At the turn of the millennium, Amitai Etzioni, one of the world’s leading sociologists, published a book entitled The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society. During the Clinton administration he frequented the corridors of power and advised several political big shots on social and public policy.
In the book he invites readers to explore how a good society should operate and what values we must bring to our social interactions if we want a stronger and more enduring community.
Etzioni maintains that the problem facing society today is that half the population is distrustful of order and morality, while the other half is suspicious of liberty, which is equated with permissiveness.
He argues that we must have both order and autonomy. Recognising that excessive morality and excessive liberty are each a dire threat to the health of society, Etzioni argues that there must be a trade-off between morality and freedom.
Events over the past decades have opened a can of worms in the midst of our culture: corruption. I do not want to imply that the majority of Maltese people are corrupt. However, I believe that the facts are clear that corruption runs across religion, politics, business and other sectors of society and culture. It crosses the boundaries of religious denominations and political parties.
In this situation, morality has a major role to play. No one can turn the clock back, but religious leaders and institutions should first of all be a living witness to the fact that honesty, decency and trust are still possible.
Excessive morality and excessive liberty are each a dire threat to the health of society
Of course, men and women of the cloth, and that includes me, should be ready to wear the sackcloth, put ashes on their heads and shout: “Lord have mercy on me because I am a sinner.” The mea culpa at the beginning of each Mass is not a ritual but a fact.
Fifty years ago almost to the day, in the decree on the ministry and life of priests, Vatican Council II has made it clear to the clergy (and to the People of God), that “ceremonies, however beautiful, or associations, however flourishing, will be of little value if they are not directed toward the education of men to Christian maturity”. This is not based on the view of some unconventional avantgarde theologian.
The Council refers us to St Jerome’s Letter 58: “The true temple of Christ is the believer’s soul; adorn this, clothe it, offer gifts to it, welcome Christ in it. What use are walls blazing with jewels when Christ in his poor is in danger of perishing from hunger?”
But the buck stops there. When in the 1970s, Italian political life and the State itself were in disarray under the terrorist threat of Ordine Nuovo on the extreme right and the Brigate Rosse on the extreme left – culminating in the assassination Aldo Moro in 1978 – Enrico Berlinguer was preaching the “moralizzazione della politica” – the moralisation of political life – as the way ahead to clean up Italian society and culture.
Unfortunately, even in our country, corruption under different guises have permeated our culture and the higher echelons of our social structures: from politicians to priests, judges to lawyers, medical doctors to nurses, academics to students, businessmen to accountants and from public officers to the average citizen.
Like Pope Francis, we should be short in our sermonising and firm in our actions. Borrowing from Marx’s most known parting shot: Maltese of goodwill, let us unite; we have nothing to lose but our chains. Let us put morality at the centre stage of our public life.
joe.inguanez@gmail.com
Fr Joe Inguanez, a sociologist, is executive director of the Church’s research institute Discern.