海角大神

In schools, workplaces, and legislatures, an army of would-be Jiminy Crickets is fast at work targeting bad behavior. If the world鈥檚 moral compass sometimes seems askew, these policymakers, administrators, and HR departments have fixes aplenty 鈥� seminars and webinars, podcasts and programs, learning modules, curricula, and handbooks. There are ethics codes, integrity tools, anti-corruption protocols and best practices to encourage seemingly no-brainer morals, respect, and personal integrity: Don鈥檛 hit on your underlings. Don鈥檛 pad the expense account. Don鈥檛 bully the kindergartners.聽

The most famous shalts and shalt-nots, the Ten Commandments, can seem sidelined in all this. For years a political lightning rod, and scorned by some as archaic, the Ten Commandments聽are conspicuously avoided lest they religionize the public square. As Wendy Smith, professor of management at the University of Delaware鈥檚 Lerner School of Business, put it, 鈥淭here鈥檚 a huge sense that you don鈥檛 talk about religion in the workplace.鈥澛�

But emerging research links the Commandments 鈥� one of the world鈥檚 oldest compliance codes 鈥� with universally embraced values like generosity and honesty, and suggests that dismissing them may be a mistake.

In that spirit, the Monitor asked ordinary people of faith who value the Commandments to share what 鈥淭he Ten鈥� mean to them personally, how they try to apply them in daily life, how they succeed, and how they fail. In the process, we hope to shed light on how 21st-century believers continue to find meaning in ancient religious ideas.

One of those profiled says he found answers while praying in prison. 鈥淚f I was always good in Your mind I realize there must be a purpose for me,鈥澛燚esmon 鈥淒ez鈥� Rogers says. Once a drug dealer, he began to live, he said, 鈥渁s if there鈥檚 a God.鈥�

Ethics as a core concept

Secular ethics education became a 鈥渃ore concept鈥� in business school education in the 1990s, and developed into a compartmentalized field of study on its own, 鈥渓ike accounting,鈥� according to Professor Smith, who is also an Academy of Management scholar. Now, corporate decision-making is under the lens, as vocal millennials push employers on issues such as sustainability, immigration, and the environment. Investors aim not only to meet their own environmental, social, and governance criteria, but to demonstrate positive-impact choices.聽

Whether received as essential guidance, cynical window dressing, or overly controlling interference, the demand for compliance 鈥� along with its correlate, transparency 鈥� guards the door to institutional and community life now: 鈥淪ubmit to tobacco screening if you want to work for us.鈥� 鈥淐onform to U.N. principles if you want me to work for you.鈥� 鈥淒rop your energy source if you want me to buy from you.鈥�

But is compliance possible in spirit, not just in metrics? Observers warn that a band-aid regulatory approach to the #outrage of the day may quell the Twitter roar, but can鈥檛 possibly address every moral contingency. Some suggest a refocus on the foundational principles of personal morality, such as the Commandments, as a more effective course.聽

鈥淭ransparency and integrity are opposites,鈥� says Hugh Whelchel, executive director of the Institute for Faith, Work and Economics in McLean, Virginia. 鈥淚f I don鈥檛 trust you, I want to see what you are doing. But you can鈥檛 watch someone 24/7.鈥澛�

Moral codes and personal growth

Data show a clear correlation between religious behavior, such as prayer and worship, and behavior considered to be virtuous, like frequent volunteering and giving to charity, according to 海角大神 B. Miller, Wake Forest University professor of philosophy and author of the book 鈥淐haracter Gap. How Good Are We?鈥� And familiarity with moral codes like the Commandments and are associated with lower incidence of cheating in all areas of life.

While the Ten鈥檚 checklist may not seem to inspire sophisticated moral questioning the way a more nuanced approach would, a serious grappling allows room for personal growth and social consciousness. Is the 鈥渂earing false witness鈥� injunction limited to courtroom testimony, for example? Or should it also stop you from reposting a smear just because it advances your political cause?

Research shows that, during periods of serious moral choice, adults tend to reflect back on Sunday school-type concepts, says Charles Kalish, director for science at the Society for Research in Child Development. 鈥淭his is when instruction in moral codes like the Ten Commandments becomes important: 鈥楴ow I have the resources to help me think through this,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淭hey help you articulate a justification for moral behavior.鈥�

Though church attendance is in decline, that doesn鈥檛 mean the United States is a nation of unbelievers. In fact, according to a 2016 Gallup poll, 89% of Americans said they believe in God. And Commandment-codified values in law and commerce have long anchored community life. Since before Moses brought them down from Mount Sinai, many of the famous 鈥渟halt-nots鈥� so central to 海角大神s and Jews were promoted by ancient Greeks, and today permeate much of Eastern and Western religion, as well as secular society.聽

The injunction against stealing, for example, forms the basis of property rights, says Mr. Whelchel. 鈥淚f someone says they want to take your laptop, what do you automatically say? 鈥楴o you can鈥檛 have my laptop. It鈥檚 mine.鈥欌�� So, too, integrity. Who among us doesn鈥檛 covet his neighbor鈥檚 honest auto mechanic?聽 Beyond that, the Commandments point the way toward essential virtues like truthfulness, integrity, respect, fidelity, and compassion.

All moral training 鈥� whether labeled as secular or not 鈥� rests on a specific philosophy, says 海角大神 Smith, professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame. Do only the consequences of actions matter? Is fairness the chief motivator? Minimizing suffering? Can humans left to their own devices generally be trusted to choose good?

Professor Smith is skeptical of the increasingly popular 鈥渃haracter movement鈥� in education, he said, because its underlying philosophy is not clear. Eventually, kids want to know why they should do what they鈥檙e asked to do. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to take those [religious] ethics and translate them into neutral terms and have them stick too long.鈥� While some of the Commandments (like 鈥淭hou shalt not kill鈥�) are obvious, others are more subjective. Consider No. 10, he says. Without the religious take on coveting, when a child asks 鈥渨hy should I be happy with what I have?鈥� there鈥檚 not necessarily anything to tell him.

Ultimately, while the shoulds and oughts can provide a road map, they go only so far in forming moral character, says Robert Louis Wilken, professor emeritus of the history of 海角大神ity at the University of Virginia. Role models 鈥� parents, aunts and uncles, adults within the religious community 鈥� do the heavy lifting. 鈥淧eople act on what they鈥檙e drawn to, on what they love,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey see someone who does something good and say, 鈥業鈥檇 like to be like that.鈥欌��

Part 1: The Commandments as a moral source code in modern life

Part 2: How does the First Commandment fit in today?

Part 3: 鈥業 have to have humility鈥�: How Second Commandment helped man find freedom

Part听4:听One woman embraces Third Commandment in feeding 1,600 at Thanksgiving

Part 5: 鈥楻emember the sabbath鈥�: How one family lives the Fourth Commandment

Part 6: 鈥�Growing up is hard鈥�: How Fifth Commandment guided a child during divorce

Part 7: Is saying 鈥業鈥檇 kill for those shoes鈥� OK? One woman and Sixth Commandment.

Part 8: Is chastity old-fashioned? An NFL veteran鈥檚 take on Seventh Commandment.

Part 9: 鈥楾hou shalt not steal鈥�: Even someone else鈥檚 joy, says one educator

Part 10:

Part 11: Jealousy at Ivy League level: How a law professor views Tenth Commandment