Must moral law be divinely inspired?

[CrisBrown]

Hi JPolin,

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If one believes in the malaise and decadence of Western civilization (as my professor does), then moral relativists and deconstructionists are some of the prime villains. By disintegrating and delegitimizing traditional rubrics of moral authority, they have caused people to lose a sense of objective right and wrong and thus to live in a hedonistic and irresponsible way that will lead to the decay of Western civilization.

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Ahhhh ... to the heart of the matter. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Okay, first, your professor's argument is self-supporting. He asserts the existence of a problem: Western society is suffering from malaise and decadence. He then tells you how dire the consequences are: the decay of Western civilization. He's even considerate enough to tell you who to blame: those moral relativists and deconstructionists and other "modern" thinkers. If you asked him, I bet he could even supply the solution: that all should return to the arms of mother church, renounce modern-relativist-decadent thought, and once again submit to the will of God.

Next time you see him, ask him for his opinions on Christian Reconstructionism or Dominionism. I'm willing to bet they'll be positive.

Then ask him to prove his diagnosis of decadence and malaise in contemporary Western society (he can't), and his alleged consequences (he can't except by failed analogy), and his case against the blameworthy (again, he can't).

After he's done making an idiot of himself, make a note that the primary purpose of higher education is to teach you to think critically, and that professors don't are just as subject to faulty opinions as anyone else.

Cris

[JPolin]

[ QUOTE ]
Ahhhh ... to the heart of the matter. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Okay, first, your professor's argument is self-supporting. He asserts the existence of a problem: Western society is suffering from malaise and decadence. He then tells you how dire the consequences are: the decay of Western civilization. He's even considerate enough to tell you who to blame: those moral relativists and deconstructionists and other "modern" thinkers. If you asked him, I bet he could even supply the solution: that all should return to the arms of mother church, renounce modern-relativist-decadent thought, and once again submit to the will of God.

Next time you see him, ask him for his opinions on Christian Reconstructionism or Dominionism. I'm willing to bet they'll be positive.

Then ask him to prove his diagnosis of decadence and malaise in contemporary Western society (he can't), and his alleged consequences (he can't except by failed analogy), and his case against the blameworthy (again, he can't).

After he's done making an idiot of himself, make a note that the primary purpose of higher education is to teach you to think critically, and that professors don't are just as subject to faulty opinions as anyone else.

Cris

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Indeed, you are correct in your assumptions about my professor. Like you, I am skeptical of his solutions to the problems he identifies. I find an intriguing historical parallel within St. Augustine's City of God, where he expends considerable effort successfully defending Christianity from the Pagan allegation that it caused Rome's decay. The cry of today's Christian Reconstructionists seems very similar to the cry of the Pagans in the 4th and 5th century A.D.

I was a little taken aback by your somewhat patronizing tone [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] I didn't need the help of any professor to see the havoc that moral relativism has wreaked. While I am not particularly knowledgable about morality and religion, I am much more expert with matters of foreign policy and domestic politics.

I didn't really want to go here, but if you examine the positions of relativsts/post-modernists concerning international affairs, you will see that they occupy the most extreme position on the radical left. Unfortunately, I spent four years up close and personal with these so-called "academics" when I was at Columbia. Their dogmatism, arrogance, and intellectual authoritarianism strongly contradicts their liberal rhetoric of tolerance, peace and what not.

In practical terms, the pontificating of these relativists and post-modernists has led to anti-Americanism, anti-Semitism, and a paucity of honest debate within the intelligentsia. There are many serious problems in the world, and to see many of our brightest minds engaged in an intellectual fantasy world instead of real, concrete problems is a tremendous tragedy.

[CrisBrown]

Hi J.Polin,

The problem with Christian Reconstructionism/Dominionism is that it seeks a return to a pre-Enlightenment mindset where knowledge had to be vetted by ecclesiastical authority. One need only look to the atrocities of the Crusades, or those of contemporary radical Islam, for examples the dangers of subordinating fact and reason to faith. Theocracy is the most dangerous form of government ever devised.

While moral absolutes are comforting, alas, it seems we humans do best when we muddle along as best we can, relying on reason tempered by kindness.

Cris