On Horizontal vs. Vertical Morality

The following guest sermon was submitted by ULC Minister Jason Wright. All ULC Ministers are invited to contribute their own sermons for consideration/publication. To submit a sermon, please email it to sermons@ulc.org.

Ever notice how people can look at the same moral question and land on entirely different answers – and both swear they’re right? Some see morality as something handed down from above, while others feel it’s built between us, here on earth. Theologians might call this the difference between vertical and horizontal morality.

You don’t need a degree in ethics to understand it, though. You just need to picture which way your moral compass points. Is it upward, or outward?

Vertical Morality: The View from Above

In vertical morality, the guiding question is, “What does the higher power say?” Right and wrong come from something greater than ourselves – God, scripture, tradition, or timeless moral law. It’s a top-down system where goodness means obedience, faithfulness, and discipline.

That’s why people who think vertically often prize consistency. If the rule says “do not steal,” then you don’t steal—even if you’re grabbing bread to feed the hungry. It’s about loyalty to a divine order, even when the human heart might argue otherwise.

The strength of this view is its stability: it anchors us when feelings or fashions shift. But the same rigidity can make it hard to bend when compassion calls for flexibility.

Horizontal Morality: The View from Beside

Horizontal morality flips the gaze from heaven to humanity. Instead of asking what the divine commands, it asks, “How does this affect others?” In this framework, empathy, fairness, and kindness form the moral foundation. Your relationships become an important behavioral guide. 

People who think horizontally are more likely to judge right and wrong by the impact on those around them. Would this action help someone? Would it cause harm? A parent comforting a scared child, a neighbor sharing a meal, a stranger stopping to help with a flat tire – all of these are small acts of horizontal morality in motion. The focus isn’t on divine approval, but on human connection.

Still, this outlook has its limits. If everything depends on context, morality can start to feel like quicksand – always shifting, never certain. Without some kind of higher standard, “what feels right” might become the only rule, and that’s not always reliable either.

When Two Worlds Collide

Of course, life rarely fits neatly into one camp. Most of us mix the two. Sometimes we look upward for direction, other times outward for understanding. The tension between them explains why moral debates can get so heated.

One person insists, “But the rule is clear!” while another counters, “Yes, but look who’s suffering!” They’re not just disagreeing on the facts; they’re speaking different moral dialects. 

Consider a town with a law against loitering. A store owner sees someone sleeping under their awning. Do they call the police because rules are rules? Or offer a blanket because compassion comes first?

Each response feels moral from its own vantage point. One protects order; the other protects dignity. Both, in their own way, are trying to do what’s right.

The current religious debate on immigration policy provides another example, but it flips the discourse on its head. Supporters of immigrants argue that Jesus teaches us to "love thy neighbor" – a command from above. Those in favor of the ICE crackdown counter with a horizontal argument: "but look at how illegal immigration has affected my community." 

The Balance Between Heaven and Earth

Maybe the goal isn’t to pick one direction of morality, but to find balance between them. Vertical morality reminds us that principles matter – that some things should hold firm even when convenient shortcuts beckon. Horizontal morality reminds us that people matter. Rules exist to serve life, not the other way around.

A healthy moral life probably requires both: a little heaven in our ethics and a little humanity in our holiness. Faith traditions have wrestled with this dance for centuries. The prophets called out injustice (horizontal), but did so in obedience to God’s command (vertical). Jesus healed on the Sabbath – not to rebel against the rule, but to remind people what the rule was for.

So perhaps the best moral compass isn’t purely vertical or purely horizontal. Maybe it’s a cross, with one beam pointing up toward what’s sacred and the other stretching out toward our neighbors.