What does it mean for a society to be moral? Inspired by Is a moral society more open to the gospel than an immoral one?

There have been many debates going around regarding what constitutes moral or immoral actions; moral or immoral society; etc.  This set of questions is in regards to society and how morality can be measured.



First and foremost, is it possible for a society to be moral or immoral?

If so, what does morality mean in regards to a society?  Meaning, what's the difference between a moral society and an immoral one?

As a Christian, I tend to define morality based on the Bible.  Can this same gauge be used for societies?  How can I apply this metric to societies that are undeniably non-Christian?

Ultimately: What does morality mean in the context of a society?
Many religions and societies have a shared core of moral precepts.  For example, the Dalai Lama writes on this topic:


  All religions teach moral precepts for perfecting the functions of mind, body, and speech. All teach us not to lie or steal or take others' lives, and so on. The common goal of all moral precepts laid down by the great teachers of humanity is unselfishness. The great teachers wanted to lead their followers away from the paths of negative deeds caused by ignorance and to introduce them to paths of goodness.


A common moral intuition has been posited (with some decent evidence) by some researchers; see Marc Hauser's Moral Minds for an example.  You may not agree with his interpretation of his data, but it is at least clear that a certain subset of morality is widespread (hereafter "common-morality") even among people who profess different beliefs.

Because of this commonality, there is a sense in which we can judge societies as moral or immoral without having to adopt any particular religion (which will unsurprisingly judge societies where different religions are prevalent as relatively less moral).  You can ask--at least vaguely--whether a society promotes as a matter of course and achieves in practice broad adherence to common-morality.  Furthermore, one can ask whether the society (including government institutions) treats its members as if it were an entity that followed common-morality.

For example, one can make a pretty strong case that the sub-societies of Somali pirates or Mexican drug gangs are not particularly moral (obviously: they induce people to kill and steal).  Fine distinctions are probably difficult (is Japanese society more or less moral than Finnish society?).