Despite a surge of virtue-related discourse in certain Christian thought spaces, post-virtue, ends-based moral reasoning is having its moment in the mainstream. “We are creating a mode of politics that openly celebrates the death of morality,” lamented journalist Derek Thompson recently in his piece,“Can America Escape the Cycle of Vicemaxxing?”
It’s easy to see how he reached this conclusion. Prominent right-wing figures transparently dispense with principles and conscience as limiting factors on power; prominent leftists shamelessly plug petty theft as a form of legitimate protest while expressing winking tolerance of political violence.
An ends-based moral logic comports neatly with all manner of atrocities— bombing Iranian civilians, killing boat strike survivors, celebrating the death of your political opponents. Questions of just war, or fairness, or human dignity become at best afterthoughts, and at worst impediments to realizing the righteous ends of…