Article September 17, 1979 Issue

Morality without conflict

BARBARA COOK

Individuals who have strict codes of moral behavior can't accept the concept that a situation, however complex, can wholly determine a moral standard. And yet those who question the necessity of changeless standards often do so from the most compassionate motives—the desire to love rather than condemn people (including themselves) who seem to fall short.

Can we possibly love our fellowman and maintain an undeviating standard at the same time? Can we possibly love ourselves legitimately—serve our own best interests—without bending standards?

In order to answer these questions, we'd have to start by finding the absolute standard of being (as one would seek a standard in music or mathematics) and then understand its application in life. Perfect God and perfect man—that's the unchanging spiritual standard. Man—each one of us in his real, spiritual being—is an expression of perfect God and can never decline from this perfection. "The standard of perfection was originally God and man," writes our Leader, Mrs. Eddy. "Has God taken down His own standard, and has man fallen?" ^{ Science and Health, p. 470;}