Right and Wrong are Real

 

Chapter 5

RIGHT and wrong are REAL 

If "Truth with a capital "T" really exists in both a physical and metaphysical sense, then we are left with a similarly corresponding reality about right and wrong. In other words, they are just as real, and we must spell "Right" with a capital "R."

This brings us to Law #2 of the SAL Theory, which states that: According to Universal Law, there are categorical divisions and universal distinctions separating RIGHT from wrong.

LAW #2

According to Universal Law, there are categorical divisions 

and universal distinctions separating RIGHT from wrong in the moral domain.

According to Law #2, the definitions of "RIGHT" and "wrong"—and the metaphysical substance that naturally separates them are not—and indeed cannot, be selectively determined by the arbitrary decree, much less the capricious and whimsical inclinations or preferences, of mercurial human beings.

Such separations are predetermined by Universal Law itself.   

Years ago, Robert Fulghum wrote a bestselling book entitled All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things.

According to Fulghum:

"All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned: Share ... Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. ... [Live] the Golden Rule." (1)

While Fulghum may be oversimplifying things a bit, his point remains lucid and cogent in a world where so many people—including many in the upper echelons of business, education, and politics—struggle with a variety of basic, behavioral mores that have historically been embraced by civilized man. While not everyone receives the same quality of moral training, I don't think it would be exaggerating to say that most people gain at least some semblance of right and wrong by the time they're five years old.

All too often, the problem is not that we don't know right from wrong; the problem is we fail to choose right over wrong. A similar problem manifests itself through intellectual and social efforts aimed at rationalizing away and otherwise justifying wrong thoughts, speech, and behavior. 

Imagine how much freer, stronger, and more virtuous our nation and world would be if collective humanity spent as much time, effort, and money trying harder to do what is right than in attempting to conceal, justify, and rationalize what is wrong!

You don't have to belong to a certain culture, ideology, philosophy, political persuasion, or religion to comprehend the fundamental difference between right and wrong choices in life. You merely have to understand the variables that lead to long-term health, happiness, Existential Growth, and inner peace. 

On the flip side, you must likewise understand the variables that lead to long-term sickness, misery, and existential atrophy. 

What then is the difference between right and wrong? 

The answers to this question are found in Corollary 2.1 and 2.2., as follows:

COROLLARY 2.1

Right choices consist of thoughts, speech, and actions that lead to the long-term health,

happiness, Existential Growth, and inner peace of oneself and all people

(and other living things) impacted or influenced thereby.

COROLLARY 2.2

Wrong choices consist of thoughts, speech, and actions that lead to the

long-term sickness, misery, existential atrophy, and turmoil of oneself

and all people (and other living things) impacted or influenced thereby.

Like deteriorating fruit, our moral sense can likewise
atrophy and rot over time if not carefully preserved.

Existential atrophy is the opposite of Existential Growth. It is defined as: the weakening or deterioration of Existential Growth. 

EXISTENTIAL  ATROPHY

The weakening or deterioration 

of Existential Growth.  

If right and wrong are real, how are we to differentiate between these two opposing forces? 

One answer to this question is to listen, and then hearken to, the edicts of your conscience. This leads us to law number three, as follows:

LAW 3

All human beings enter the world with a conscience, which prompts them to think,

say, and do what is right, and to avoid thinking about, saying, or doing what is wrong.

At Freedom Focused, we believe that ALL human beings are born with a conscience that naturally prompts them toward good and away from evil. We further hold that for most human beings, one's conscience is at least marginally operative from a very young age. 

Whether or not your conscience continues to operate soundly over the course of one's life depends entirely on the degree to which YOU choose to listen to and heed its metaphysical guidance.

Regardless of the imagery you employ in conceptualizing this key truth (e.g. Jiminy Cricket, an angel and devil on your shoulder, a light within, True North [2], etc.), the existence of the human conscience is an incontrovertible truth that we believe all honest and reasonable persons would not only acknowledge, but have in fact experienced to varying degrees throughout their lives.

In the lustrous language of the famous 18th Century German philosopher, Immanuel Kant: two things fill the mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe ... the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. 

"Two things fill the mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe:

The starry heavens above me and the moral law within me."

—Immanuel Kant

Just because YOU entered this world with a conscience does not guarantee you will always be directed by its guiding light. Just as a muscle will atrophy with disuse, so the light of conscience dims with disregard. Thus, we arrive at Corollary 3.1, as follows:

COROLLARY 3.1

Your conscience is sharpened or dulled over time in direct

proportion to the adherence, or lack thereof, that you grant it.

