In the ethical chaos of our present democratic system, we daily run through moral minefields. We need to keep a steady eye ...

Morality and Its Interconnections

By Howard Kainz

The connection of morality with law, religion, and politics is obvious – or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that it used to be. Laws ought to be moral and inculcate morality. Religion, at the very least, should bolster morality. Politicians in executive positions should enforce laws that are moral, and may on occasion have to refuse to enforce a law that is clearly immoral.

But these other areas – legality, religion, etc. – are distinct from morality, and often do not coincide with it. Morality is concerned with right and wrong, and optimally is inspired by considerations of natural law. Civil laws are concerned with maintaining social order and justice, and may turn a blind eye to moral infractions outside the reach of the law. Religion optimally will lead us to go beyond the bare minimums of duty, to foster social and individual perfection and harmony. And moral politicians, practicing the “art of the possible,” often dealing with complex situations, will necessarily encounter limits in terms of their personal powers and the moral attitudes of the constituents they deal with.

Numerous examples of such distinctions and overlapping have turned up in recent U.S. history. When Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) struck down state laws restricting contraception, even a Supreme Court Justice who considered contraception immoral could join with the majority on the basis of the impossibility of controlling private and intimate practices, and/or of enforcing the existing laws.

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