Notes on the Morality of A Course In Miracles Tom Fox | August 31, 2019 | Lake Cumberland,

Kentucky | v. 1.0
Contents
Preface
Introduction
A. Theory of Moral Development
B. Theories of morality
C. The Golden Rule
D. The Morality of Love, Forgiveness, Miracles and Being Helpful -- Miracle Workers Prayer
E. The Morality of Jesus and Christianity -- The Seven Cardinal Sins -- The Seven Cardinal
Virtues -- The Ten Commandments
F. Morality of Teachers of God -- Classic Greek Idealism -- ACIM - Characteristics of God's
Teachers Random ACIM References
Preface
I began the week with the belief that A Course In Miracles (ACIM) lacked any substantial
discussion of morality or right conduct in the world. This, it seems, has been the consensus of
opinion among both students and teachers of ACIM for the last forty-five years.
After researching the question of moral philosophy and ethics in general, I soon realized that A
Course In Miracles is packed full of morality and ethics, from beginning to end, but that I had
been blind to it . . . until I looked. When I focused on the issue, I discovered I had only a child's
understanding of what morality and ethical persuasion looked like.
The morality of ACIM is a bigger project than I first imagined it would be. These notes are from a
few days of effort.

Introduction
Morality relates to the principles that distinguish between good and bad behavior. A moral
system is a particular collection of values, a set of rules or a way of thinking in relation to right
conduct. Different forms of morality focus on different aspects. The most basic type of morality
involves controlling behavior without regard for consequences or reasons motivating the
behavior. Some forms of morality emphasize motivation rather than outcomes, and others look
only to consequences.

A. Theory of Moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development holds that the nature of moral reasoning that
forms the basis for ethical behavior, has six developmental stages. His research method used
storytelling techniques to tell people stories involving moral dilemmas. In each case, he
presented a choice to be considered, for example, between the rights of some authority and the
needs of some deserving individual who is being unfairly treated.
By studying the answers from children of different ages to these questions, Kohlberg hoped to
discover how moral reasoning changed as people grew older. The sample comprised 72
Chicago boys aged 10– 16 years, 58 of whom were followed up at three-yearly intervals for 20
years. His methodology is generally seen today as being flawed by limiting his study to boys.
Kohlberg identified six levels of moral development divided into three basic categories: pre-
conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. The youngest children had not yet
developed any internal moral compass and they simply behaved as they were instructed by the
adults in their lives. As the children matured they tended to become familiar with the social and
legal norms of their place in society, and their behavior was conforming to what those around
them expected. At the level of conventional morality, authority is internalized but not questioned,
and reasoning is based on the norms of the group to which the person belongs.
According to Kohlberg, only a small percentage of people progress to post-conventional
morality. Individual judgment is derived from self-chosen principles, and moral decisions are
based on individual rights, justice, and rationality.
Kohlberg believed that conventional moral thinking is as far as most people get. That is to say,
most people take their moral views from those around them and only a minority think through
ethical principles for themselves.
B. Theories of morality
1. What religion or tradition tells you (Authoritarian)
2. What an individual feels is right or wrong in any situation. (Moral Subjectivism)
3. What society generally agrees is right or wrong. (Cultural Relativism or Legalism)
4. What results in the most benefit to the individual. (Ethical Egoism or Hedonism)
5. What result benefits society as a whole the most (Altruistic Utilitarianism)
6. Rational virtuous character (Classic Greek Idealism)
7. Emotions like love and sympathy leading to relationships of caring (Feminist Ethical Morality)
C. The Golden Rule
This is one of the more famous quotes from ACIM:
“You must change your mind, not your behavior.” ACIM Text T-2.VI.3.4
But, the Course also states:
"The Golden Rule asks you to behave toward others as you would have them behave toward
you. This means that the perception of both must be accurate. The Golden Rule is the rule for
appropriate behavior. You cannot behave appropriately unless you perceive correctly." ACIM
Text TT-1.III.6.2
The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as you want to be treated. It is a maxim that
is found in most religions and cultures. It can be considered an ethic of reciprocity in some
religions, although other religions treat it differently. The maxim may appear as a positive or
negative injunction governing conduct:
a. Treat others as you would like others to treat you (positive or directive form) b. Do not treat
others in ways that you would not like to be treated (negative or prohibitive form) c. What you
wish upon others, you wish upon yourself (empathic or responsive form)
In the Far East the idea dates at least to the early Confucian times (551–479 BC). This concept
appears prominently in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism,
and the rest of the world's major religions. The Golden Rule was first documented in the Code
of Hummurabi in ancient Babylon (1770 BC).
