Today we no longer make a direct link between the natural world and the moral realm. We don’t see the order in the cosmos as related to the order in the soul. Such a link lives only in fairy tales, where good and evil come embodied in witches, spying ravens, poisoned apples, fairy godmothers, and princes named “Charming.” The great scientific habit of mind has made it impossible for us to take such ideas seriously as descriptions of the real world. But the idea of an eternal moral order has persisted. It remains a powerful idea in Western culture, and it is the predominant code of morality for the rest of the world.
Traditional morality is objective morality. It is based on the idea that certain things are right or wrong no matter who says differently. In various religions, traditional morality is contained in some form of a written code. The best example is the Ten Commandments, the most famous list of dos and don’ts (mostly don’ts) in history. God is usually considered the author of traditional morality. In living up to His edicts, we are presenting ourselves to Him for His favor. This is important because everyone knows that good people sometimes come to grief while bad people flourish. God’s role in traditional morality is to guarantee that, in the next life, these injustices will be corrected and everyone will get his “just deserts.”
Secular morality emerged in resistance to traditional morality. In the traditional view morality is “out there,” whereas for many people today morality is “in here.” The new source of morality is no longer the external code but the inner heart. When facing a moral dilemma, we resolve it not by consulting a commandment, nor do we follow the instructions of a parent or teacher or preacher. Instead we are guided by the advice Polonius gave to Laertes: “to thine own self be true.” As beings with inner depths, we plumb within ourselves and look to that internal rudder inside us. We grant to this secret inhabitant of our internal selves the authority to guide us infallibly in our actions. Thus we seek to create a harmony between our inner self and our external life. Secular morality is a quest for our best or truest self, which is believed to reside within.
