"Furthermore, if morality is relative, then I suppose I can kill you and your family, because according to my morality its OK to do so. If anyone else says otherwise, I should ignore them then."
You certainly have the right to believe that. However, if you carry through w/ it, you have to keep in mind that the majority disagrees w/ you, and they'll punish you. However, if you believe that killing someone is okay and worth the punishment you'll receive, then of course you can do it.
posted
Morality is a sticky wicket. It is more often than not defined by cultural norms than any ideal absolute.
[ August 04, 2001: Message edited by: Jay the Obscure ]
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
I was just reading about some old BBC "Outer Limits"-style show that had an episode like that. In the future, you could get licensed to commit a crime provided you pay the appropriate penance. So these 2 guys were coming back from a penal asteroid, the first 2 men to ever survive the 7-year sentence required to allow them to commit a murder...& all the reporters wanted to know who they were going to kill.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
| IP: Logged
posted
What you are calling 'absolute morality' and 'commandments' are simply a set of mutually-generally-agreed-upon rules which enable human beings to successfully live together in communities. They're rules of convenience only.
Folks tried living together and realized, "Hey, if there's no rules against killing each other, stealing, or messing with each other's cavewomen, this community won't last a moon!"
So they agreed to follow certain rules, because they made life easier.
Most of these rules wouldn't apply if humans lived in solitary family groups, and were not interdependent, much as they don't apply to the other animals.
posted
"Just because it cannot be proven at this time does not make it false!"
Then I will go as far as to say I can disprove it (feel free to ask). Regarding your example, Tim summed it up well. If you think killing is okay, you're free to try, because my morality says its okay to kill you in self-defense, etc.
"It is more often than not defined by cultural norms than any ideal absolute."
posted
You can skip the first five, they're clearly for the benefit of the priest caste.
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
quote:Atheism indeed, reveals it is a crutch for the wicked and weak, as it says it needs proof for the apparent existence of it's adherents' Maker. According to atheists' statements, they show they are some of the most ignorant people on earth in things pertaining to spiritual aspects. They don't realize angels and demons exist. They are even dazzled enough to say that the One who made them doesn't exist. Just like almost every manufacturer stamps it's name or code onto it's product, God has placed the knowledge of Himself in EVERY human. Thus deep down, ALL atheists know God exist. Sitting down trying to provide a formal proof of God's existence to atheists (it can be done) is beneath the knowledge they have of God's existence. Thus atheism is not about proof but about deliberate denial of One they hate.
Found this guy during a search on Google ... a tad unrelated, but boy-oh-boy ... look here for some great gems ...
Now, I did go looking for The Ten Commandments. Now, here's where it gets interesting. There are three different Ten Commandments -- the Jewish, Protestants, and Catholics all have slightly different ones. So ... well, first, feel free to look here for more detailed information regarding said Commandments.
Anyway, here's the list I found:
1. I am the LORD your God, you shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not take the Name of the LORD your God in vain.
posted
Isn't it also translated as "bear false witness against your neighbor"? Telling someone their crappy shirt looks nice isn't that.
As for the last two... "Covet" means "envy" or "want". Actually acting on those feelings would already fall under the "steal" and "adultery" ones. But, according to this, you're not even allowed to want other people's stuff. Kind of impossible to help, if you ask me...
posted
Not really. Impulses can be controlled. It's simply a matter of wanting to.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
You can control how you act on it, but you can't stop yourself from having the feeling in the first place. If I look at my neighbor's wife, I can't tell myself "Wait! I have to refrain from thinking about wanting to fuck her!". It's too late. At that point, I already have thought of it.
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
Printer-friendly view of this topic