Focusing on Commonality

So what can we agree on when it comes to right and wrong?

I think it is appropriate to divide morals into levels of acceptance. The reason for this is because while it seems obvious that stealing is wrong, not feeding your children is a greater crime than theft. If you have children and no food, and you are really unable to find work nor earn enough to eat (which is a reality for some South Africans), then surely we cannot criticize someone for stealing enough to feed their family?

Level 1: Survival Level: In a society in which people are fighting for survival, the following foundation level of morality still applies:

1. Do not rape (there is never a good enough reason for this)
2. Do not steal for profit
3. Do not kidnap
4. Do not physically force someone to do something they do not want to do
5. Do not murder for any reason, other than as a form of defense
6. Do not cause someone harm for no reason (to me, this is the very definition of evil)
7. Do not sell people (seems obvious, but it wasn't for a very long time)

Level 2: Members of a society not fighting for survival can extend their morals to include the following:

1. Do not murder
2. Do not steal
3. Honour your contracts
4. Accept responsibility for your own actions
5. Do not cheat
6. Do not practice revenge
7. Minimize your harm of animals

Level 3: For members of a society that have more than they need

1. Do not be a burden on society

Level 4: Make the Circle Bigger

1. Accept responsibility for society. i.e. Work towards solving the problems of society, not just those problems that effect you directly
2. Recycle
3. Sacrifice some of the abundance of your resources for the betterment of the lives of others

Level 5: Minimize Harm

1. Vegetarianism
2. Drive a hybrid car instead of a purely petrol car ;)

I believe I am at level 4 in this list. I believe that it is better to be vegetarian, than to eat meat, but at this stage I still eat meat and have no intention of becoming vegetarian anytime soon. I include it in the hierarchy of morality because what I'm trying to do here is create a hierarchy in which people can find A level of morality on which we can all agree. While some people may feel it's important to not eat meat, I think that we can all agree that's it's not morally better for us to eat meat, than not to eat meat.