Read the following scenario very carefully; think about it in terms of the moral tools you have acquired to this point in the class, which, by this point, should include everything through normative consequentialism. Describe the course of action you think should be taken, and explain why it should be taken.
You are walking alone through a meadow, enjoying the warmth and the beauty of this spring day. As you walk, you hear what seems to be thunder, which strikes you as exceedingly strange. There are no clouds in the sky. You search the horizon, seeking the source of the sound, when suddenly something apparently lightning strikes no more than 100 feet from where you are standing. You are knocked to the ground by the force of the blow, and briefly dazed. As you rise to your feet, a commanding voice says, Take your shoes from your feet, for you are standing on hallowed ground.
You look up and see a brilliant figure standing, or perhaps hovering, before you. Looking at it is painful to your eyes, and you can barely make out within the glow something that looks like a human form. You begin to get the feeling that, perhaps, you’d better do as instructed. So, you take off your shoes. With some considerable effort you find your voice and ask, Who are you?
The voice replies, I am the Lord God.
This statement takes some time to sink in, and you are tempted to say something stupid like, Who is this really? But you get that feeling again, and this time it tells you not to be flip. Finally, the only thing you can think of to say is, Yes Lord.
The booming voice speaks again, I have chosen you to fulfill a commandment of my will.
Me? Why me?
Do you question the Lord God?
No, of course not. What is your will?
It is my judgment, says the booming voice, that the following people are evil and must be eliminated, a list suddenly appears in your hand. I have chosen you to be the instrument of my judgment. I command you to go forth and slay all those named on that list, for they have sinned beyond redemption, and pose grave danger to the innocent.
But Lord. Me? Personally?
You. Personally. Know that your reward for obedience will be great in heaven, but your punishment for disobedience will be great in hell. Go to your destiny.
Instantly, the figure vanishes leaving you dazzled and befuddled. At first, you think you’d imagined it such an encounter could not really have happened but you still hold the list in your hand, and again that feeling comes over you and warns you not to be so quick to dismiss the experience. You discover that you know all ten people named on the list. Some you hate, some you love, some are mere acquaintances. You stagger out of the meadow, your relatively carefree existence of moments before all but forgotten. As nearly as you can understand what just happened, you have been commanded by God to murder the people named on the list. You’ve been promised unimaginable rewards for compliance, and you face the ultimate threat for refusing to comply.
What will you do?
Why will you do it?
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