"As long as it doesn't hurt anyone else" is by far the ethical principle guiding our culture today. People often use this principle to justify a whole host of behaviors, including gambling, viewing pornography, drinking alcohol to excess, and engaging in pre-marital sex, but there are several problems with this ethical philosophy.
First, if there are no concrete ethical principles that apply across the board, how do we measure hurt? We need to know what constitutes "hurt" in order to apply the "as long as" principle. Without concrete ethical norms, the "as long as" rule is empty.
Second, this principle only scraps the very bottom of proverbial ethical barrel. It's aim is only concerned with not harming others, it doesn't do anything motivate others to help others or do anything that would benefit anyone else. Suppose those who could create a vaccine for swine flu decided it would be more profitable to devote themselves to seeking a "cure" for wrinkles? Would they personally hurt anyone? Of course not. But they certainly wouldn't create any good either.
Third, those who espouse this ethical philosophy typically do not look beyond immediate hurt. For example, someone might decide to have one last drink because "it won't kill anyone," but then on the way home, that same person gets into an accident and does in fact kill someone. Or what about the unmarried teenage couple who decides to have sex? What future hurts will fall upon their unborn baby during his or her lifetime simply as a result of having two parents who are financially and emotionally unprepared to be parents?
Lastly, what about the harm someone can do to themselves, without supposedly hurting others? For example, someone, when confronted about their use of cigarettes, might employ the "as long as" principle. But by now nearly everyone knows what smoking cigarettes can do to a person's health. Or what about the couch potato? He doesn't hurt anyone, but if his laziness becomes a lifestyle, he could easily waste several years of his life.
What does the Bible say about these things?
Scripture calls us to put others ahead of ourselves. We aren't to cause others harm. But more than that, we're to seek others' good. We're given the ultimate example of sacrifice in Christ, "who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8). We're told to give up things we can legitimately enjoy if they hurt other people (1 Corinthians 8).
The "as long as" principles puts the self at the center of the universe and it pushes personal freedom to the extreme. "I can do whatever I want" is what it arrogantly proclaims and "you better not doing anything that will upset me" is what it warns. But our lives don't belong us (whether we realize it or not), they belong to the God who created us. No one knows how long they have to live on this earth and spending our time pursuing our own pleasure, and justifying that pursuit under the "as long as" banner, leads to a wasted life and potentially an eternity separated from God.
Jesus put it this way, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Matthew 16:24-26)
We can do better than simply not causing harm. We can help others. We can use our gifts to benefit the life of another. We can love others as He loved us (Don't read this incorrectly (God doesn't accept us as we are. He accepts us through Christ, who died on the cross and rose agains so that we could be made new). We can take up our crosses and follow Him, denying ourselves for the sake of the gospel and the good of others.
HT: Desiring God
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