A while ago I was talking with a friend of mine about the idea of the “moral compass,” which is a very popular buzzword today, especially in terms of politicians and public figures. The way people generally use it is that when you’ve got a moral compass, you’re always doing the right thing. But it’s funny because the image of a compass has much greater nuance than that. In fact, regular compasses are actually kind of a pain to use, I think. That stupid thing is always shaking around and good luck getting the needle to stop moving, unless you put it down on something. And once it does finally stop moving, what good does it do you to know which direction north is? What if you don’t even want to go north? If you’re in a car, you’re going to have to find a road which will take you where you’re going. Just simply knowing the direction isn’t going to help. And say you’re walking somewhere. Maybe you know what direction north is, and that’s where you want to go. What happens when you realize there’s a mountain or an ocean in the way?

That’s why it’s so weird to me that politicians and others are always using this term moral compass. Like having a moral compass is some kind of foolproof internal device to get you from here to there. It’s really anything but foolproof. I actually kind of like the term a lot better when I think about it from this perspective. Because I find that a lot of times in life, you know what the right thing to do is. You know the direction it’s in. But sometimes you don’t really know the best way to get there. And other times you decide just to go somewhere else.

While looking up the term “moral compass” I found a couple interesting things.

1. One is this excerpt from the Brick Testament about following your moral compass. If you’re not familiar with this site, it has Bible passages illustrated with Lego characters. It’s incredible. The passage they are illustrating is from Deuteronomy 29:19-20, and it’s about going your own way (following your moral compass) instead of adhering to the covenant with God. I found a really good modern translation from a Bible version called, “The Message.”
   19 A person who hears the words of the Covenant-oath but exempts himself, thinking, “I’ll live just the way I please, thank you,” and ends up ruining life for everybody.
   20 GOD won’t let him off the hook. GOD’s anger and jealousy will erupt like a volcano against that person. The curses written in this book will bury him. GOD will delete his name from the records.

   In other words, even the Bible doesn’t want you to follow your moral compass.

2. Here’s another slightly weirder angle on the moral compass issue: When The Moral Compass Goes Haywire: The Trouble With D&D Alignments
3. How Compasses Work, from HowStuffWorks.com