The Illusion of Moral Decline

I’m not proposing rescinding child labor laws so you can cut the drama.

I’m simply saying stop evaluating history by today’s reality. Education was not a viable option for most in the days of child labor. Bell Orange County even had a work program for high school students in the 70’s.

 

The question underneath the question is what is morality?

I think it is quite obvious that we are adhering to the 10 commandments and the Sermon on the Mount less and less as time passes.

 

So you believe in multiple moralities? How does that work?

 

Seems like a weird interpretation of the post. People can believe in a single morality that has overlaps with many moralities. Cherry picking if you will. For instance, I follow most of the 10 commandments b/c I agree with them & think they are right, not cuz some freakscene god sez so. But I am not into things like celebrating human sacrifice or simulating the drinking of human blood & eating human flesh. Technically, it could be argued that believing in the 10 commandments is believing in many moralities since it overlaps heavily with virtually all moral codes.

My political views are also an amalgamation. Life must be easier for the hook, line & sinker crowd.

 

So morality then is what you think is right. What if someone else thinks differently than you? Are they wrong for having different moral beliefs than you?

 

I couldn't care less about some weird collectivist notion of right & wrong groupthink morality. From the gospel of the Beastie Boys: Be true to yourself and you will never fall.

 

Yes, the question was a serious question.

Are you tolerant of Trump’s morality?

 

I read the 10 commandments and the Sermon on the Mount, and I know Trump has major moral failures. I don’t even think Trump tries to live up to many of things listed in the 10 commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. So, I reject Trump’s moral choices to ignore these things, but I believe in a singular objective standard of morality without apology. And I reject all other moral claims that contradict that.

Things seem to get a little wishy washy when we choose whose morality we like and whose we don’t like.

 

I think this is a valid and important question and has yet to receive a satisfactory response in this thread. Of course, I am not sure there is in existence a satisfactory answer to this question.

I do believe we must accept pluralism of moral codes. In fact, I don’t think there is even another option. A Christian friend had me read pastor Andy Stanley’s book Not in it to Win it, wherein he argues that churches should stop taking political sides, as their calling is of a higher nature than human governance. That very week, the pastor of a different friend’s church told his congregation that Stanley had lost his way. A third friend also argued that Stanley was wrong, this one citing the “masculine” interpretation of the Bible.

This story is of course familiar. Different people read different things into the Bible. Certainly the people of 500 AD worshipped differently than we today. And we today don’t all see the same lessons in the good book. We are stuck with this tension because moral codes aren’t primarily defined by sects; instead they are largely defined by individuals.

All that said, from my view, our moral differences are still dwarfed by our similarities. @docspor and I follow the 10 commandments because they are nearly universal sentiments in human feeling. My heart breaks when I read about a murder or beating on here, and I never needed to be taught that. It just happens automatically because I am a human with these innate sensibilities. And most of these morals are already enshrined in our government laws and social norms. Violence, theft, adultery, etc. almost never win someone status or government reward. In this way, I think the researchers were right to focus on the common core parts of our morality, such as kindness and honesty, rather than the idiosyncratic stuff like homosexuality.

 

Question for christians. If you became an atheist tomorrow, which of the 10 commandments would you cease to follow?

 

Though stated in various ways, every religious tradition teaches its followers and faithful to treat or deal with other people the way they themselves wish to be treated. That's basic morality and decency.

 

The Ten Commandments were weak sauce for the people to whom they were given, the ancients Hebrews. They were given to keep the people from tearing themselves apart until the time of the Messiah.

 

There are other things to substitute other than Trump.

Do you tolerate Christian Nationalist morality?

Do you tolerate fascistic morality?

Do you tolerate communist morality?

Do you tolerate Hamas’ morality?

Do you tolerate ISIS morality?

Lots of these people would say they have moral belief systems that justify their actions. Do you tolerate their moral belief systems?

 

Is this a serious question? If so, then go look up Commandments 1-3.

 

4 of the 10 commandments are completely throw away. One is don’t covet which is a nice idea but lol. The other 5 are solid.

Far from a perfect list.

In any event, the ethic of reciprocity (the golden rule) is hardly unique to Judeo Christian beliefs nor were they the first to the party.

And the golden rule is the basis for morality.

 

looked it up. So I guess your pt is obv cease to honor the first 3. So the ans not being 0, makes the question non serious - why?

 

I was giving you the benefit of the doubt didn't want to assume you'd ask a question like that without actually reading the 10 commandments first.

 

The 10th commandment is incredibly important. It is what Jesus was driving at in the Sermon on the Mount. It is not enough to simply not break #1-9. Any desire to break any of the other commandments violates the 10th commandment.

It is why the sins of the heart (hatred, lust, greed, etc) are all addressed in the 10 commandments.

Once the full scope of the 10th commandment is realized it becomes incredibly clear how sinful we really are.