In this modern day of age where the entertainment sector is playing a major role of affecting our psyche coinciding with the western world but looking at the modern-day world here, around us, it is still evolving and drinking and smoking are considered taboo, monogamy is the only form of relationship and so many other things. These things make one ponder often about the implications that lead to this thought. Some even say morality is one of the causes. The society in today’s world isn’t as Black and White as it used to be and now there are so many grey spaces. Well now, every argument is Janus-faced and each holds their position with integrity.
Most of the frictions in India these days, happen due to ideological conflicts between different communities. How is morality to be blamed for this? Morality does not behave like a law, but it is a disfigured tool used by communities to set right from wrong. This system worked pretty effectively before the world became a more accessible place for every individual. At this stage, communities started interacting, and the idea of right and wrong started to become vague. Independent communities felt challenged and started to show resistance towards each other. Fairly so, because what was preached as gospel to them was suddenly shown to have chinks. This began a century-long progression of developing stereotypes like a certain community has a lower standard because of their moral values. As a matter of fact, a German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche went as far as to say, “Morality is just a fiction used by a herd of inferior human beings to hold back the few superior men.” There is a reason the constitution and institutions haven’t established morality to be a form of law. It is like the concept of justice and law. Justice is an abstract ideal whereas the law is a path to attaining justice. Morality in today's world is used by an individual to have a sense of superiority over their fellow beings. Morality, in some way, acts like an annoying hypocritical cousin of justice often called bigotry nowadays.
Does that mean that morality in the current-day world is unfit as an idea? No, morality helps us in places where laws can’t be enforced. For instance, policing the consumption of alcohol isn’t very feasible. Morality creates a stigma around alcohol consumption and reducing the number of victims of alcoholism. It has also sensitized humans towards animals and given some other vague benefits.
The idea of morality can be used very constructively but the old age moral laws that we still follow have turned obsolete. Just like any other system and organization, I think it is safe to say that we need an update for it to function more effectively and reduce the friction that the current ideas and philosophies cause.
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