Religion & Beliefs

[11XHooah]

Just so long as you dont go all "cruise" "

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Don't worry, it won't happen

[213374U]

Considering that most religions consider they and only they to be right and the others wrong and they have to convert people so they can be saved its kinda hard sitting in the middle of the fence.

Great. Thanks for yet another bigoted comment whose resemblence to any person living or dead is merely coincidental.

 

 

I can live with this definition of relativism.  I don't expect that my definition, used solely for the sake of this discussion, will meet with "universal approval."  Nonetheless, I'll submit this message and hope that we can inch towards some sort of consensus.

Ironically enough, your definition is subject to a relativistic interpretation... "

[metadigital]

If you want some disestablishmentarian SF then I recommend some Robert Heinlein (doesn't really matter which, they are all pretty much the same); personally I really rather enjoyed Job (as in a modern parable of the biblical figure quoted in Ezekiel and the Epistle of James).

 

Most of Heinlein's plots were just rehashes of Starship Trooper-type Earth near-future societies (which he wrote, e.g. Stranger in a Strange Land).

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I should kill you for saying this.

 

You just dissed the Dean of Science Fiction.

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Not really, I suggested that he tends to recycle some common (to him) conceits in his novels, like telepathic powers and a cynical evaluation of society and religion. All of which are pretty good things, just I found it a bit repetitive ...

[metadigital]

The dictionary definition is too sterile for my taste.  The language lives within us, so let us come to our own agreement of how we understand the term.  I'll give it a try, and then folks can raise points as they see fit.

 

Relativism is the belief in debateable standards: the belief that the fine details of right and wrong, goodness and badness, or truth and falsehood are not absolute but change from culture to culture and situation to situation.  Nevertheless, there are universal truths that transcend situation, time, or space.

 

I can live with this definition of relativism.  I don't expect that my definition, used solely for the sake of this discussion, will meet with "universal approval."  Nonetheless, I'll submit this message and hope that we can inch towards some sort of consensus.

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We had a discussion about this in the general forum, IIRC, and Cloris was quite adament that there are no examples in history of absolute morality; i.e. any moral code that you might like to name has been broken by some "civilzation" in our recorded history.

 

I did challenge her on several codes, like extreme p

[Cantousent]

I can live with this definition of relativism.  I don't expect that my definition, used solely for the sake of this discussion, will meet with "universal approval."  Nonetheless, I'll submit this message and hope that we can inch towards some sort of consensus.

Ironically enough, your definition is subject to a relativistic interpretation... "

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Of course. I appreciate someone noticing, from the outset, that I providing compromise. Most folks probably might not realise that I conceded anything at all.

 

We had a discussion about this in the general forum, IIRC, and Cloris was quite adament that there are no examples in history of absolute morality; i.e. any moral code that you might like to name has been broken by some "civilzation" in our recorded history.

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This is a matter of definition. There are examples, broadly taken, of absolute morals. What there are, however, are arguments over definition of the specifics, like murder, incest, theft, etc.

 

I might do a search later and see exactly what Cloris wrote. I'd rather not fight a shadow, so hopefully her arguments are still floating in cyber-space.

[Hildegard]

Vitium est - aut omnibus credere aut nulii.

[Lucius]

Vitium est - aut omnibus credere aut nulii.

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My momma is a what? "

[Cantousent]

Vitium est - aut omnibus credere aut nulii.

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My momma is a what? "

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It's actually quite similar to one of meta's signiture quotes. Your mother might have been of the same opinion.

[Hildegard]

Vitium est - aut omnibus credere aut nulii.

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My momma is a what? "

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The meaning of that sentence would be: Believing everything or everybody is the same flaw as believing nothing or nobody.......

[Lucius]

I see, but those are both rather extreme, surely noone here believes *everything* or *nothing* at all.

 

Eldar: What would by my mothers opinion again? The everything or nothing thingie?

[Nartwak]

Ah. My mistake. Much of communication is lost without indication of body language and tone. As a (feeble) excuse, I offer my dearth of sleep.

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Of course. It was was running a bit too dry at the time anyways.

[Cantousent]

The connection at my wife's work is terrible. Well, the connection is okay, the computer is a pentium 133. This is maddening. Ugh.

 

Anyhow, Lucius, I was saying your mother might have had the same opinion put forth by Hild.

 

I would prefer to translate it as "t is a flaw, either to believe in everything or nothing."