IN THE PREVIOUS INSTALLMENT, I discussed some of the differences in the way that a priest/king spirituality and a natural spirituality view, and follow, rules.

Natural spirituality sees rules as tools—as a means to an end, while the priest/king spirituality sees them primarily as commands.

Viewing rules as commands leads to an emphasis on the letter of the rule, as opposed to the spirit, or purpose.

In the New Testament, Jesus takes the Pharisees to task for the same attitude. He criticizes them for following the letter of the law while ignoring its intent.

In the realm of constitutional law, as another example, a judge operating out of the priest/king model is able to discount the first clause of the second amendment to the constitution:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,"

Why?

Because the second clause is in the form of a command:

"...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

The first clause merely gives the purpose.

To a mind operating out of a priest/king spirituality, all that matters is the letter of the command.

It must be obeyed, simply because of its authority.

A judge operating out of a natural spirituality, on the other hand, will see the second part of the amendment as a tool for achieving an end, and the first part as a description of that end.

In the realm of ordinary, everyday ethics, you can see the same distinction operating when it comes to lies.

A priest/king spirituality will focus on the wording of a statement: if the words don't contain a literal untruth, then the rule against lying has been satisfied.

A natural spirituality will focus on whether the intent of a statement was to deceive: it will consider a literal truth, phrased to deceive the listener, as a lie.

In a sports setting, the priest/king model will see no problem with intentionally injuring an opposing player, if it can be done without breaking a rule.

The natural model, which sees the rules as simply a set of tools for making play more fair and safe, will have a problem with injuring an opponent, even if the rules are followed.

But the two models of spirituality don't just lead to different ways of following rules, they also lead to different ways of breaking rules.

Imagine a case in which both models might break the same rule:

You are in the middle of the country, miles from any town, stopped at a red light. It's another two miles to your destination, and the route to go back and circle round is over three hundred miles.

There is not a car in sight, in any direction, and the light has been red for a very long time.

Sooner or later, no matter which model you are operating out of, you will break the rule, and drive through the intersection. (If you question this, just ask yourself how many weeks you would sit there.)

What question is on your mind, as you make your decision?

If you are primarily concerned about breaking the law, you're operating out of the priest/king model.

If you are worried that a car may come so quickly over that rise that you could cause an accident, you're operating out of the natural model.

The natural model will "break" a rule when the purpose of the rule doesn't apply.

This, of course, is not so much breaking a rule as it is simply recognizing that the tool is not appropriate to the situation.

The priest/king model will break a rule when the authority isn't looking, or when it can somehow rationalize disobedience—by deciding there's a higher rule, or that the king would approve, etc.

As I've pointed out before, we all practice both of the spiritualities I've been contrasting to varying degrees at different times, and most of the time we practice a mixture.

So the chances are very good that you would be doing a bit of both at that intersection.

Insofar as you are worried primarily about disobeying a command, you are operating out of the world view and values of a priest/king spirituality.

Insofar as you are thinking about whether the rule about traffic lights is appropriate to the current situation, you are operating out of the values and world view of a natural spirituality.

Next time: when it's hard to
tell the two apart...