Our nation and world have too many dulled consciences. The time has come to dust off the sharpening wheel and let the sparks begin to fly. Just as importantly, the day has arrived to begin a widespread pedagogy of conscience cultivation in our nations, states, communities, organizations, schools, and families—beginning in the individual lives of me and YOU.  

In Your Journal

• In your experience, how does your conscience communicate with you?

• During what time of your life was your conscience most sensitive? Why do you suppose this was?

• During what time of your life was your conscience most dulled? Why do you suppose this was?

• What single action or habit of yours currently sharpens your conscience more than any other?

• What single action, inaction, or habit of yours currently dulls your conscience more than any other?

—Dr. JJ

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 394th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 204th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.   

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 393 FF Blog Articles 

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL QUOTES  

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL POEMS   

Click HERE to access the FULL TEXT of Dr. JJ's Psalms of Life: A Poetry Collection

Click HERE for a complete listing of Self-Action Leadership Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Fitness, Heath, & Wellness Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Biographical & Historical Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Current Events, Cultural, Philosophical, & Miscellaneous Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Dr. JJ's Autobiographical Articles

.........................

Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

And if you liked this blog post, please share it with your family, friends, colleagues, and students—and encourage them to sign up to receive future articles for FREE every Wednesday.

To sign up, please email freedomfocused@gmail.com and say SUBSCRIBE, or just YES, and we will ensure you receive a link to each new blog article every Wednesday.  

Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks    

Chapter 4 Notes

1.  Fulghum, R. (1986). All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things. New York, NY: Ivy Books. Pages 4-5.

2.  Covey, S. R. (2004). The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness. New York, NY: Free Press. Page 53.

Dr JJ's Rule #2: Good, Evil, & Absolute Truth

In a previous article, JJ's 13 Rules for Living were shared. 

This week's blog post addresses Dr. JJ's RULE #2, which states:

Accede the reality of good, evil, and absolute truth. Consistently seek out what is true, good, and selfless and eschew that which is false, evil, and selfish by listening—and then hearkening to—the supernal and eternal edicts of conscience.

We live in a culture that often heralds moral relativity over the reality of good, evil, and absolute truth. This collective, postmodern, philosophical preference lies at the very foundation of all of our deepest and most perplexing familial, educational, and societal ills in the West and beyond. While temporarily convenient, any philosophy that puts one's own mercurial will and arbitrary desires above the laws of nature will, in the long-run, painfully punish its adherents.

Determining the color or fashion of our clothes—and other
related decisions—is typically a morally neutral decision.

Many of the choices we make each day are morally neutral. For example:

• Should I purchase a black suit and striped tie or a blue suit and solid tie?
• For my cardio routine, should I ride my bike, go for a run, or take a swim?
• Should I buy or lease my next automobile?

Your decisions in such matters—and others like them—typically have no tangible moral implications or consequences.

Other choices, however, are morally charged. Your decisions in such matters will not only determine your long-term destiny, but are also likely to incur dramatic consequences (for good or ill) all along the way in your own life and the lives of those who are impacted by your decisions.

Simply stated, right choices lead to freedom and growth. Wrong choices lead to bondage and atrophy.   

You may have noticed that Freedom Focused does not delineate specifics in regards to moral matters. In other words, you will never hear us explicitly tell you what to do in relation to a specific moral dilemma. We believe such work is beyond our purview and belongs instead to friends, family members, managers, executives, ecclesiastical leaders, counselors, philosophers, moralists, activists, politicians, and most importantly—the CONSCIENCES of individuals. 

As Educators, our goal is not to tell you what to do;
Instead, we seek to refine your critical thinking skills and
expand your courage & capacity for moral reasoning & action.

As EDUCATORS, our job is not to tell you specifically what to think about, say, or do in your life and career. Our job is to teach correct principles in an effort to encourage and promote wise self-governance. In other words, our goal is to help you learn generally how to think, speak, and behave more honestly, authentically, logically, strategically, and morally in an effort to empower you to make better specific decisions that will lead to higher levels of FREEDOM and GROWTH.

Despite a myriad of diverse voices who will indefatigably attempt to convince you to the contrary, I declare my personal witness and professional attestation of the reality and existence of Absolute Truth. This means that a REAL right and a REAL wrong rooted in Universal (natural) Laws really does exist absolutely and beyond humankind's power to arbitrate, evade, negotiate, or revise.

