Moral Conviction Cause of Our Great Divide...

5fish

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The reason nation is so divide is due to our moral convictions... it a long article but worth the read maybe you will see yourself...


Morality is “like the temple on the hill of human nature,” writes the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. “It is our most sacred attribute.” People cherish this sacred sense of right and wrong, put it on a pedestal and surround it with spears, to defend it against attacks. The nearness and dearness of people’s morals means that conflict becomes particularly entrenched when morality gets involved—neither side wants to yield sacred ground.

snip...

It doesn’t help that most people think they are more virtuous than others. Many studies over the years have found what’s called a “better-than-average” effect—that when asked to compare themselves to the average person, most people will say they’re smarter, friendlier, more competent, etc. A recent study found that this effect is much more extreme for moral traits like honesty and trustworthiness.

snip...

Moral superiority and moral tribalism were on full display in the recent U.S. presidential election. Who someone was going to vote for was often cast as a moral decision. Donald Trump did his best to make Hillary Clinton seem like an immoral choice, repeatedly calling her a liar and “Crooked Hillary.” The Democrats called Trump out on his many lies, but also demonized the people planning to vote for him, as in Clinton’s famous dismissal of them as a “basket of deplorables.” Many times, Clinton’s message seemed to be not only “if you’re not with us, you’re against us,” but “if you’re not with us, you’re a bad person.” Michelle Obama, in a powerful speech that was as much arguing against Trump as it was arguing for Clinton, summed up the campaign: “This isn’t about politics,” she said. “It’s about basic human decency. It’s about right and wrong.

Snip...

Haidt’s work identifies six different moral metrics—liberty, fairness, loyalty, authority, care, and purity. Different groups and cultures prefer to emphasize these domains to different degrees. For example, people in Eastern countries tend to emphasize purity and loyalty more than people in Western countries. People who live in countries where there has historically been higher prevalence of disease also place a higher value on purity, as well as loyalty and authority. In the United States, liberals tend to focus mostly on care, fairness, and liberty, while conservatives generally emphasize all six domains. Other research shows that people rate the moral values a group holds as the most important characteristic affecting whether they’re proud to be a member of the group, or more likely to distance themselves from it.

snip...

“Different” gets coded as “immoral,” and that’s where the trouble begins. This intolerance can manifest as contempt, segregation, and avoidance. But it can also escalate, especially when it isn’t possible for groups to stay separated. “Social changes that give rise to the prospect of close contact, integration, or influence, are sufficient to kindle hatred, expulsion, and even ‘ethnic cleansing,’” Brewer writes.

Snip... moral conviction is truth...

That makes any conflict where the two parties both feel morality is on their side almost impossible to solve. A strong moral conviction that something is right or wrong is experienced in the same way as a fact, according to research by Linda Skitka—as an objective, irrefutable truth.

snip...

“When you have a strong moral conviction about something, it really is pretty much akin to your belief that 2+2 = 4,” says Skitka, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “Can you imagine somebody being able to persuade you off of that conclusion?


There is much more to the article it a good read...

 

Kirk's Raider's

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The reason nation is so divide is due to our moral convictions... it a long article but worth the read maybe you will see yourself...


Morality is “like the temple on the hill of human nature,” writes the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. “It is our most sacred attribute.” People cherish this sacred sense of right and wrong, put it on a pedestal and surround it with spears, to defend it against attacks. The nearness and dearness of people’s morals means that conflict becomes particularly entrenched when morality gets involved—neither side wants to yield sacred ground.

snip...

It doesn’t help that most people think they are more virtuous than others. Many studies over the years have found what’s called a “better-than-average” effect—that when asked to compare themselves to the average person, most people will say they’re smarter, friendlier, more competent, etc. A recent study found that this effect is much more extreme for moral traits like honesty and trustworthiness.

snip...

Moral superiority and moral tribalism were on full display in the recent U.S. presidential election. Who someone was going to vote for was often cast as a moral decision. Donald Trump did his best to make Hillary Clinton seem like an immoral choice, repeatedly calling her a liar and “Crooked Hillary.” The Democrats called Trump out on his many lies, but also demonized the people planning to vote for him, as in Clinton’s famous dismissal of them as a “basket of deplorables.” Many times, Clinton’s message seemed to be not only “if you’re not with us, you’re against us,” but “if you’re not with us, you’re a bad person.” Michelle Obama, in a powerful speech that was as much arguing against Trump as it was arguing for Clinton, summed up the campaign: “This isn’t about politics,” she said. “It’s about basic human decency. It’s about right and wrong.

Snip...

Haidt’s work identifies six different moral metrics—liberty, fairness, loyalty, authority, care, and purity. Different groups and cultures prefer to emphasize these domains to different degrees. For example, people in Eastern countries tend to emphasize purity and loyalty more than people in Western countries. People who live in countries where there has historically been higher prevalence of disease also place a higher value on purity, as well as loyalty and authority. In the United States, liberals tend to focus mostly on care, fairness, and liberty, while conservatives generally emphasize all six domains. Other research shows that people rate the moral values a group holds as the most important characteristic affecting whether they’re proud to be a member of the group, or more likely to distance themselves from it.

snip...

“Different” gets coded as “immoral,” and that’s where the trouble begins. This intolerance can manifest as contempt, segregation, and avoidance. But it can also escalate, especially when it isn’t possible for groups to stay separated. “Social changes that give rise to the prospect of close contact, integration, or influence, are sufficient to kindle hatred, expulsion, and even ‘ethnic cleansing,’” Brewer writes.

Snip... moral conviction is truth...

That makes any conflict where the two parties both feel morality is on their side almost impossible to solve. A strong moral conviction that something is right or wrong is experienced in the same way as a fact, according to research by Linda Skitka—as an objective, irrefutable truth.

snip...

“When you have a strong moral conviction about something, it really is pretty much akin to your belief that 2+2 = 4,” says Skitka, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “Can you imagine somebody being able to persuade you off of that conclusion?


There is much more to the article it a good read...
To be fair other nations have politcal division and civil wars . Yes there are shape disagreements about morality in the US.
We can't even have a common definition of morality.
Maybe the US has become two separate nations but how they can achieve either diviorce or reunification is unknown.
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