A Course In Miracles clearly endorses a basic and nearly universal moral guidance. ACIM is in
line with every mainstream religious tradition.
D. The Morality of Love, Forgiveness, Miracles and Being Helpful
One main focus of A Course In Miracles are the instructions for Miracle Workers. A miracle,
according to the Course, is any interpersonal expression of love. There are no big or small
miracles, and a miraculous expression of love could be nothing more than a smile.
"Perhaps the seeming strangers in the elevator will smile to one another, perhaps the adult will
not scold the child for bumping into him; perhaps the students will become friends. Even at the
level of the most casual encounter, it is possible for two people to lose sight of separate
interests, if only for a moment. That moment will be enough. Salvation has come."
ACIM Manual for Teachers M-3.2.5
A few of the many principles relating to miracles in ACIM:
• "Miracles are healing because they supply a lack; they are performed by those who
temporarily have more for those who temporarily have less."
• "Through prayer love is received, and through miracles love is expressed."
• "Miracles are teaching devices for demonstrating it is more blessed to give than to receive.
They simultaneously increase the strength of the giver and supply strength to the receiver."
• "A miracle is a service. It is the maximal service you can render to another. It is a way of loving
your neighbor as yourself. You recognize your own and your neighbor's worth simultaneously.'
• "Miracles are a kind of exchange. Like all expressions of love, which are always miraculous in
the true sense, the exchange reverses the physical laws. They bring more love both to the giver
<and> the receiver."
• "Miracles reawaken the awareness that the spirit, not the body, is the altar of truth. 2 This is
the
recognition that leads to the healing power of the miracle."
• "Miracles are natural signs of forgiveness. Through miracles you accept God's forgiveness by
extending it to others."
Miracle Workers Prayer
I am here only to be truly helpful. I am here to represent Him Who sent me. I do not have to
worry about what to say or what to do, because He Who sent me will direct me. I am content to
be wherever He wishes, knowing He goes there with me. I will be healed as I let Him teach me
to heal.
"The truly helpful are God's miracle workers, whom I [Jesus] direct until we are all united in the
joy of the Kingdom." ACIM Text T-4.VII.8.7
E. The Morality of Jesus and Christianity
“I [Jesus] am your model for decision. By deciding for God I showed you that this decision can
be made, and that you can make it.” ACIM Text T-5.II.9.6-7
“For this alone I need; that you will hear the words I speak, and give them to the world. You are
my voice, my eyes, my feet, my hands through which I save the world” (W-pI.rV.in.9:2-3).
The Seven Cardinal Sins
The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices, or cardinal sins, is a grouping and
classification of vices within Christian teachings, although it does not appear explicitly in the
Bible. Behaviors or habits are classified under this category if they directly give birth to other
immoralities. According to the standard list, they are:
1. Pride 2. Greed 3. Lust 4. Envy 5. Gluttony 6. Wrath (Anger) 7. Sloth
6. Wrath (Anger) “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,
and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry
with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” Matthew 5:21
“Anger is never justified.” ACIM Text T-30.VI.1.1
“If you respond with anger, you must be equating yourself with the destructible, and are
therefore regarding yourself insanely.” ACIM Text T-6.I.4.7
The Seven Cardinal Virtues
1. Prudence 2. Justice 3. Temperanc 4. Courage (or fortitude) 5. Faith 6. Hope 7. Charity
The Ten Commandments
1. No other gods before me. 2. No graven images or likenesses. 3. Not take the Lord's name in
vain. 4. Remember the sabbath day. 5. Honor thy father and thy mother. 6. Thou shalt not kill. 7.
