What Is Should Be

Moralization is saying that some things should be and others shouldn’t be. The things we think shouldn’t be we call “wrong” or “bad,” and the things we think should be we call “right” or “good.”

The truth is that what is should be. Why? Because it is.

Instead of thinking in terms of what should and shouldn’t be, we can think in terms of what is healthy or functional versus what is unhealthy or dysfunctional.

Moralization keeps us from arriving at a truly healthy way of living because it insists on saying certain things shouldn’t be when they obviously are. War is. Crime is. Violence is.

If it is, then it should be — simply because it is. But that doesn’t mean that war, crime, and violence are healthy or functional. They are not. They are dysfunctional. We can assess the health or functionality of an activity or behavior without judging it as wrong.

When we believe that something that is shouldn’t be, we become violent. We get confused. We get angry. That is the problem with the world: we judge things. We say they shouldn’t be when they are, and that makes us thugs. We get tight, critical, afraid. Morally constipated.

What is truly moral is first not to judge. That’s why Jesus recommends “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” When we judge, we act immorally. We proceed from a false premise that something is wrong with Reality.

Judgment is the issue. Judgment kills us. Judgment condemns us. But judgment is not wrong. It’s just dysfunctional. Once we clearly see that, we can behave morally by striving to be healthy, functional beings.

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