I also have a liking for plain english, non-figurative explanations, but don't we all?
There are many debates that we face, where we end up choosing the lesser of two evils: I don't remember this being covered in The Book:shrug: . Our society continues to evolve, and we face many, many new challenges.
Personally, what works for me is a "code of knights": it's both catholic based (as I was raised), and straightforward: duty, honor, justice, and honesty (but I'm an independant type
).