My Take On Absolute Morality.

[David Sklansky]

Read my post again Andy.

[andyfox]

Ok, so Manson probably falls into the BTK killer bracket.

I can accept the fact that many who claim to be moral because they are Christian are either full of it or are kidding themselves. I have a hard time accepting that living a bit nicer equals not doing enough equals letting people die and is not much different than actively killing people for misguided reasons. But maybe I need to think about it some more.

[andyfox]

BTW, any comment on this, from Pair the Board, in another thread?

"I'm not so sure that devotion to Christ implies a life like Mother Theresa. . . a life's vocation of love does not necessarily mean making a big show of it. A kind word, a friendly smile, a tolerant attitude, an empathetic response, paying the bills, raising good kids, maybe even having some beers with the guys. Maybe we can do more but we can't do everything. We each have our own mission. The mission of Jesus was to bring the message of the kingdom of heaven amongst us. But he lived life fully while he was doing it."

[PairTheBoard]

[ QUOTE ]
BTW, any comment on this, from Pair the Board, in another thread?

"I'm not so sure that devotion to Christ implies a life like Mother Theresa. . . a life's vocation of love does not necessarily mean making a big show of it. A kind word, a friendly smile, a tolerant attitude, an empathetic response, paying the bills, raising good kids, maybe even having some beers with the guys. Maybe we can do more but we can't do everything. We each have our own mission. The mission of Jesus was to bring the message of the kingdom of heaven amongst us. But he lived life fully while he was doing it."

[/ QUOTE ]

That's probably too vague to satisfy David.

PairTheBoard

[David Sklansky]

BTW, any comment on this, from Pair the Board, in another thread?

"I'm not so sure that devotion to Christ implies a life like Mother Theresa. . . a life's vocation of love does not necessarily mean making a big show of it. A kind word, a friendly smile, a tolerant attitude, an empathetic response, paying the bills, raising good kids, maybe even having some beers with the guys. Maybe we can do more but we can't do everything. We each have our own mission. The mission of Jesus was to bring the message of the kingdom of heaven amongst us. But he lived life fully while he was doing it."

Suppose that person tolerated slavery? Suppose that person had no problem with his fellow German's massacring Jews?

Don't forget, I am not saying the guy I just described is immoral (in an intrinsic sense anyway). You are.

If there IS absolute morality it seems clear that it is the Golden Rule. And if your child was starving in Africa how would you want the fellow just described by Pair The Board do unto you?

[PairTheBoard]

That was a reply to Andy not me, right?

PairTheBoard

[ QUOTE ]
Ok, so Manson probably falls into the BTK killer bracket.

I can accept the fact that many who claim to be moral because they are Christian are either full of it or are kidding themselves. I have a hard time accepting that living a bit nicer equals not doing enough equals letting people die and is not much different than actively killing people for misguided reasons. But maybe I need to think about it some more.

[/ QUOTE ]

Think more of the slavery example and not the holocaust. Its a point that not too many people are willing to admit to. With automobiles, airplanes, television, military bases around the world, etc, etc, there realy not much of a difference between us now and your average southerner back in the 1700's. Theres allways the Mother Teresa/Harriet Tubbman exception.

[thatpfunk]

Have you ever thought of actually doing some research?

A intro to ethics/morality class addresses all of these hunches/ideas you have.

Very intelligent people have been writing and thinking about these topics for thousands of years, why not try them instead of the people on this board.

[PairTheBoard]

[ QUOTE ]
Have you ever thought of actually doing some research?

A intro to ethics/morality class addresses all of these hunches/ideas you have.

Very intelligent people have been writing and thinking about these topics for thousands of years, why not try them instead of the people on this board.

[/ QUOTE ]

David taught us about poker. He figures we should return the favor and teach him about everything else.

PairTheBoard

[chezlaw]

Hi David

re your slavery argument.

The fact that bad things happen is not evidence against absolute morality it just demonstrates that if absolute morality exists it is not sufficient to prevent bad things happening.

As you say, the excuses for slavery are weak but does that matter? Why did people feel the need to excuse/rationalise their actions or turn off their empathy in the first place?

To use slavery as an example don't you need to show that a large body of people could recognise that slaves were held against their will, suffered greatly and were every bit as human as their masters etc. whilst at the same time believing there was nothing bad about slavery.

Couldn't it be that people believed slavery was wrong but owning slaves was easy and their greed overcame their morality.

chez