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> What else do we have to base our morals off of, religion? The American founding fathers understood the “rights” that constrain democracy to originate from Go
by rayiner 1y ago
> What else do we have to base our morals off of, religion?
The American founding fathers understood the “rights” that constrain democracy to originate from God (“they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights”). That’s an internally consistent world view: divine or natural law can constrain man-made law.
If the people don’t recognize a shared higher law, then there is nothing higher—nothing more legitimate—than democratic law. If the people decide it’s okay to put dog collars on prisoners in Abu Ghraib, what legitimate authority can say they’re wrong? Some Harvard professors of moral philosophy?
- roenxi 1y agoThe religious aspect there is a red herring - people of the same religion can easily disagree on what God's opinion is. What actually matters is the aggregate perspective of the people who control the military (particularly senior officers like generals). They can call it religious or they can call it something else, but it depends on what they agree justifies mobilising the troops.