When it comes to laws, ethics, and morals, they’re all broad subjects with lots of shady areas. And these shady areas are spots where they sort of blend and merge. Take, for instance, murder. It’s unlawful, immoral, and unethical. There’s no country in the world where you’ll find murder to be justifiable. Because if it’s justifiable, then it isn’t murder anymore.
There are so many acts that miss out on all three, but that doesn’t mean that they’re all one and the same. Some things might be legal, but it doesn’t make them moral or ethical. And what’s moral for one person might not necessarily be moral for someone else. In the end, it could all just be subjective.
I’ve come to the conclusion that laws are made to protect the system, not necessarily the people. Because a lawless country is only one chaos away from collapse. It’s the laws that keep the people in check and stop them from running rampage. And most of the time, things that are considered ‘criminal’ usually affect other people negatively.
Not every bad thing that happens is illegal, even though it’s unethical. Cheating in a relationship is bad, but it’s not illegal. It can be grounds for divorce, but it won’t be enough for the police to arrest you and send you to prison. While cheating is immoral and unethical, no actual crime is committed. And as long as there is consent, and no minor is involved, the only person hurt from such an illicit relationship would be the one cheated on.
Last year, the internet was rocked by the sex scandal of a Senior Civil Servant in Equatorial Guinea who had multiple sex partners. He had so many partners that they had to investigate his sex life. In reality, having multiple partners wasn’t illegal, however, the huge number of them was enough to raise eyebrows to ensure that he wasn’t purposely transmitting STDs to unsuspecting women. If that happened to be the case, then it would have turned into a criminal case.
There are ways that people run their businesses that may seem illegal, but they actually are. You see, while the law is fixed, ethics and morals are very flexible, and everyone bends them according to how far they’re willing to let themselves go. Some people will claim they’re neat freaks and can’t live in a dirty house, so they’re homes are always spotless. Yet, they throw dirt out through their windows and litter their compounds.
Some will never engage in fraudulent activities; that’s illegal. But they could use their office to extort money from people in a way that the law would never be able to prosecute them. Meanwhile, there are those who find lies totally immoral and will never tell them, even if it’s to save their own lives. In the end, it all boils down to what we’re willing to involve ourselves in.
From what I understand, morals are a personal decision, one that we decide to make on our own. We decide never to tell lies, never to cheat, always be disciplined, do not be arrogant… these are morals. Meanwhile, ethics is different in the sense that society expects it from us, even though we’re not exactly mandated for it. Ethics can come in the form of policies in professional settings, what certain people should do and shouldn’t do, codes of conduct… it can also be like the unspoken rule that guides a society. It could be how to dress, the base meanings of family… and the list goes on.
So, should these things be incorporated into the law? There are laws that have taken such moves already, but still, I believe that certain things should be up to the individual. You can’t force someone to be ethical or moral just because you made some laws. Some people don’t care about the laws, or at the very least, they’d find a way around them.
As I said, morals are a personal choice, and when people set certain standards for themselves, they’d find it harder to deviate from them. So, let’s just keep things as is. It’s been working great so far. There are laws, there are ethics, and there are morals.
Let them all stay that way.