Moment of Moral Judgment
How many of you have been faced with a moral judgment? I'm sure everyone has at one time or another. Did you happen to confront it? Did you simply walk away? It's hard to do the right thing sometimes don't you think? Some would say that they would do what was right and step in while others would leave it for someone else to deal with. So what is a moral judgment anyway? Better yet, let's look at what a moral is. According to Merriam-Webster a moral is "a : of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior: ethical <moral judgments>, and d : sanctioned by or operative on one's conscience or ethical judgment <a moral obligation>." After reading those definitions you have a pretty good idea of what a moral or moral judgment is right? If not, just think about the television show, "What Would You Do?" The show presents scenarios of moral judgment to see how people react and whether they would step in or walk away.
A good example comes from a 911 call, which I believe I have mentioned before, that I was involved with. Several calls came in on a car that had flipped into a field. One of our many callers was actually walking their dog and passed right by the car. The caller told us what the car looked like and that it was indeed flipped over. When asked if he could check to see if anyone was in it he declined. He was then asked if he could at least yell out to see if anyone would respond and he replied with, "I'd rather not get involved," and hung up on us. So what would you do? Personally I would have gone to help but to each their own I guess. So now let's look at a scenario, and I would like for everyone to respond within the comments section on this one. I want to see what you would do if you were confronted with a moral judgment that involved your spouse. Better yet, let's throw in a twist. It's taken from listverse.com and reads,
"You are an emergency worker that has just been called to the scene of an accident. When you arrive you see that the car belongs to your wife. Fearing the worst you rush over to see she is trapped in her car with another man.
She sees you and although barely conscious, she manages to mouth the words “I’m sorry”…
You don’t understand, but her look answers you question. The man next to her is her lover with whom she’s been having an affair.
You reel back in shock, devastated by what her eyes have just told you. As you step back, the wreck in front of you comes into focus. You see your wife is seriously hurt and she needs attention straight away. Even if she gets attention there’s a very high chance she’ll die.
You look at the seat next to her and see her lover. He’s bleeding heavily from a wound to the neck and you need to stem the flow of blood immediately. It will only take about 5 minutes to stop, but it will mean your wife will definitely die.
If you tend to your wife however, the man will bleed to death despite the fact it could have been avoided.
Who would you choose to work on?"
Now I know this scenario may be a bit far fetched but it could happen. So what would you do folks? Would you help the lover or the wife/husband depending on the case? I mean, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration but you also have to make a split second decision. Make sure to comment so that we can generate some discussion on this!