We are absolutely powerless against Universal Laws of Nature. Our liberty and power lies in our freedom to choose whether or not we will respect these laws, or opt to disregard them. If we select the former pathway (obedience), naturally-occurring consequences will reward us with happiness and inner peace along with an incremental expansion of our own freedom, growth, and maturity over time. If we decide on the latter course (disobedience), naturally-occurring consequences will reward us with misery and despair along with an incremental diminution of the same over time.

This reality is usually obvious and universally accepted for PHYSICAL (scientific) laws like laws of gravity, force, and motion. When it comes to METAPHYSICAL (moral) laws of human behavior, this reality may be less obvious and more contested; but it is no less true. 

Majestic and all-powerful Laws of Nature reign Supreme
throughout our world, solar system, galaxy, universe, and our lives.

The CHOICE is mine and the choice is yours: "Will we obey or disobey Universal Laws of Nature?"   

The purpose of Freedom Focused and Self-Action Leadership (SAL) is to teach, influence, and inspire human beings to choose obedience to Universal Laws of Nature.

We hope that YOU will choose Freedom and Existential Growth over bondage and existential atrophy.

So then, what exactly are the UNIVERSAL LAWS OF NATURE as they relate to our thoughts, speech, and actions as self-action leaders?  

Great Question!     

Click HERE to buy Volume I of the Self-Action Leadership (SAL) Textbook, which covers the SAL Theory, including all the primal Laws and Corollaries of SAL.

SAL invites you to listen and hearken to your CONSCIENCE

Freedom Focused invites you to read, study, and internalize these 13 laws of Self-Action Leadership in conjunction with their 27 concomitant corollaries. 

As you pattern your life after these foundational principles of thought, speech, and action—and allow your CONSCIENCE to carefully guide you all along the way—I promise that you will, over time, reap a wonderful harvest of happiness, positivity, productivity, success, and inner peace.     

NOTE: This article is the 4th in a series of 22 articles on the subject of LIFE RULES.

Click HERE to access quick links to the other 21 articles.   

-Dr. JJ

September 22, 2021

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 231st Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 230 FF Blog Articles.  

.........................

Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

And if you liked this blog post, please share it with your family, friends, colleagues, and students—and encourage them to sign up to receive future articles for FREE every Wednesday.

To sign up, please email freedomfocused@gmail.com and say SUBSCRIBE, or just YES, and we will ensure you receive a link to each new blog article every Wednesday.  

Click HERE to learn more about Freedom Focused

Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan Jensen

Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks

Postmodernists vs. Authenticists: An Existential Comparison

Six Intelligences
of Existentialism

In past articles, I have written a fair bit about postmodernism—and the AGE of AUTHENTICISM that is beginning to gradually eclipse it.  The purpose of this piece is to capture the deep chasm that exists between the THOUGHTS and BEHAVIORS of acolytes of these two strikingly different ages and ideologies, which, to varying degrees, have been battling each other in cyclical fashion throughout human history.

I will compare and contrast these differences by descriptively measuring them against SIX components of the Self-Action Leadership Theory of Existential Intelligence.  These six components are: Mental intelligence, Physical intelligence, Spiritual intelligence, Emotional intelligence, Social intelligence, & Moral intelligence.

In reviewing this article, keep in mind that no human being is all postmodernist or all authenticist.  Nearly all authenticists have postmodern proclivities of one form or another, and nearly all postmodernists possess redeeming qualities.  Nevertheless, it is true that generally speaking, every individual is always either heading in one direction or the other.  Thus, in the end, you cannot ultimately find yourself in both camps; you do choose one or the other, and more specifically, one of nine gradients of one side or the other.  (Note: there are nine different levels of Existential Growth and Existential Atrophy.  Authenticist ideology leads one to higher levels of the former - EG. Postmodernist ideology leads one to lower levels of the latter - EA. )

Cognitive Differences  

The Mental Component

A postmodernist believes there isn't any absolute truth and that all "so-called truth" is dynamic and relative to each person's unique life experience. In other words, "truth" (lower-cased) can be flexibly bent to the whimsical exigencies of individual human beings and the perplexing quagmires into which they often entangle themselves as a result of their own choices. To a postmodernist, consequences, along with truth and metaphysical natural laws, are also arbitrary rather than absolute.

In essence, postmodernists seek to become a law unto themselves rather than adhere to, or even admit that any real natural laws governing human behavior may exist outside of or beyond themselves.

An authenticist recognizes that "Truth" (upper-cased) is not only absolute in nature, but that it exists outside of any human wish or inclination. To an authenticist, truth never changes, nor can it be altered. Human beings either choose to seek it out and heed it, or to disregard its tenets and caveats—with relatively predictable long-term consequences following the freely chosen thoughts and behavior of each individual. Authenticists seek to learn about natural laws and then dedicate themselves to living in harmony therewith.

