I've decided that moral absolutism is my current favorite candidate for "root of all evil". At times I've been tempted to ascribe that to monotheism, which seems to produce more wars and prejudice than anything else around, but I really think that moral absolutism is the better choice; it includes monotheism, but a whole host of other annoying, self-righteous and generally anti-social behaviors.
Of course I realize that moral relativism has been used in recent years, in this country, to exemplify evil. This puzzles me a bit, since this is a democracy (at least on paper). Isn't the whole point of a democracy that no one person has all the answers or the one and only best way to do something? So you let the majority decide, and hope that you come out with something that works for the greater good of most. In order for this to happen, you have to understand that not everyone believes the things you do, or wants the things you do, and you have to respect that. You also have to realize you can't always get your own way in everything. That's my personal definition of moral relativism, but hey, what do I know. Here I go with that crazy talk, thinking that personal choice is important or something.
Of course what things can be looked at in this way is the root of the debate. Gay marriage? Right to die? Right to free speech? True freedom of religion? Pro-choice or pro-life? As far as I'm concerned, as long as you aren't causing me active harm by doing any of these things, I'll butt out of it. Obviously if you've been following US politics in the past few years, many people do not share my opinions on these matters. I personally don't see how Steve and Harvey marrying in San Francisco ruin the entire existence of Fred and Maggie in Iowa, but apparently it does. Destroys our society, or so I hear.
Right now religious absolutism is my absolute least favorite thing in the world, in any society, for any religion. It hasn't been my favorite thing in a long time, in fact it's what drove me away from conventional Christian churches lo, these many years gone by (I never could believe that devout Hindus or Moslems were doomed to Hell, with a capital H). Recently it's being used as an excuse for any amount of saber-rattling, pissing contests, and self-serving purely political rhetoric masquerading as concern for our immortal souls. You're suppressing me, you're oppressing me, you're trying to take over and force me to believe what you believe, your religion is trying to take over the Earth!! Monty Python does it better, not only more convincingly but also much more amusing.
Well, piss off, all of you, and particularly anyone that lives in the United States. Go back and read the Bill of Rights, and try to remember that our country was founded in part by people fleeing religious persecution, in larger part by people fleeing political oppression, and in largest part by people fleeing economic oppression (in other words, they were broke). See that? Separation of church and state? That means that the church doesn't get to run our country. Bad things have happened to us in the past when that has been the case. It means that political decisions should not be based on the teachings of the Christian church. It means that court judgements and laws should not be based on Christian ideology, unless that happens to coincide with mainstream beliefs (you know, things like "murder is bad"). When you're done reading, take your favorite hot-button religio-political issues, things like homosexuality and birth control and abortion, and compare how different major (and minor) religions feel about them. And then realize that not everyone in this country is a Christian, and that according to our Constitution, they shouldn't be forced to live as though they were.
I leave the Moslems, Hindus, Zoroastrians, Wiccans, Neo-Pagans, Scientologists, Satanists, etc. to their own devices, I'm just picking on extreme right Christians today. In fact, I would happily leave them alone as well except that they keep trying to cram their moral values down my throat. And if any of the rest of you do, I'll demote you to the same self-righteous bog-dwellers as the rest of them.
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