Trueblood, E. (1946, 1961). Foundations for reconstruction: How to build an enduring moral order. New interpretations of old commandments. Word.

OVERVIEW

Some may pass over this book because of its date, others because of its reference to God and the biblical commandments. But here is a crucial challenge to anyone who cares about world peace and justice. How can old animosities be forgiven? On what basis can we seek a justice that will provide peace? What is/are the unifying factor(s) in a world of conflicting opinions?

Trueblood’s small book begins with a concern:

We can go down, as preceding civilizations have gone down, and there are some ways in which we are going down now...Our standard is our most precious possession... (p. 5)

Not all in today’s world look for a common standard. Thinkers like Hans Küng (Global Responsibility: In Search of a New World Ethic, 1990) and Trueblood believe that a common moral foundation is possible for world peace and justice.

The thesis of this small book is that the recovery of the moral law, as represented by the Hebrew Decalogue, is one of the ways in which...an antidote to potential decline can be found... (p. 6)

The most exciting idea which came to the author, when this book was written after the end of the war, was the realization that the ancient commandments could be stated affirmatively and that they ought to be so stated. The negative statement is merely a vivid way of calling attention to a principle...being transgressed... (p. 7)

Like Küng, Trueblood believes that not only Jews, Christians, and Muslims can unite around the morality of the Ten Commandments, but thoughtful and sincere secularists as well. In this he is emphasizing the relational aspect of morality.

Since reverence for persons is the ultimate basis of all morality...truth-telling is of paramount importance...not because of loyalty to the things about which we tell, but because of the persons to whom we tell...The most practical form which the categorical imperative takes is this: Thou shalt be trustworthy. (p. 99)

All the elaborate plans which we make about the control of the atomic bomb are bound to fail of their purpose unless those who agree to the controls are personally trustworthy. (p. 99)

A good (person) is a (person) who keeps his promises. A wise (person) is careful in making promises, but a good (persons) is meticulous in keeping them. (p. 100)

This writer is not naive regarding secular or post-modern critiques. Religious or moral arguments are easily dismissed in today’s world. All moral challenges to current affairs count on an underlying sense of "rightness" that crosses cultures and human divisions. Science, education, and politics must all be informed with some sense of trust.

The theme of this book is that the reconstruction of our world is not primarily a problem in engineering and not primarily a problem in politics, important as they both are, but that the underlying task is to recover the sense of a moral order...This may seem as first, to be pious and conventional talk. But when we come to the problem of trustworthiness, almost anyone can see the validity of the argument. This is the Achilles’ heel of a merely secular civilization. (p. 100)

This book includes a quaint versification of the Ten Commandments:

Above all else love God alone;
Bow down to neither wood nor stone.
God’s name refuse to take in vain;
The sabbath rest with care maintain.
Respect your parents all your days;
Hold sacred human life always.
Be loyal to your chosen mate;
Steal nothing, neither small nor great.
Report, with truth, your neighbor’s deed;
And rid your mind of selfish greed.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. Do you have hope for any kind of a world moral order? How or why not?
2. What are the alternatives to such agreement to moral principles?
3. Do you look for forgiveness and reconciliation in today’s world? Can reconciliation and peace come without justice? Can there be justice without morality?
4. In your most immediate world, how do you see the morality of the old commandments being kept and broken?
5. How do you most agree or disagree with this article? What would you add or take out?

IMPLICATIONS

1. There have been too little discussion and education of morality in secular societies; the result is moral anomie. Such discussion has been replaced by media promotion of thrills and exploitation, violence and sexual infidelity resulting in moral numbness.
2. Despite the media onslaught and so many poor role models at all levels of society, young people long for a moral security.
3. The works of Trueblood and Küng are significant anti-dotes for toxic moral confusion.
4. Moral discussions are needed in schools and youth groups.