Behavioral Differences  

The Physical (or Behavioral) Component

Postmodernists are fundamentally REACTIVE.

When things go wrong in a postmodernist's life, he or she looks outward for someone or something to scapegoat for his or her problems or misfortune. Postmodernists are fundamentally part of the problem(s) rather than part of the solution(s).

Authenticists are fundamentally PROACTIVE.

When things go wrong in an authenticist's life, he or she looks inward and asks the following questions: 1). How am I contributing to this problem, or how am I a part of the problem? 2). What can I personally do to solve this problem or improve this situation? and 3). In what way(s) do I need to change my thoughts and behavior or purify my character to improve the problem or situation long-term? Authenticists are fundamentally part of the solution(s) rather than part of the problem(s).

Theosophical Differences 

The Spiritual Component

Postmodernists typically don't believe in a Higher Power, or if they do, their belief is one of convenience and caprice. The very concept of faith in what one cannot see or sentiently detect is anathema to a postmodernist because it spoils the notion that the postmodernist him or herself is on top of the universal existential food chain.

Even worse, the acceptance of a Higher Power would create spiritual accountability for one's thoughts and behaviors, something postmodernists are loathe to consider, much less acknowledge. They don't always seek after darkness in an explicit sense; it is just that their pride and vanity won't allow them to make room in their own world for any God that would outrank or otherwise interfere their own self-perceived demigod status. Postmodernists also discount the notion that there is life after death. Doing so makes it much easier to rationalize a whole host of destructive and damning inclinations, behaviors, and lifestyle as being okay—or even good.

Authenticists almost always believe in some form of Higher Power, although their specific spiritual or theological beliefs differ widely. Such faith engenders humility regarding the lowliness of their own existential station, and their reliance on Higher forms of being to access the knowledge and power to to advance existentially themselves. Most importantly, such faith illuminates the existential duty one has to seek after truth and to choose right and good actions over wrong and evil ones to the best of one ability—all while continually seeking after the empowering aid of unseen forces of light along the way.

The Emotional Component

Emotional Differences  

While postmodernists usually don't believe in a Higher Power, this does not mean they do not have strong, spiritually-oriented feelings. Quite to the contrary, a postmodernist may experience spiritual-esque feelings as potently and powerfully as any authenticist. The difference between the two is not necessarily that one feels more strongly than the other. The difference lies in the thoughts and behaviors a postmodernist chooses as a result of the feelings he or she has experienced. 

An authenticist feels strongly about the reality of absolute truth and aligning one's thoughts and behavior in harmony therewith.

A postmodernist feels strongly about whatever one feels strongly about in the present moment. He or she focuses on aligning his or her thoughts and behaviors with augmenting the emotion as well as embracing whatever "itch" one feels most inclined to "scratch" at any given point in his or her life, without giving much thought to the long-term consequences.

The Social Component

Relational Differences  

Postmodernists view relationships mainly as a means to an end. The quality, therefore, of a relationship for a postmodernist is judged by what one personally gets from the relationship. As a result, postmodernists usually choose to cultivate fleeting, short-term, and sentient or sexual-based relationships rather than investing the time, effort, and sacrifice required to obtain deep, enriching, long-term relationships that fulfill the deepest needs human beings have for authentic interpersonal connectedness.

Authenticists, on the other hand, view relationships—and the quality thereof—as an end in and of themselves. For an authenticist, one's primary role in a relationship involves what he or she can give to the other person, how one can personally nurture the relationship, and how one can promote Existential Growth in the other. By secondarily prioritizing one's personal pleasure or external rewards in relationships, authenticists paradoxically magnify and intensify the same, making both parties truly rich (both internally and externally) in the relationship.

The Moral Component

Ethical Differences  

To a postmodernist, ethical concerns are arbitrary and relative. This does not mean postmodernists are casual or indifferent about ethical concerns. To the contrary, postmodernists are sometimes the most impassioned and vocal about issues surrounding ethics. The problem is the standard by which ethical issues are judged to be issues of concern. Rather than being rooted in natural law, such standards are invariably constructed by postmodernist themselves. There is no absolute standard upon which to base ethicality beyond the pronouncements of postmodern potentates. Thus many ethical issues in postmodernism revolve around ideological pet projects rooted in the mercurial whimsy of mankind's baser instincts and more prurient proclivities.

