The natural man is an enemy to God

I have heard an assertion several times which I think deserves attention simply because it appears to be so widespread. Simply put, it is that "every natural impulse is right." Most often, I hear it in defense of one position or another saying, "Well, it's a natural impulse, so of course it's moral."

I would like to go on the record with a statement that this ethical philosophy is utterly false and untenable.

First off, let's look at what it really means. What this philosophy essentially does is make instinct the ultimate judge of morality. It implies that something is right simply because I was born with the desire for it or impulse to seek it. Whatever I want is right, as long as I come by that desire naturally (and here I may add that we have some difficulty, as "naturally" has not been well-defined). In the end, almost whatever I want is moral simply because I want it. In this case, morality has no meaning, and the whole philosophy is reduced to Hedonism: There is no right and wrong, only pleasure and those too foolish to seek it. I am strictly opposed to this view, in large part because I am a moral realist whose experience has taught him to be so.

Second, even if you don't buy my evaluation of what this philosophy actually entails, I'd like to give a couple of counter-examples that make this philosophy untenable. Anger is a natural reaction when someone has wronged us, or even when they have not done anything wrong, but something inconvenient to us. I anticipate that most readers will agree that it is immoral to hurt someone for doing that which is right, yet this natural impulse will lead us to precisely this. Another example comes from fear. Fear is a natural impulse to which, in many instances, we ought not to hearken, which will lead us away from doing what is right. I think I could provide several others, but these two suffice me.

Finally, and, at least for me, most importantly, God is no friend of this theory. In fact, the prophet King Benjamin taught, "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit" (Mosiah 3:19). God has been pretty clear on this subject several other times, including to me, personally. God Himself has told me personally that natural impulses are not necessarily moral, and, beyond this, that he who hearkens to all natural impulses is an enemy to morality.

Title: Mosiah 3:19