Where's the moral high ground?
Posted on: September 14, 2010 - 8:15am
Offline
Where's the moral high ground?
And why am I supposed to look for role models?
- Login to post comments
Navigation
The Rational Response Squad is a group of atheist activists who impact society by changing the way we view god belief. This site is a haven for those who are pushing back against the norm, and a place for believers of gods to have their beliefs exposed as false should they want to try their hand at confronting us.
Buy any item on AMAZON, and we'll use the small commission to help improve critical thinking. Buy a Laptop -- Apple
Offline Copyright Rational Response Squad 2006-2024.
The only real "moral high ground" I can envision is the acceptance that all humans are capable of the same range of human emotions and actions, both good and bad. By accepting such we are better armed to judge individuals as individuals and base our reactions on case by case bases.
I cant stand platitudes. They are merely reflections of wishful thinking and often lead humans off a cliff in false pursuit of utopias. The only "role model" anyone should follow is one of "do no harm" . But no, I don't want people "being like me". I want people to think for themselves and only take up a position I might hold because I have proven to them through demonstration that it is worth holding.
I cant stand utopia thinking. There is no such thing as a utopia.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
Yes; I'm with you.
You are a nice role model, right there, thanks.
OK, after a while, also disposable like you said.
Not sure what you meant by this. I am no one's role model. My shit can stink as much as any other human and I will never claim to be perfect.
I am disposable. I am not special. I am not, as an individual required for our species to continue. If there is any axiom I can find that would be a good "role model" that comes close to altruism it would be the metaphor that if people treated their lives like they were driving a car with a hair trigger bomb strapped to the front bumper they would drive more carefully.
That is as close to being a "role model" as I want to be accused of. I am a human. I am one of 6 billion.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
I think you're special.
Everything makes more sense now that I've stopped believing.
True.
Would you not like to be applauded as a local, in your community, role model?
No more than I should be applauded for pooing in a toilet. The earth is flat and there 6 billion people, I am merely one.
If someone wants to give me "kudos" I won't stop them. But it isn't something I look for. I am merely passionate about reason and getting people to think without a hand up their back. This is my therapy first and foremost. If what I say helps others see that they are not alone, great.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
See your point.
And then we have to consider how in fact it is so dangerous to have people elevating you to the heights of role model to next see your crashing down to the common ground where all are "equal".
A sniper's perch?
No, I'm not advocating violence. Just saying our morality comes from the barrel of a gun. Might makes right.
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
Yes, you're crudely right.
Only in a short term sense. Certainly if you have more physical power or weapons and resources, you can force yourself on others. But that only means you can force yourself on others. That is not morality, that is simply a matter of resources.
In the end we are all a minority to some other majority somewhere in the world and vice versa. Might makes right vs compassion is bullshit arguement. 6 billion years from now, much less after we die as individuals, all the might in the world wont stop a human from dying, from whatever, no matter how much power they yield now. Friend or foe, poor or powerful, we will all die and eventually our species will go extinct.
"Morality" is what a person, or social group, may make it at the time and just like "running" can be described as a sprint or a jog, "Morality" is not "might makes right" as set in stone. It is merely one outcome of human behavior. If "Might makes right" always worked things would never change. Just like a boulder can be huge but eroded over time and changed by weather and environment.
I think it is ok to say that life can be ugly and unfair and sometimes the bad guy wins, but "might" is not always the winner and it most certainly is not permanent even when might wins. If there is anything that can come close to be called "might" it would be change. Things always change and there is an end to everything and everyone no matter what morality they justify or what label they have, or what class or power they have.
Life is not an absolute and "morality" if I had to give it an altruistic meaning would be to accept that labels mean nothing, power and titles will never prevent you from dying eventually. The only "morality" I see is one where we see each other as individuals and at the same time all 6 billion of us are all the same species.
Thomas Jefferson, Adolph Hitler, The Pope, Manson, JFK, ect ect ect, all the good guys and bad guys will be as remembered as the majority of us who will die unnoticed and the gods humanity has made up will die when our species goes extinct because there will not be a future generation to sell these myths to.
The ultimate "might" is death which trumps human pettiness and tribalism. Our goal should not be about labels, but about reaching old age without fear of harm from our neighbors.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog