As a follow on to my last post, I’d like to talk a little about morality in public policy. I often wonder how so many people can be so convinced of the correctness of one particular course of action, public policy, or political party. I believe it often happens because politics gets tied into morality. I believe there is a time and a place for this connection, but also believe it is often dangerously overstated.

Let me first say that I firmly believe in right and wrong, moral and immoral. I don’t believe these things are subjective and to be decided only by prevailing public opinion. I believe there are some absolute truths that can’t be denied or revoked, but also believe that they are rarely political questions rather than personal ones. Let me try to explain why this is such as important point. I’d like to talk a little about when morality doesn’t have a place in politics, when it does, and the danger of missing that distinction.
One of the fundamental disputes between the right and left is the level of government involvement in private affairs and the economy. The left believes the only way to fairness, equity, and justice is with intervention, while the right believes that such “socialist” intervention infringes on freedom. This is not a moral issue. Socialism is not evil, and neither is capitalism. This is a public choice about how we govern ourselves, about the kind of society we want to live in. There are those that believe in freedom on both ends of the spectrum just as there are those who believe in justice on both ends. We differ in our opinion of how to achieve these ends. The simple fact is we don’t, and can’t, know which is best. I would argue that the majority of our social issues fit into this category, the category where morality doesn’t give us the answer, where we simply have to make a choice about how we organize ourselves. Foreign policy, immigration, international trade, health care, education, economics, etc. – these aren’t issues that can be decided by morality. We can try to achieve a morally good outcome, but morality can’t tell us the right method to achieve the goal. Morality demands we seek for peace, justice, freedom, equality, and opportunity; but doesn’t tell us what policy is the most effective means of doing so.

There are some issues, however; where morality is inexorably tied to our decision about good policy. Abortion and same-sex marriage are contemporary examples. In these cases we are forced to consult our conscience and beliefs and decide what we believe is right. We will inevitably have disagreements, and should conduct our debate with respect and civility, recognizing well intentioned, truth seeking individuals will be on both sides of the argument. Knowing we live in a free society and won’t agree on a single idea of morality, I believe we should be cautious about limiting liberty and restricting behavior based on morals. In many instances it is not necessary or even desirable to enforce morality with law. We should remember that policy which permits behavior we believe to be immoral still allows us to live according to our conscience, while imposing our idea of morality on others restricts theirs. If, however, we truly believe a particular behavior is damaging to society as a whole, we ought to voice our desire to restrict it. In any case, we have a right and I believe a duty to practice and preach that which we believe to be right, regardless of legality.

I do believe that there are times when morality should be enforced with law; a free society cannot survive without virtue and morality. But I believe these times are rare and specific, and should be approached with great caution and consideration. We should also recognize that the majority of politics deals with issues that have no morally right and wrong answer. When we miss the distinction and try to claim a particular policy or party is morally justified and another is not we get in dangerous territory. Such behavior can make it impossible for a people to live in peace or civility, or to create effective policy. It makes it impossible to compromise on those issues where morality can’t give us the answer. It erroneously shifts the argument away from what should be a matter of public choice to the realm of absolute truth. It creates a culture of imposing policy as morality, something freedom loving people have fought against for centuries. Basing policy on morality is justifiable when the good of society is at stake, but calling policy morality when it’s not is a quick path to tyranny.