RateItAll: The Opinion Network

I realy do not have a comment
there may be some things that are
absolute like not killing someone
or not stealing but overall I would
say there is not one

I don't know if I like the wording to this. I tend to think there are certain absolutes, and certain moral issues that are relative. Probably, I would prefer the phrase "recognition of gray areas in conventional morality." And then there is context. Sometimes it is morally acceptable to kill a person and sometimes it is not. However, I can't ever see a situation in which it is morally acceptable to rape or sexually assault someone.

I believe everybody has their own individual moral code within their own minds. I simply don't have the same moral code as the church and I'll be damned if that's going to be forced upon me as if I'm some sheep. I'll think for myself, thank you. If there is a God, he's going to know who has a good heart and who doesn't. He's going to know who used the brain he gave them, and who didn't.

Every code ever devised has proven ephemeral, swirling and drifting through the fashions of time, irrespective of the heavy hand of governance. The true liberal recognizes this, and remains nimble enough to adjust, adapt, and advance. The conservative tends to be held in check by the random rockslide of theism, having to back-test new ideas against an artificial status quo with the usual anticlimactic results. Absolutes have historically been hypocritically implemented (and eventually exposed), bargained with, modified, and outright abandoned. Why? Because the sovereign evolution of humankind is always looking for a better deal (be it personal or societal), and will side-step any barrier to achieve it. Intellectual flux will be the legacy left by this species.

DIFFERENT PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT MORALS. That is what needs to be said, because that is one of the core roots of all of this bickering. People are always going to say that other people's morals undermine their own. And they are correct. Not always, but in many cases, morality is a VERY grey area.

Both conservatives and liberals have their sensitive issues in which they believe in absolute right and wrong, yet may decide the morality on other issues in more flexible, situational terms. This list item probably refers to a certain set of absolutes followed by many fundamentalist religious conservatives (examples: abortion, pre-marital sex, alcoholic drinking, and pornography being universally immoral). Such ideology many not be shared by the entire Republican party, although the alliance is fairly strong on right-to-life issues. For those who think liberalism is all about relative morality, note some of the most liberal people follow staunch moral positions on issues such as capital punishment, animal welfare, protecting the environment, nuclear weapons, and war in general. These same moral issues are generally looked at by conservatives in relative terms, instead of as principles that should always be upheld. The truth is that both political parties feel strongly about moral issues, but may disagree sharply on what moral issues are of great importance and which issues should have room for some flexibility.

Circular logical issue. Not having an absolute code is having a code and/or moral stance. Pointless argument made by the fearful.

At my hangout, Murphys Strip Bar and Armenian Grill, we know there are absolutes--right and wrong. When Addie the bartender pours a small shot--wrong! When she is generous with the bottle--right! It's as simple as that!

This is precisely why I am not a liberal. Even though I may not follow a written religious code, I certainly believe in absoulte right and wrong. Moral relativism--a staple of liberalism--greatly disturbs me and goes completely against what I believe. I believe that humans are natuarally good, and that the people that aren't good often try to add grey areas that should simply be black and white. That's not say I don't support some liberal ideas (stem cell research, cloning, freedom of choice, equal rights for all), but morals are important as well.

Many liberals argue for moral subjectivity but in reality their claims are intrinsically dogmatic. Nothing occurs in a vacuum- all choices are of intrinsic value- no choice is of intrinsic value. Are you telling me all these liberals marching to protest the War On Terror aren't taking a moral stand? Are you telling me that the feminazis who march on Washington in support of abortion aren't making a moral stand? Of course they are! They are arguing for a code of ethics no less absolute than conservatives who argue for moral priciples derived from Christian Natural Law ethics. This is purely a matter of perspective- how you believe freedom is created and what temporal mechanisms best protect liberty. Most modern liberals are philosopically wed to the concept that freedom is created through the protection of individual rights; and through social contracts protected by our judiciary individual are free to engage in behaviors they see fit so long as they don't interfere with other citizen's rights. The fact that they believe the individual can engage in any behaviors they see fit is what makes people believe they are moral relativists. However the code of ethics that enunciates rights to empirical desires is no less austere that those arguing for contrary standards of ethics predicated upon metaphysical anthropological principles. The problem is that the former- the code of ethics argued by liberals- is inherently tyrannical. If rights are protected against minority encroachment then the process we have- democracy- to engage in reason for the ends of our government and the common good is subverted by the expansion of rights in the name of freedom. As the power of the minorities expands and increases its power to impose it's view of freedom on the majority of citizens the process itself becomes nothing more than a power struggle. And factionalism will have it's day.

My sister once said that she thought it was impossible to define right and wrong. I think that if you do believe this, that you will eventually come to a point in your life when you wish very much wish you could.