4 ms·
The problem with basing your morals on religion (or science for that matter) is that biblical passages can often be taken out of context to validate any action,
by mattmiller 17y ago
The problem with basing your morals on religion (or science for that matter) is that biblical passages can often be taken out of context to validate any action, the same way scientific data can be looked at in many different perspectives (lying with statistics).
Morality is difficult to explain. I think most people just know what is right and what is wrong. A lot of people look to a higher power (religion or science) to justify the wrong actions they want to take.
- btilly 17y agoEveryone thinks they know right from wrong. The problem comes when what one person "knows" disagrees with what the next person "knows". Society is full of important debates about moral questions which people legitimately disagree on. (See abortion.) And Sam's presentation does nothing to help us sort those questions out. (Well actually he asserts his morality. But that won't convince people who fundamentally disagree with him.) Now some people like to point out that evolutionary biology has a lot to say about why we develop the internal moral compasses we do. Morality really does seem to be bred into us. But the problem is that the same evolutionary incentives that breed moral behavior also breed negative characteristics like xenophobia and a willingness to selectively cheat. So evolution explains both what we like and dislike about human behavior, and provides no useful way for us to distinguish them.
- mattmiller 17y agoI guess the point I'm trying to make is that allowing 'written' morality (written in a holy book or written by Sam Harris:)) to supersede personal morality is harmful because words can often be twisted to mean what you want them to mean.