Absolute
Moralist <the Ab Mor>
There is a creature who’s been running around
loose on Planet Earth over the millennia, steadily increasing in number.
He/she is the Absolute Moralist. His/Her mission
in life is to whip you and me into line.
Like Satan, they disguise themselves in various
human forms. They may appear as a politician on one occasion, next as a
minister, and still later as your mother-in-law.
Whatever the disguise, they are relentless,
stalking you to your grave if you let them, scheming to steal your power while
the only power they have is that which you give them.
If he/she senses that you’re one of their prey—that
you do not base your actions on rational self-choice—they’ll punish you
unmercifully, making guilt your bedfellow until you’re convinced you’re a
bad person.
The Absolute Moralist is the creature—looking
deceptively like any ordinary human being—who spends his life deciding what
is right for you.
If he gives to charity, he’ll try to
shame you into “understanding” that it’s your moral duty to give to
charity too (usually a charity of his choice).
If he believes in Christ, he’s certain
that it’s his moral duty to help you “see the light.”
(In the most extreme cases, he may even feel morally obliged to kill
you in order to “save” you from your disbelief.)
<ed persuadeing you to follow “their” religion is a symptom of
the Ab Mor>
If he doesn’t smoke or drink, it takes little
effort for him “logically” to conclude that smoking and drinking are wrong
for you.
In essence, all he wants is to run your life.
There is only one thing which can frustrate him
into leaving you alone, and that is your
firm decision never to allow him to impose his beliefs on you.
In deciding whether it’s right to look out for
Number One, I suggest that the first thing you do is eliminate from
consideration all unsolicited moral opinions of others.
Morality—the quality of character—is a very
personal and private matter. No
other living person has the right to decide what is moral (right or wrong) for
you.
I further suggest that you make a prompt and
thorough effort to eliminate from your life all individuals who claim—by
words or actions, directly or by inference—to possess such a right.
You
should concern yourself only with whether looking out for Number One is moral
from your own rational, aware viewpoint.
Looking out for Number One means spending more
time doing those things which give you pleasure.
It does not, however, give you cart blanche to do whatever you please.
It is not hedonistic in concept, because the looking-out-for-Number-One
philosophy does not end with the hedonistic assertion that man’s primary
moral duty lies in the pursuit of pleasure.
Looking out for Number One adds a rational, civilized tag:
Man’s
primary moral duty lies in the pursuit of pleasure so long as he does not
forcibly interfere with the rights of others.
There are only two (2) sins; the first is to
interfere with the [spiritual] growth of another human being, and the second
is to interfere with one’s own [spiritual] growth.