---- Original Message ----- From: To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: 7/31/2005 5:54:35 PM Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Inner Moral Law Really? If it weren't against the law, A.A. This sentence invalidates the entire rest of your paragraph. All these things are against the law. and no one would blink an eye, A.A. You're setting up a scenario that doesn't exist except in the Ku Klux Klan and other similar institutions, which today are against the law. There was a time when such behavior was legal, and it was indulged in. People took it upon themselves to hang fellow people from trees and so on and even had their pictures taken doing it. Burned people at the stake, indulged in pograms and so on and so on. As long as there was no law against it, it was done. A moral inner sense didn't make any difference at all. would you off the guy who pulled in front of you in traffic? Rape your good-looking next door neighbor? Kidnap that adorable baby that your barren wife wants so much? Burn down buildings that offend you? A.A. I personally do have a well developed moral sense, and that's because I'm an atheist. I don't like to see others hurt. Many, perhaps most, are not as well developed as I. In answer to your question, no, I would not act like a barbarian. Julie: I believe people without any sense of inner moral law are termed "sociopaths". A.A. I believe you're right, and these people don't particularly care about the law. It's why their behavior is considered aberrant and illegal. They might in fact consider it a good deed to burn down an ugly building. Their being guided by their inner moral sense doesn't help society at all. Andy Amago Julie Krueger ========Original Message======== Subj:[lit-ideas] Re: Inner Moral Law Date:7/31/05 4:50:30 P.M. Central Daylight Time From:aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent on: ---- Original Message ----- From: To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: 7/31/2005 5:33:08 PM Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Inner Moral Law <<There is a reason the Ten Commandments are called commandments>> Just an aside here...... the Hebrew word that is translated into English as "commandments" also means "good deeds", more or less. I mowed my neighbors lawn when her leg was broken; that was a mitzvah (good thing, also commandment). In Judaism people are expected/required by their Creator to strive to do the right things. The Ten "commandments" are a breakdown of what that means in some fairly specific categories for those who are sloshing around in the mud looking for what "the right thing" looks like. A.A. Exactly my point. Without concrete shalls and shall nots, people's moral compasses bog down real quick. Footloose and with compass needle spinning wildly, Andy Amago Julie Krueger ========Original Message======== Subj:[lit-ideas] Re: Inner Moral Law Date:7/31/05 4:24:00 P.M. Central Daylight Time From:aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent on: > [Original Message] > From: Phil Enns <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx> > To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Date: 7/31/2005 4:26:36 PM > Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Inner Moral Law > > Andy Amago wrote: > > "Therefore, it's the moral law that keeps society functioning, not the, > still alleged, inner moral law." > > Where does this moral, or external, law come from? The obvious > paragraph for the Yanks begins with "We hold these truths to be > self-evident ..." If an inner moral law is only alleged, then the rest > of the paragraph, and in fact the notion of law, is problematic. > > Experience can teach us what works and what doesn't. That which works over time to enhance happiness becomes a self evident truth. For example, way back in the time of Moses sexua l rights were sorted out in the society's best interests. Likewise random killing could not be tolerated. There is a reason the Ten Commandments are called commandments, not appeals to an inner sense of what's good. I think none of the Declaration of Independence is about morality. Only about creating a climate that would be conducive to the greater good of white men. Andy Amago > Sincerely, > > Phil Enns > Toronto, ON > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html