Question:
Are personal resolutions morally binding?
Answer: I take it the question
is a passing reference to New Year’s resolutions that have been
generalized to include all personal resolutions regardless of one’s
faith-tradition. Personal resolutions indicate the desire for the
improvement of one’s character, which is very much the business of
religion. This desire is certainly positive because it indicates that
we have done a personal inventory of our strong and weak points, and
that we have seen ourselves lacking, and decided to strengthen our
qualities and eliminate vices or faults. If our resolutions are
actually put into practice, immediate benefits will result: improved
relations with family, friends, colleagues and community, and a
conscience in better standing. The person who never makes any
resolutions for self-improvement could possibly be the owner of a
defective conscience, or worse still, has become complacent or
self-righteous regarding his or her spiritual development. It would be
better to fail at executing one’s personal resolutions than to regard
oneself as requiring no self-improvement at all. I would suggest that
the degree of obligation tied to the resolution is inversely
proportional to the severity of the sin, weakness or fault that the
individual is attempting to overcome. If, for example, one’s
consumption of alcohol is ruining relationships with family, friends
and colleagues, not to mention one’s mental and physical well-being,
then the degree of moral obligation to carry through with the
resolution is very high. In this case, professional help would be
required because much lies at stake. The following exhortation of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá (1844-1921), the son of the Prophet-Founder Bahá’u’lláh
(1817-1892), and the interpreter of his teachings, is valid at anyone’s
new year, and all through the year: “Let each one of God’s loved ones
centre his attention on this: to be the Lord’s mercy to man; to be the
Lord’s grace. Let him do some good to every person whose path he
crosseth, and be of some benefit to him. Let him improve the character
of each and all, and reorient the minds of men. In this way, the light
of divine guidance will shine forth, and the blessings of God will
cradle all mankind” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections, p. 3). -
Jack
McLean
