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No...I really haven't been given the answer to my most basic question.
What system of morality do you appeal to that is authoritative enough to state that another culture, in a different time and place is wrong?
An external authority is not required to legitimize morality. Superior morality is self-legitimizing in the sense that it promotes the sustainable existence of the culture that gives rise to it.
So to answer your question directly, I don't "appeal" to any moral system, I embrace a particular moral system because I share its belief that it is the best currently available system. The best currently available system in my view is the one that exists in democratic republics, and it is "less wrong" and "more right" than its predecessors mostly because the predecessor cultures are now dead other than leaving behind the best of their ideas which we have built upon and refined.
Do you appeal to the authority of Ford Motor Company when you judge a 2014 Ford superior to a 1925 Model T? Or do you use your own judgment? Do you appeal to the authority of Ford in judging a 2014 Ford superior to a 1955 DeSoto, or do you factor in that DeSoto went belly up and Ford didn't?
An external authority is not required to legitimize morality. Superior morality is self-legitimizing in the sense that it promotes the sustainable existence of the culture that gives rise to it.
How do you KNOW that? Where does this morality come from?
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So to answer your question directly, I don't "appeal" to any moral system, I embrace a particular moral system because I share its belief that it is the best currently available system. The best currently available system in my view is the one that exists in democratic republics, and it is "less wrong" and "more right" than its predecessors mostly because the predecessor cultures are now dead other than leaving behind the best of their ideas which we have built upon and refined.
Do you appeal to the authority of Ford Motor Company when you judge a 2014 Ford superior to a 1925 Model T? Or do you use your own judgment? Do you appeal to the authority of Ford in judging a 2014 Ford superior to a 1955 DeSoto, or do you factor in that DeSoto went belly up and Ford didn't?
What aspect are you going to judge these automobiles on? Dependability? Speed? Looks?
How do you KNOW that? Where does this morality come from?
How does one KNOW anything? By claiming that an invisible being must authorize it, or by observation and deduction?
As to where my morality comes from, I have explained that many times.
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Originally Posted by Vizio
What aspect are you going to judge these automobiles on? Dependability? Speed? Looks?
What difference does it make. If I am purchasing an automobile, I judge it by whatever criteria it pleases me to judge it by. And then I decide what to purchase based on that. I don't determine which make of automobile is more correct or legitimate because it's based on a higher authority than some other one. If I want dependability, speed, looks, maintainability, economy, efficiency, durability, particular colors or styles, or some combination of those and other things, then that's what I evaluate and judge. I don't need authority to do that other than the authority that I'm the buyer and hold the purse strings.
It's the same with religious ideations. I am the buyer, and if you don't produce something I can rationally accept then I ain't buyin'.
In ages past, religion got by to a certain degree by asserting that you or I have on choice but to believe, using hellthreat, guilt, shame, social pressure, pain of death, etc. But the truth is, no one can actually make anyone believe anything; it is entirely a function of the evidence unless one chooses to not look at evidence at all. And I do not base my beliefs on unsubstantiated assertions from time out of mind. I base them on whatever evidence is available, and if there is not enough evidence on which to base a belief, then I withhold it. It's quite simple, actually.
You have taken obliviousness (or deliberate refusal to acknowledge) to new heights by ignoring everyone who has answered you and continuing to ask the same question over and over without answering the question posed to YOU. What is YOUR " actual objective standard of morality that spans time and cultures, Vizio?"
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Originally Posted by Vizio
We see God's morals spelled out -- specifically in the 10 Commandments and the moral law. Don't steal, don't kill, etc. Ultimately...in loving our neighbors as ourselves.
You know I agree with the "love God and each other" standard, Vizio . . . but is that truly YOURS . . . because you have said otherwise in posts defending the OT God's egregious immorality. You have said that WHATEVER God did or does or orders is moral! That is a very different standard than the one you claim here of loving God and each other . . . which covers far more than the Ten Commandments.
You know I agree with the "love God and each other" standard, Vizio . . . but is that truly YOURS . . . because you have said otherwise in posts defending the OT God's egregious immorality. You have said that WHATEVER God did or does or orders is moral! That is a very different standard than the one you claim here of loving God and each other . . . which covers far more than the Ten Commandments.
Your failure to understand is because your view of God is too small. If you truly understood the holiness of God, you'd realize God is certainly justified in doing such things.
How does one KNOW anything? By claiming that an invisible being must authorize it, or by observation and deduction?
As to where my morality comes from, I have explained that many times.
And you have yet to tell me what reason one would have to believe your system over anyone else's.
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