To an authenticist, ethical concerns are absolute and irrevocable. This view does not negate the possibility of "exceptions to the rule" in situations of ethicality, for authenticists understand the great truth that truth itself is often paradoxical. What it does mean is that ALL thoughts and behavior (including any exceptions to the rule) must align with absolute truth if one's cognitions and actions are to qualify as being ethical and moral.

The Existential Component

Ontological Differences  

Postmodernists who persist in postmodernist ideology are easy to spot over time, and reside in two basic camps.

The first camp, which is by far the largest, includes the vast multitudes of individuals who grow old physically having never advanced beyond the EDUCATION (first), BEGINNER'S (second), or PRACTITIONER'S (third) stage of Existential Growth. This camp also includes those who may have advanced to higher levels, but then digressed backwards to one of the lower three levels over time.

The second camp includes postmodernists who are extra talented or clever who descended to the lower levels of the DARK SHADOW. Such descents are widely noticed, admired, and heralded by multitudes of their fellow postmodernists along their descent to the bottom-most rungs of the DARK SHADOW. After descending to such depths, they may experience much fame and adulation from other postmodernists, and even many immature or naive authenticists who confuse their worldly achievements as being indicators of Existential Growth and maturity.

Postmodernists in this camp often enjoy much financial remuneration and prosperity. Sometimes this remuneration is earned quasi-honestly be means of their talent and cleverness. Often it is earned quite dishonestly by means of seduction, manipulation, and downright deceit. Despite the seeming success and grandeur achieved by these individuals, the passage of time always leads to an infamous and ignominious legacy—and sometimes to physical ruin as well.

Authenticists who persist in the authentic living described in my book—Self-Action Leadership—are easy to spot because they are continually growing up—not literally so much as figuratively, in an existential sense. In other words, they are perpetually progressing to higher levels of Existential Growth as defined in the Self-Action Leadership Theory.

Click HERE to learn more about the SAL Theory & Model.

Authenticism pursued to its end results in SELF-TRANSCENDENCE (level 8) followed by one's entering the CREATION STAGE (level 9), which marks the beginning of world altering contributions and a legacy that lives on positively, constructively, and indefinitely.

To sum up, and put very bluntly, postmodernism—and the postmodern potentates and populace that supports and promotes it—is/are the problem in our world today.

On the other hand, authenticism—and the authentic and humble practitioner's and parishes that undergird and enliven it—is/are the solution in our world today.

We at Freedom Focused invite you to join us in bringing about an end to the postmodern period and replace it with an AGE of AUTHENTICISM.  By so doing, you can start the process of becoming part of the solution(s) our world needs, rather than contributing to the problem(s) that presently engulf much of our post-postmodern world.

Click HERE to read more about the AGE of AUTHENTICISM

Click HERE to learn more about Postmodernism

........................................................................................................................................................

SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP is the key catalyst for initiating transformational leadership that lasts in any organization. The truth of the matter really is that simple; and the transformation of organizations through the holistic development of individuals really is that difficult—yet altogether possible for anyone willing to invest the time, effort, and sacrifice required to achieve authentic, transformational results.

Unlike any training program that has ever preceded it, Self-Action Leadership provides a single vehicle wherewith individual self-leaders can discover—and then act—upon the great truth that HOLISTIC personal development and growth spanning the mental, moral, spiritual, physical, emotional, and social elements of our individual natures is within the grasp of each one of us.

Note: Freedom Focused is a non-partisan, for-profit, educational corporation. As such, we do not endorse or embrace political figures. We do, however, comment from time-to-time on historical or political events that provide pedagogical backdrops to illuminating principles contained in the SAL Theory & Model.

Click HERE to learn more about the SAL Theory & Model.


To receive weekly articles from Freedom Focused & Dr. Jordan R. Jensen, sign up with your e-mail address in the white box on the right side of this page where it says "Follow by E-mail."


Click HERE to buy a copy of Dr. Jordan Jensen's new book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.


Click HERE to read more about Dr. Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership, and to review what experts in the leadership field are saying about this groundbreaking new personal development handbook.


Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan R. Jensen. Click HERE to visit the Freedom Focused website.

Right and Wrong Really Do Exist

“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, and ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” 

             – Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

The existence of right and wrong is an incontrovertible, but often inconvenient, truth. It is perennially out of style, and countless human beings from all walks of life seek endlessly, but fruitlessly, to escape its penetrating presence in our world and universe. You don’t have to align yourself with a specific philosophy, or belong to a certain religion, to recognize and accede the reality of right and wrong. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, everyone has a conscience, which serves as an existential guide to all who are willing to listen.