do concepts in the mind become come out as words from our mouths? And how does mere knowledge become action? In all these examples and more, we see that the metaphysical world can manipulate and change the physical, but it does so by a secret method that God has not deemed fit to reveal.

Metaphysical Origins)

My purpose in pointing this out is to show that if knowledge is merely conceptual, and we have a common pattern of the conceptual somehow being translated into manifest reality, then that supports my initial claim that knowledge precedes action and then action begets new knowledge. For that is the common pattern that we see between the immaterial and material states of man. The artist has a creative vision, and builds the monument, and then the monument inspires a creative vision in the mind of its beholder.

To gain knowledge is to expand our immaterial domain, which increases our ability to perform in the real world. But note that the expansion of knowledge only increases the ability to perform. It is possible to gain much knowledge and never translate it into action, in which case it is wasted. But when we do see greater action, it must come from a place of greater knowledge.

I want to take a moment to make clear that when I advocate for the gaining of knowledge, I do not merely mean acquiring trivial facts. Knowledge can take more than one form. To hear a revelation of a specific truth is one form of knowledge, one that is factual. To be moved emotionally by a kind act is another form of knowledge, one that is experiential. Thus, a person who knows little in the way of “facts” may still possess a great reserve of “understanding,” and from that have the immaterial knowledge to give tremendous action.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Knowledge vs Practice- Belief, Action, Testimony

The Process)

I mentioned in the first post of this series that there is a pattern of possessing knowledge of a first order, putting that knowledge into practice, then obtaining knowledge of a second order. Put in theological terms, there is first knowledge that gives man faith. It isn’t perfect, but it is enough to make him step out and take some sort of action. He does what he feels God requires of him. When he does, he sees the hand of God delivering the victory, and now his incomplete knowledge is replaced with a sure testimony, which is knowledge of the second order.

This pattern repeats over and over throughout the scriptures. Let us look at just a few examples of it.

An Honest Father)

In the gospels, there is the story of a father who brought to Jesus his son that was under the cruel control of an evil spirit. The man pleaded with Jesus to heal his son, to which Christ replied, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” The man, in pure honesty replied, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

Clearly this man had knowledge or faith, of a type, but it wasn’t perfect, and he knew it. Still, it was enough to lead him to act, to seek out Jesus, and next we read how Jesus did, in fact, heal the man’s son, presumably also fulfilling the man’s request to “help his unbelief” and replace it with something surer. Because the man acted on partial knowledge, a miracle occurred, and fuller knowledge took its place.

Peter’s First Steps)

We also have the example of one of Peter’s defining moments. The story begins with the apostles in a boat, seeing Jesus approaching them, walking upon the water. As a witness to this miracle, Peter is filled with the confidence to ask Jesus if he may come join him on the water. Jesus’s one word response was “Come,” and Peter stepped out onto the water. Miraculously, even though Peter was not the Son of God, the water held him up, just as it did for Jesus.

So, Peter was a witness to something that gave him faith, and that faith led him to act, and that act would have removed all doubt in his mind that all things were possible through their Lord and Master, even mastery of the elements.

Gideon’s Army)

Going back to the Old Testament, there was a time where the Israelites had given themselves over to idolatry and were grave danger from an approaching army of the Midianites. God spoke to a faithful man of Manasseh, Gideon, calling on him to restore the people to their former obedience and liberty. Gideon believed God’s message, but like the father in our first story, there was clearly also a part of him that still held to unbelief. He laid out an offering before the Lord, and after it was consumed by a miraculous fire, he gained the confidence to go and tear down the false idols of his people.

But that wasn’t the end of it. The Midianite army was still approaching, an innumerable host, and Gideon still needed to take his small band of warriors to fight them. Once again, Gideon asked for two signs, laying out a fleece of wool, and one day asking that God would put dew upon the wool and not any of the ground, and then the next night asking that God would put dew on the ground but not any on the wool. After the Lord obliged to both requests, Gideon took his army, whittled it down according to God’s commands, and miraculously confused the Midianite army into destroying themselves.

So, Gideon was given one sign, providing him enough faith to carry out one bold deed. Then the confidence of that deed, combined with two more signs, gave him the faith to carry out an even bolder deed for the Lord. Knowledge led to action, action led to greater knowledge, greater knowledge led to greater action, and we can clearly see a cyclical pattern.

