Would you help a dying Nazi soldier?
...igion. It occupied a prominent part in the early teachings of the New Testament as a powerful social and personal action, but “forgiveness” seldom if ever attained an impressive place in the ethics that the church sought to commend to its secular host society. That comment alone wraps up why I could forgive the Nazi soldier. My religious faith, beliefs, and practices teach me do so. Aside from religion there is a moral component I must include. Moral Obligation as The Letric Law Library defines it is – a duty which one owes, and which he ought to perform but which is not legally bound to fulfill. These obligations are of two kinds. Those founded on a natural right; as the obligation to be charitable, which can never be enforced by a law. Those which are supported by a good or valuable antecedent consideration; as, where a man owes a debt barred by the act of limitations, this cannot be recovered by law, though it subsists in morality and conscience; but if the debtor promise to pay it, the moral obligation is a sufficient consideration for the promise, and the creditor may maintain an action to assumpsit’s, to recover the money. The question of moral obligation to those close and known to us is not as problematic. There seems to be clear moral obligations to those close to us. It appears to be rooted in some sort of moral contract or something where I voluntarily enter into relationship with people with more or less understood set mutual expectations. The voluntary nature of these relationships seems to carry with them moral obligations. But what about total strangers? There should be a moral obligation to strangers rooted in justice. I believe everyone has a right to their own freedom and control over the decision they make to get or not get involved in others issues. But when there is an obvious threat to someone’s life and what I do or not do as a witness can determine their fate something should validate me to help if in turn my life is not threatened. To take a common real life situation as an example, suppose I come upon an automobile accident where someone needs some immediate life-saving attention and that I am there and have these skills. Virtually nothing very serious prohibits me from giving of these skills. In such a case I would see myself as not only having a strong sense of responsibility to respond, but even to have a moral obligation. However, there are certain cases which are of such a different order that they must be considered as exceptions to my refusal to accept moral obligations and they vary depending on the present circumstance. Now the second request of Karl would be out of my hands and control. I would refuse to be his confessor as did Wiesenthal because it was out of his power. Forgiving one for me is one thing but forgiving for the majority is another. For example, I am African – American and...