The goal and the way

Viktor E. Frankly (1905–1997), the great Austrian psychiatrist and founder of the Logo-Therapy, once said that there are two kinds of people in the world. On the one hand, there are the ones who think that reaching a goal, justify any means, which are necessary therefore. On the other hand, there are the ones who believe, that the way of reaching a goal is equally important than reaching the goal itself. But how do we decide? How do we make valuable decisions? How do we really come to a judgement which has its roots in moral and ethics?

Many people in our times think that what counts in the end is what feels good for them. I have written about the feel-good society in a previous post (If it feels good, do it!). The lack of moral standards has become a disease of our times. People have become very suspicious when it comes to the decision of right and wrong. We have seen throughout history that a legion of different systems claimed to have the absolute truth. In different countries and times, right and wrong was what authority claimed to be right or wrong. That has led, in the course of liberation of men, to a position of uncertainty, a kind of moral vacuum which could not be filled. And whoever claimed to be able to fill this vacuum, did not get the support of the majority of the people. What stays left, are a moral relativism and a huge amount of cynicism, which is always the result of uncertainty and anxiety underneath. People crave for clear standards, but it seems that nobody can provide such standards and declare its usefulness. Scientists expand the relativity of their own business onto ethics and moral. In the end right and wrong are subjective and depend on circumstances, persons, society, politics and a lot more. Nobody is completely satisfied, but we are told, it is the best we can get. The hunger for sense und direction stays, but we have to hold it out and stay unsatisfied. At least the human ego can celebrate itself as a modern hero, who goes through a senseless life but shoulders the heavy burden with pride. After centuries of being guided and controlled by someone else, human beings crave for freedom, freedom of men, freedom of systems, freedom of ideology and indoctrination. But in many cases the pendulum has swung too much into the other direction. More and more people see, that freedom can never mean living without rules. As well is it can never mean to deny all rules coming from outside.

But true freedom is a process which always puts the ego into the second row and let something greater than human rule the life. It takes humbleness to accept such a rule of “the father”, as Christian, for example, would call. The reign of “the father” makes free, but the reign of human beings puts you into bondage. This paradoxical fact is everything else than easy to be understood and it takes emotional, intellectual and spiritual maturity to reach at such an insight. And it can never come solely from outside. Nobody can be made to act morally, the light of insight must shine from within and the ignition is always a kind of grace, nothing human being could completely reach by himself.

We definitely live in more complex times, than any generation, who lived before us. Moral questions have never been more difficult to be answered. What is lacking is a solid rock in the stormy sea, the one thing we can rely on. It is easy to see, that nobody can make complete and wise decision who has not found himself. A person, without complete knowledge of his or her own values, is unable to stay “on course” during hardship and turmoil. Emotional balance is crucial to decision making. The power to make decisions is one of the characteristics of a complete mature person. Opportunism is immaturity as well as anybody is not a complete person who uses other human beings as tools for his own fulfilment and joy or reaching his goals. For a wise person it is never true that sweet fruits come out of evil deeds – never! Nobody does a crime and gets away with it – never! Also many people nowadays believe that being smart hides the evil intention and action. An immature person will believe so, but the wise one knows: The reaction will come, sooner or later, with certainty! Look at all the white collar crime. For many years people are heroes of the masses, the media, but in the end they fall deep, deeper than anyone could have imagined. Nothing stays hidden forever; everything gets disclosed in the end.

That brings us back to the beginning of this article: The way is equally important, than the goal, the end! The end depends on the beginning. In our times, where society is split up into more groups than ever before, the potential for conflict is even bigger than ever before. Many groups try to wipe out others and deny their right to exist. The “majority” is ever changing and people will learn than in most cases they will be part of a minority. Being a member of the minority becomes completely normal! That is a situation most people are no used to. And the consequences are enormous. The security of the group is gone and individuals will be confronted more and more with a strong wind blowing into his face. Without personal values and boundaries, one will be blown through life like a leaf in the wind. The permanent self-betrayal will lead to depression, senselessness and tragedy in life. The world will not help you, for nobody is interested in your good but yourself (and your creator of course). Mature people will conclude that the only way to guarantee peace in modern society is by having a few basic principles on which a people is built. We need a real respect for the other ones as human beings. If respect depends on a certain worldview, political opinion, religion or the like, an understanding is impossible. Imagine an atheist and an evangelical preacher. Without accepting each other as human beings, one side will always believe in superiority. Superiority and inferiority thinking poisons every social climate and by the way are never justified at all!

Never before, ethical and moral values have had a bigger impact on politics, whether it is national or international, economy and society as a whole. After the times of crises there is always a time of new clarity. After this time of common relativism we will see a time of new orientation and clarity. When people of good heart stand as a moral example and act by it, how much resistance they may every face, people will start trusting and learn that trust is better than mistrust. Without a basic optimism, no society can exist for long. If human beings do not trust east other, if society is divided it must be doomed to fall. If a house fights against itself the result will be ruin. If the devil fights against himself, he cannot prevail. Lucky is who possesses a strong moral code of ethics, by which his feet are guided. America is rooted in Christendom. The founding fathers always prayed and quoted the bible more often than any other works of philosophers and thinkers. Also Europe can find its eternal moral values in its history if it is ready to reconcile with its history and origin. As for the individual the task is the reconciliation with the source – so salvation, moral action and wise decision will be the prosperous harvest!