Moral Literacy

As I’ve been praying about the horrific situation in the Middle East, I’ve been struck by the number of mentions of moral in various media: conservative, liberal, and views in between. Morally vacuous. Moral universe. Moral idiocy. Moral clarity. But what does moral mean?

Meanwhile, I’ve been learning and working more with AI where morality isn’t mentioned much. But it should be as AI becomes integrated into more fields: education, business, politics, law, medicine, journalism. The potential for harm to society is significant, especially when AI is used mindlessly or speedily.

During these global cataclysms, morality remains an important universal language. As education is reimagined to meet present needs, I view teaching morals as central to the educational standards as teaching reading has always been. Questions to examine for moral literacy: What is morality? What does it look like in practice? What texts to read? What to consider in difficult situations? How to make decisions and act? Who are examples of moral actors?

President Abraham Lincoln is a timeless example. Amid the U.S. Civil War raging, he said, “Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away…. With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in….” In today’s fractured world, we need such inspired speech and action. Nothing matters more.