We often refer to things like loyalty, courage, or consistency as virtues to be sought after. Realistically, though, they are only as virtuous as the things they support. This puts them in a different category, that of “moral amplifier.” Consider for example the loyalty one has in a relationship. This can lead them to honor commitments, stand by the person during hardship, or help someone through setbacks. But if the relationship is co-dependent or the person to whom they are loyal is manipulative, destructive or otherwise toxic, this can lead to conducting immoral acts on their behalf, harming others, or bolstering a narcissist’s power over others. Courage also operates in this way, amplifying our feelings and actions relative to an ideology that might be good or bad. A soldier can behave courageously in a cause that is immoral.

When loyalty suppresses dissent, when it overrides truth, justice or conscience, it becomes a vice rather than a virtue. I blogged about this in the wake of the reprehensible Policy of Exclusion in 2015 that barred children with gay parents from LDS baptism.

It’s only become harder, not easier, to break from the emotional pull of divisive rhetoric since that time. We should all stop to ask ourselves if we are defending wrongdoing by those on our side because they are “one of us” or staying silent about harm done to another group because they are not on our team. Obeying authority in wrongdoing is a symptom of blind loyalty, which is exactly how authoritarianism succeeds.

Healthy loyalty looks different:

  • Based on shared values
  • Allows disagreement
  • Is withdrawn when harm is being done
  • Includes accountability

By contrast, unhealthy loyalty looks like this:

  • Demands obedience
  • Punishes dissent
  • Frames leaving as a betrayal
  • Ties identity to morality

Loyalty functions in a healthy way when it is:

  • reciprocal
  • chosen, not coerced
  • aligned with broader principles
  • open to revision

Autocractic leaders and systems, whether political or religious, want to convert loyalty into obedience in order to control a population toward their aims. That doesn’t mean that obedience is bad and disobedience is good. It just means that both are moral amplifiers. The important thing is what they are for or against.

Discipline is another moral amplifier. It fosters dedication to meaningful work, self-control, and long-term responsibility. But it can instead be used to amplify rigid or extreme ideology, fanaticism, unhealthy self-denial. Consider the way discipline can either create a successful Olympic athlete or a self-loathing looks-maxxer hitting his facial bones with a hammer to create a chiseled jawline. Both require discipline. One is toward a worthwhile goal; the other is self-destructive.

Courage can be a positive or a negative, depending on the cause. Courage amplifies moral resilience, truth-telling in the face of oppression or danger, and protection of other people at personal expense. But it can also amplify violent extremism, ideological fanaticism or destructive loyalty. Courage increases personal power, not the things that power is used to support.

Any science ficition fan will note that intelligence is also a moral amplifier. It can be used for creative ends, empathy, and superior ethical reasoning. It can also be used to manipulate, the rationalize, and to exploit. Sometimes the most intelligent beings are the most dangerous.

Passion is a moral amplifier rather than a virtue. Someone with passion may be more able to create art, to push for social reform, to love and care for others, and to remain resilient. But it can be used to advance someone’s obsession, moral absolutism, tribalism or destructive anger.

Faith is a deep trust in an idea, cause or system, whether religious or not. It can amplify hope, perseverance, and moral commitment. But it can also amplify someone’s ability to deny reality in favor of abstract ideas, to become blindly loyal to an idea or cause, or to be intolerant of dissent.

This next one is a bit yikes because of how the religious right has tried to discard or disfavor the second greatest commandment (to love our neighbor as ourself), but empathy is actually another moral amplifier. Someone I know who is in the military felt empathy toward the Ayatollah after he was killed in the strikes, which struck me as odd, overlooking the tens of thousands of Iranians he murdered a month earlier. The basis for the empathy was that he was an old man. Empathy can lead to compassion, protecting vulnerable people, and moral awareness outside of our in-group. But it can also amplify favoritism toward “our group” (whatever that group may be), moral outrage without fairness or realism, and emotional bias toward disfavored groups. It intensifies feelings of injustice, but doesn’t necessarily lead to justice.

Certainty is another moral amplifier, which makes it tricky. If you are certain of something that is actually right, good and true, then you will have clarity, courage in defending what’s right, and will resist injustice. If you are certain of something that is not true, not good, or not worthy of your certainty, well, a bit of doubt would have served you better. Misplaced certainty leads to intolerance, rigidity, closed-mindedness, and ideological extremism. Certainty may make you stronger, but it doesn’t make you wiser.

Solidarity is also like these other moral amplifiers. Being unified adds power to achieve collective goals, protect members, and mobilize resources. We are told “If ye are not one, ye are not mine.” But unity can also lead to groupthink, suppression of dissent (including suppressing more accurate or correct ideas), and persecution of outsiders and former adherents. It can lead to a tyrannical rule of the majority, and punishment of anyone different.

When someone exhibits grit or perseverance, they can overcome obstacles and difficulty to build better things. But it can also keep people trapped in bad systems, pursuing failed strategies, and defending harmful beliefs long after they’ve been discredited by evidence. Sometimes quitters win by losing less.

The most successful authoritarian systems layer these moral amplifiers to maximize their control and influence. For example:

  • Loyalty + identity → “I am this system” (Remember the “I’m a Mormon” campaign? That’s a perfect example of this coupling)
  • Obedience + moral certainty → “The system is always right” (Every willing Nazi conflated their participation with patriotism or as German comedian Mario Adrion would put it “Maybe Grandpa loved Germany just a little too much”)
  • Fear + conformity → “Everyone else agrees, and it’s dangerous not to” (This is what led to the mass suicide at Jonestown)
  • Discipline + faith → “I will endure and believe no matter what” (We only bring up “enduring to the end” when it sucks)

It doesn’t take much imagination to see how moral amplifiers function in political groups, and also in other identity groups like religions. Mormonism is no exception. The key is what lies underneath. People sometimes say that alcohol merely reveals the type of person someone is. An angry drunk is an angry person whose inhibitions have been lowered. A happy drunk is an optimistic person, etc. While that’s not entirely true, it’s one way to look at moral amplifiers. The way they manifest reveals the underlying belief, whether it’s true or inaccurate, whether it’s moral or immoral.

  • Have you seen moral amplifiers at work in politics, the church, or other places?
  • How have you noticed moral amplifiers having a positive outcome?
  • What negative outcomes have you seen from moral amplifiers?

Discuss.