Determining Right & Wrong

[knapplc]

Why is sex with someone other than my wife wrong?

 

 

What if she never knows? It never harms her.

What if I don't care? It never harms me.

What if the other party never cares and enjoys it? It never harms her.

What if my wife knows and is OK with it?

What if my wife doesn't know, but is OK with it?

 

 

 

Where is the harm? Isn't the "harm" a human construct, placed on the action with no absolute value?

 

Again, in France, all of this would be OK.

[sd'sker]

christ, even in america, largely a christian nation, does not even believe in the moral absolute that killing someone is wrong.

[MLB 51]

To many variables to decide what is, or isn't moral. Things that are acceptable in this country aren't necessarily acceptable in others, Religion plays a big role in what is, or isn't in the Middle East. Not near as much in Europe or the USA. So, I guess it really depends on where you live, and what that culture dictates as moral.

[JJ Husker]

 

I know you disagree but imo there has to be some absolutes and I'm fairly well convinced human beings are not capable of setting limits or determining what is or isn't moral behavior in all instances.

 

why?

I didn't mean absolute as in always right or always wrong. Rather I meant it as an absolute truth that can't be determined by a human being. We are imperfect beings and as such I believe we are largely incapable of determining moral absolute. However, I do believe any and every action is either morally right or morally wrong. I'm just not convinced we are built to always know the difference. Now I'm not saying being a religious person changes that but I do believe God is capable of making that determination and also of providing guidance to those of us who trust in him. Sorry I rambled a bit there.

[sd'sker]

that was not a ramble and it made a lot of sense.

[Landlord]

The very real problem I have with allowing culture to determine morality, even if only to an extent, is that it sounds fine and reasonable when you are only talking about the philosophy, but there are actual living and breathing human beings that are suffering because of what the moral majority decides is right.

 

 

I can not reconcile that, especially when ten, thirty, one hundred years later culture is more than likely to say, "oops, we f'd up and that is seriously wrong aren't we past this already??"

[JJ Husker]

The thing is Landlord, I don't know how you can avoid that situation. Even the Bible seems to be on the wrong side of some issues based on timeframe or era. Slavery as an example. We can say pretty much without question that human slavery was and is morally wrong. Seems slavery was fairly accepted in the Bible and not a lot of ink was spent decrying it. Strikes me as odd.

[zoogs]

Exactly, JJ. There was never a decision on the table -- "Hey guys, to what should we grant this morality-deciding privilege?" People have morals, many of them common, some of them different, and we teach each other -- through religious, cultural, hisotrical, etc. understandings that are vast and varied and all very much temporal. That doesn't mean the morals themselves are all temporary, just that they could change, even if some of them are likely to be truly timeless fixtures in any society past, present, or future.

[Landlord]

The thing is Landlord, I don't know how you can avoid that situation. Even the Bible seems to be on the wrong side of some issues based on timeframe or era. Slavery as an example. We can say pretty much without question that human slavery was and is morally wrong. Seems slavery was fairly accepted in the Bible and not a lot of ink was spent decrying it. Strikes me as odd.

 

 

I don't want to dive too far into this and stray the topic, but the two things I would counter with are that A) most depictions of slavery in the Bible aren't like colonial slavery - it was simply indentured servitude that people would give themselves into in exchange for food and shelter if they were unable to et those things on their own and B) it doesn't really 'endorse' slavery much, but mostly gives instruction to slaves given their present circumstances already existing.

[BigRedBuster]

I still don't understand why we care.

[Landlord]

I still don't understand why we care.

 

 

*beats up your family and steals your 401k not thinking it's wrong*

 

who cares?

[BigRedBuster]

 

I still don't understand why we care.

 

 

*beats up your family and steals your 401k not thinking it's wrong*

 

who cares?

 

If....as some think....we are all just one big chemical reaction....why do we care? Why are we any different than any other chemical reaction in the universe?

[JJ Husker]

If....as some think....we are all just one big chemical reaction....why do we care? Why are we any different than any other chemical reaction in the universe?

Why are we here?

Why do we care?

Why does the difference between right and wrong matter?

 

Those pesky "whys" are the biggest reason I believe in a higher power.

The hows, whens, and whats can usually be easily addressed by science but the whys, they're not so easy.

I've seen people who think we are nothing more than a chemical reaction try to answer the whys but they can only offer up more hows.

[sd'sker]

does there have to be an answer?

[BigRedBuster]

does there have to be an answer?

To what?