One of the first things I learned in my career in the Navy was the concept of watertight integrity. Using compartmentation with access via watertight doors a ship can contain damage by isolating areas of the ship to any hull breaches. In combat situations the number of hatches locked increases. Each hatch and some ventilation have a symbol reflecting what Material Condition it is closed under. With Condition Zebra providing the greatest degree of subdivision and watertight integrity.
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Charlotte C. Oliver/Released)
The reason I was thinking about this is concerning the Planned Parenthood videos and how apparently Material Condition Zebra has been set on most consciences. There is such a compartmentation of conscience that a person can call one thing evil and the same thing good depending on an incomprehensible ruleset. In science there is a drive towards learning all the underlying principles for a Theory of Everything. When it comes to morality there seems to be an opposite drive where people really don’t want to find coherent underlying principles. It doesn’t take much observance to see inconsistent actions everywhere. Especially prevalent is the chasm between belief and action, although this is nothing new.
The fragmented compartmentalized conscience results often in the charge of hypocrisy because of the apparent separation of belief and action. For example everyone from the President to the Limousine Liberal warning about the threat of global warming just before they get on another private jet. I would not call this hypocrisy, but just evidence once again of people supporting ideas and not taking on the intellectual discernment of connected followthrough. Like Hashtag Activism or Earth Hour where you get to feel good for a moment and then go on as always.
Another aspect of the compartmentation of conscience is that it is usually evidenced by a total lack of self-awareness. That a valid application of underlying moral reasoning will be applied in one area with a blindspot to other equal applications.
Recently I saw a headline that said Obama: Killing Humans And Harvesting Their Organs Is An Atrocity That Must End. This headline was crafted to reference the recent undercover vides regarding Planned Parenthood and Stem Express.
In a wide-ranging question and answer session with members of the Young African Leaders Initiative [YALI], a woman from Kenya said “Persons with albinism in Africa are being killed and their body parts harvested for ritual purposes. My request to you is to raise this issue with heads of state of African countries to bring these atrocities to an end.”
… “If there’s one thing I want YALI leaders to come out with, it’s the notion of you are strong by taking care of the people who are vulnerable, by looking after the minority, looking after the disabled, looking after the vulnerable. You’re not strong by putting people down you’re strong by lifting them up. That’s the measure of a leader.”
Totally valid moral principles applies correctly to a situation by the President. It is almost a certainty that he would have zero self-awareness and that the same principles apply when it comes to the harvesting of organs from unborn children.
In response to the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, the President said:
We are a people who believe that every single child is entitled to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Of course this lack of self-awareness is not confined to the President. We can pile up egregious examples of this.
I’ve certainly found enough examples of this segregation in my own life. That was one aspect of the Catholic faith that drew me in was that there was a consistent moral theology that influences everything. The tools and principles are there for us to draw on to remove the barriers between belief and action. I use to love the science show Connections with James Burke. I fell in love with the Catechism for the same reasons and the total connectedness regarding the Church’s moral reasonings.
Image Reference – WikiMedia Commons
