[DougShrapnel]

It is good to know that there is a God, because otherwise you would stop being able to be reasonable. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
Or that someone has complete rights - unlimited rights - might makes right is the only thing stopping one from exercising all of his rights

[/ QUOTE ] Can our reason give us flawed but close judgment in morals?

Sometimes I tell stories of hunters. They danced around the crackling fires. In their masks and their tribal attire, they danced to the god of the hunt. The winds blow the smoke from the colorful leaves up to the god of the hunt. An animal was sacrificed, it was to thank the Gods for the warning that the cold would soon come and game would be scarce. The sacrifice was also to the god of the hunt from providing men with more zinc in his nose then his lovely counterparts, he used this zinc to know which way was which. The natural place of man was so decided as the hunter by the gods. A sign was given, tomorrows hunt would be good, the whole town saw it, there was no denying it, and no one would dare. The hunters slept well and awoke at dawn to search thru the forest. They gathered their sticks with sharp rocks tied to the ends. They came across a track of a deer. The track was deeper than most, and it was filled with debris of the forest. The size of the track was smaller than normal. The hunters concluded that the deer had run thru here at a speed of 25mph, weighed about 90 pounds, and would take about 8hours for them to catch up to it. Drive on, the hunters continued. The wind picked up at the hunters back to hurry them on their way.

Deeper in the forest the men came across another track. It too was covered with debris from the forest, but these tracks where large and not deep. The hunters looked at line of the tracks and the curvature of the hill in the direction of the tracks. The hill was steep and at an angle. They knew the prey was right over the hill and knew exactly where the animals ended up. The hill would be good for them to sneak up on the creatures. The dance and sacrifice had paid off. There was no time, they rushed the hill and thru their spears. They adjusted for the arch of the hill, they adjusted for the speed of the wind, they adjusted for the size of the animal for the speed of the spear. They adjusted for the movement of the animal. And threw their spears where the animal would be when the spear would reach it. It was a slaughter, the dance last night would be put to shame by the one they would give tonight.

They went home. They went home without thinking about laws of motion. They went home without knowing about physics. They went home without understanding calculus. They made their way home with the help of the extra zinc in thier nose. They made their way home thanking god.

Can ethics be like calculus, geometry, and physics or must it be linked to religion? Or is it something else entirely? Will it forever remain in philoshpy? No right, no wrong, just opinion?