Thou shalt not commit adultery. 8. Thou shalt not steal 9. Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbour 10. Thou shalt not covet
1. You shall have no other gods before me.
In this world you can become a spotless mirror, in which the Holiness of your Creator shines
forth from you to all around you. You can reflect Heaven here. Yet no reflections of the images
of other gods must dim the mirror that would hold God's reflection in it. Earth can reflect Heaven
or hell; God or the ego.
ACIM Text T-14.IX.5. 1
2. No graven images or likenesses.
God is no image, and His creations, as part of Him, hold Him in them in truth. They do not
merely reflect truth, for they are truth. T-14.IX.8.6
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain .
Many are afraid of blasphemy, but they do not understand what it means. They do not realize
that to deny God is to deny their own Identity, and in this sense the wages of sin is death. ACIM
Text T- 10.V.1.4
4. Remember the sabbath day.
This day is God's. It is my gift to Him.
I will not lead my life alone today. I do not understand the world, and so to try to lead my life
alone must be but foolishness. But there is One Who knows all that is best for me. And He is
glad to make no
choices for me but the ones that lead to God. I give this day to Him, for I would not delay my
coming home, and it is He Who knows the way to God.
And so we give today to You. We come with wholly open minds. We do not ask for anything that
we may think we want. Give us what You would have received by us. You know all our desires
and our wants. And You will give us everything we need in helping us to find the way to You.
ACIM Workbok Lesson 242
5. Honor thy father and thy mother.
honor is the natural greeting of the truly loved to others who are like them. T-3.I.6.3
6. Thou shalt not kill.
M-27.7. Teacher of God, your one assignment could be stated thus: Accept no compromise in
which death plays a part. 2 Do not believe in cruelty, nor let attack conceal the truth from you.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
10 The body does appear to be the symbol of sin while you believe that it can get you what you
want. 11 While you believe that it can give you pleasure, you will also believe that it can bring
you pain. 12 To think you could be satisfied and happy with so little is to hurt yourself, T-
19.IV.A.17.
8. Thou shalt not steal
"It [the ego] literally believes that every time it deprives someone of something, it has
increased." ACIM Text T-7.V.9.8
“The inheritance of the Kingdom is the right of God's Son, given him in his creation. Do not try to
steal it from him, or you will ask for guilt and will experience it. Protect his purity from every
thought that would steal it away and keep it from his sight.” ACIM Text T-14.V.4.1
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
T-5.VI.10. You need not fear the Higher Court will condemn you. 2 It will merely dismiss the
case against you. 3 There can be no case against a child of God, and every witness to guilt in
God's creations is bearing false witness to God Himself. 4
10. Thou shalt not covet
“ . . . . reviewing some of the external places where you have looked for salvation in the past;--in
other people, in possessions, in various situations and events, and in self-concepts that you
sought to make
real. Recognize that it is not there, and tell yourself: My salvation cannot come from any of
these things.” W-pI.70.7.5
F. Morality of Teachers of God
Classic Greek Idealism
The thinking about morality and ethics which originated with Plato and Aristotle focused upon
excellence of character. This is to say that morality is fundamentally related to what kind of
persons we are. Thus, virtuous behavior is what a virtuous person does. It may seem circular to
express it this way, but the various specific virtues are identified in order to establish the identity
of the character In the abstract, an honest man tends to consistently speak honestly, and by so
doing in actual practice is what establishes an identity as an honest man., for whom honest
speech is a character habit.
In the ancient world, courage, moderation, and justice were prime species of moral virtue.
A virtue is a settled disposition to act in a certain way. Gentleness, for instance, is the settled
disposition to act so that physical affront is out of the question and psychological shock or insult
is minimized. Gentleness includes both words and deeds. This settled disposition includes a
practical knowledge about how to be gentle in every situation, and that each is treated
according to their individual sensitivity. It also includes a strong positive attitude toward learning
how each individual is likely to respond to any apparent lack of civility. Gentle people, then, are
not ones who occasionally act gently, or even who regularly act gently but who do so out of
some other motive; rather they are people who reliably act that way because they place a high
intrinsic value on manifesting gentleness, and they are good at it. Mr. Rogers is prime example
of a genuinely gentle character.
