So, I once encountered an interesting way of looking at how cultures, communities, groups, etc. approach morality and human fallibility. The original author termed them “Catholic” and “Protestant” — refering not so much to explicit theologies of either branch of Christianity as with trends the associated cultures —but I prefer to think of them as the “sky” approach and the “ground” approach. Note that these are ideal types marking ends of a spectrum, with real-world examples falling in between with varying degrees of both.
The “sky” approach is about setting a perfect ideal to aspire towards… and I say “towards” rather than “to” because, being “perfect”, such an ideal cannot be truly reached by fallible, imperfect human beings. Everybody falls short to some degree, everybody makes mistakes, and there has to be some forgiveness for that. One might reach for the sky, but one will never actually touch the sky. Which is not to say that we all equally fall short, that some mistakes aren’t much bigger than others, or that forgiveness is automatic. You have to at least learn from your mistakes and try to do better, and you can be judged on your efforts, or lack thereof.
The other approach, the “ground” approach, is about setting a “floor” — a minimum standard which one should take care to always remain above. That’s not to say that simply meeting that minimum is sufficient; one should always look to be better than “minimally good/decent.” Nor does it mean that falling below the floor is totally unforgivable and there’s no coming back. It’s like the approach in school where you’re focused on not failing a class. Sure, the higher the grade you get, the better, and if you do fail it’s probably not the end of the world, but Priority One remains not flunking. Laws and written rules pretty much always take the ground approach.
As I said before, the real world is a mix of the two. But think about the groups you participate in, especially those with unwritten rules or standards of conduct. How do they approach when a member makes a mistake or does something wrong? Or consider your own behavior and concerns. How much effort do you focus on aspiring towards a moral ideal, towards being a better person? And how much on staying above ground, about not being a bad person?
