Morality of Mountain Climbing
Topic: Mysteries of Life


I've been reading the ongoing story about the people who climb Mount Everest and their collective decision to leave another climber to die while they made their way to the top of the mountain. It's a shocking thing to hear the rationalizations for leaving a man to die on his own and alone in a cave and it's even more remarkable to consider that some people think it is or was in any way morally justifiable to do so.

Sir Edmund Hillary said there is no question that the life of another human being is worth more than an ascent up a mountain, even if that mountain is Mount Everest. Hillary came to that conclusion without having to think too much about it. He comes from an age and a time when moral decisions were thought of as more black and white than they are now. It's always been my thought that morality changes with the times and the search for an ultimate morality that can be applied universally can never be formulated. People's and civilizations have survived thousands of years with beliefs that included slavery, human sacrifice, death penalties for all manner of crimes and so forth. That's sort of a moral relativism which many folks adhere to these daus which leaves them unable and unwilling to pass moral judgement on other peoples and other cultures.

The more than fourty people who passed by the dying climber and went on to the top of the mountain can be judged for their actions. Every one of them is a selfish, self absorbed human being without an ounce of compassion for other human beings except when pressured by the society in general. Every one of them could explain away why it was perfectly okay to leave the man to die alone so their petty ambitions could be achieved. Every one of them made the decision that even the compassion of being with a man as he died was too much of a sacrifice for them. Instead of being admired for their efforts and basking in the glow of adulation and respect they are all villians and despicable characters whose character was shown to the world in total. Sure you can begin to pile up excuses, - the air is thin, the temperature is cold, the climbers spent 100,000 dollars each to get to the mountain, the man was dying and we couldn't have saved him even if we stopped to help. Excuses, and lame selfish ones at that.

Many people claim to be moral people and many people claim to have moral guidance in their lives. You can see them praying or preaching or simply identifying themselves as belonging to this religion or that religion. Many people fool themselves into thinking they are good people and whether you are a mountain climber or a student or a lawyer you cannot escape your own actions and inactions as proof of your character and real morality. If you left a man to die, or if you otherwise abandoned a person in need and you could have helped, comforted or just been there and you decided it was too much trouble then you are what you are. And even if nobody else knows about what you did or only knows your version of the events and believes your carefully rationalized story - well, you know better don't you. Somewhere, under the story you've told yourself, you know better. These climbers happened to have their moment plastered all over BBC news and their cold hearted decisions are there for everyone to see.