ACIM - Characteristics of God's Teachers
1. Trust 2. Honesty 3. Tolerance 4. Gentleness 5. Joy 6. Defenselessness 7. Generosity 8.
Patience 9. Faithfulness 10. Open-Mindedness
4. Gentleness
Harm is impossible for God's teachers. They can neither harm nor be harmed. Harm is the
outcome of judgment. It is the dishonest act that follows a dishonest thought. It is a verdict of
guilt upon a brother, and therefore on oneself. It is the end of peace and the denial of learning. It
demonstrates the absence of God's curriculum, and its replacement by insanity. No teacher of
God but must learn,--and fairly early in his training,--that harmfulness completely obliterates his
function from his awareness. It will make him confused, fearful, angry and suspicious. It will
make the Holy Spirit's lessons impossible to
learn. Nor can God's Teacher be heard at all, except by those who realize that harm can
actually achieve nothing. 12 No gain can come of it.
Therefore, God's teachers are wholly gentle. They need the strength of gentleness, for it is in
this that the function of salvation becomes easy. To those who would do harm, it is impossible.
To those to whom harm has no meaning, it is merely natural. What choice but this has meaning
to the sane? Who chooses hell when he perceives a way to Heaven? And who would choose
the weakness that must come from harm in place of the unfailing, all-encompassing and
limitless strength of gentleness? The might of God's teachers lies in their gentleness, for they
have understood their evil thoughts came neither from God's Son nor his Creator. Thus did they
join their thoughts with Him Who is their Source. And so their will, which always was His Own, is
free to be itself.
M-4.IV.1.
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Random ACIM references
Fear is always a sign of strain, arising whenever what you want conflicts with what you do. This
situation arises in two ways: First, you can choose to do conflicting things, either simultaneously
or successively. This produces conflicted behavior, which is intolerable to you because the part
of the mind that wants to do something else is outraged. Second, you can behave as you think
you should, but without entirely wanting to do so. This produces consistent behavior, but entails
great strain. In both cases, the mind and the behavior are out of accord, resulting in a situation
in which you are doing what you do not wholly want to do. This arouses a sense of coercion that
usually produces rage, and projection is likely to follow. Whenever there is fear, it is because
you have not made up your mind. Your mind is therefore split, and your behavior inevitably
becomes erratic. Correcting at the behavioral level can shift the error from the first to the second
type, but will not obliterate the fear. T-2.VI.5.1
It is possible to reach a state in which you bring your mind under my guidance without
conscious effort, but this implies a willingness that you have not developed as yet. T-2.VI.6.1
Yet we have learned that behavior is not the level for either teaching or learning, since you can
act in accordance with what you do not believe. To do this, however, will weaken you as a
teacher and a learner because, as has been repeatedly emphasized, you teach what you <do>
believe. An inconsistent lesson will be poorly taught and poorly learned. T-7.V.2.4 .4-6
I do not perceive my own best interests. In no situation that arises do you realize the outcome
that would make you happy. Therefore, you have no guide to appropriate action, and no way of
judging the result. W-pI.24.1.1-2
As the teacher of God advances in his training, he learns one lesson with increasing
thoroughness. He does not make his own decisions; he asks his Teacher for His answer, and it
is this he follows as his guide for action. This becomes easier and easier, as the teacher of God
learns to give up his own judgment. M-9.2.1-3
Judgment, like other devices by which the world of illusions is maintained, is totally
misunderstood by the world. It is actually confused with wisdom, and substitutes for truth. As the
world uses the term, an individual is capable of "good" and "bad" judgment, and his education
aims at strengthening the former
and minimizing the latter. There is, however, considerable confusion about what these
categories mean. What is "good" judgment to one is "bad" judgment to another. Further, even
the same person classifies the same action as showing "good" judgment at one time and "bad"
judgment at another time. Nor can any consistent criteria for determining what these categories
are be really taught. M-10.1.1-7