How the Lord Works)

Think also of Abraham being given a son in his old age, providing him the confidence to then give that son up on the altar. Also, in the Book of Mormon, the Brother of Jared gained knowledge of God’s power through multiple miracles before the Lord tasked him with finding a divine solution of his own, the fulfillment of which resulted in seeing the finger of the Lord.

There are many examples of this pattern of knowledge-action-greater knowledge, so many that it seems that there is a fundamental principle in it, a template for how the Lord works with people to lead them to greater and greater things. First, He gives us a sign, providing just enough knowledge of Him and His ways to be emboldened to action. Then, when we do act, even in our imperfect knowledge, the surer testimony replaces the weaker knowledge, and the cycle continues. Thus, knowledge and action go hand-in-hand in the plans of the Lord. We are not meant to be led by just one or the other, we must iterate across both to become the spiritual giants we were born to be.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Knowledge vs Practice- Knowledge That Changes

The Potential Power of Truth)

In my first post I suggested that most of our spiritual practice grows naturally from first having a seed of spiritual knowledge. On the most basic level, God provides us revelations, and we adjust our behavior in response. What is that, if not receiving knowledge, and then putting it into practice?

Just how deep of a change can be made to human practice by a revelation of knowledge? Is there a limit to the potential power that can be bundled inside of a revealed truth? Let’s consider that question by examining the most impactful revelation that was ever made to man.

Knowledge that Transforms)

When Paul wrote to the Colossians, he spoke of a deep, cosmic mystery that had just been revealed to the world with tremendous effect:

Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
-Colossians 1:26-27

The great mystery that Paul shares in these verses is that Christ lives within each one of us. This was a radical notion that completely shifted the common perspective of a God that lived external and separate from man. The idea that part of our very soul is shared with our creator’s is very extreme and would be deeply heretical if it wasn’t true!

Paul further explains that it is this revelation that led him and so many other disciples to dedicate their whole lives to spreading the gospel. Paul, of course, had made a complete 180 from his previous life, and now he and many other disciples were solely focused on this work because the truth was still “working in them mightily.”

Any honest historian, even one who is not a follower of Jesus, will attest to the fact that the Christian movement is one of the most important and influential forces in the human story. It is hard to think of anything else that has altered the course of nations, wars, and society like Christianity has. Its power to transform is unmatched, and I agree with Paul that this power of transformation has at its root that one core revelation that God lives within us.

Given this, I cannot put any limit on the potential power of revealed knowledge. Notice that I say potential power, much like how a heavy weight raised to a high height has only potential energy, not kinetic energy. Knowledge has the potential for change, but it still requires a choice to act on it, just as the elevated weight requires an action to push it free. When these things happen, potential becomes realized, and there is no theoretical limit to how great that energy could be!

Posted on by Abe Austin

Knowledge vs Practice- The Theory

I have often heard that spiritual practice is more important than spiritual knowledge. Just knowing that you should do good to your fellow man doesn’t do anything to make the world better, you have to actually live that principle in your daily life.

There is something true in this sentiment, but it isn’t as though these two types of testimony live in isolation from one another. Knowledge of the first order precedes practice, and knowledge of the second order follows practice. I’ll explain that further in the course of this study, but for now my point is simply that there is a cyclical relationship between knowledge and practice, and practice typically only occurs because we first gained some sort of knowledge.

Thus, there actually is no “knowledge vs practice.” While I see some merit in describing practice as better than knowledge, I fear that portraying them in this opposing light may create the illusion that we can have practice without any knowledge and perhaps should aspire to that. I believe it would create a clearer picture in our minds if we were to instead say that “knowledge is incomplete without practice.” This, I feel, communicates that practice is a continuation of what began with knowledge, a further step along the same path.

Now, just like practice cements what was previously only knowledge, examples can cement what was previously only theory. I’ve already given the theory, so now I will grow from it with specific examples in scripture. Hopefully those will make clear anything that is still murky from what we have discussed today.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Ideals Made Alive

Truth, mercy, justice, hope, love, and courage.

These ideals belong to a higher plane of existence: what the spiritual man calls heaven, the philosopher calls metaphysics, and the mathematical man calls abstraction. Though immaterial and conceptual, these concepts are not sealed off from the living world.

When we lend our lives to these ideals, these ideals become alive. We are the vessels to speak truth, show mercy, enact justice, raise hope, share love, and stand in courage. These principles take form through us.