14 « October « 2009 « Toward a Moral Life

Gotta love the ginchy vintage web design!

The congregation of the Amazing Grace Baptist of Canton, North Carolina, is planning to put to the bonfire all English-language versions of the Bible except the KJV (King James Version), as well as books written by such heretics as Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, the Pope (those dirty Cath-o-licks!), and other heathens. Recorded music will also see the torch–everything from rap to country to contemporary Christian. These folks don’t miss a thing, do they? There are also promises of “great preaching and singing”, as the site says.

Oh, and they’re serving BBQ and fried chicken, and all the fixin’s. If they offer decent peach cobbler, I might show up.

Q: When should you openly disagree with someone who makes a statement concerning morality when you disagree with it?

A: Always

To quote Ms. Rand:

“Nothing can corrupt and disintegrate a culture or a man’s character as thoroughly as does the precept of moral agnosticism, the idea that one must never pass moral judgment on others, that one must be morally tolerant of anything, that the good consists of never distinguishing good from evil.”

Do it. Every time the situation occurs.

Having said that, two things should be kept in mind:

#1 Remember the context of your disagreement. If you don’t like biker gangs, it’s not the best idea to walk into a hangout bar, climb a table, and yell “Bikers are assholes!”. Your level of disagreement may be as mild as a quietly uttered “I disagree”, or as strong as daily campaigning for a moral cause. The degree of disagreement is not of paramount importance, as long as the disagreement is openly stated.

#2 Remember that pronouncing such judgments requires that you yourself maintain a proper moral life. You may be wrong (and you will be sometimes), but you must be honest enough with yourself to be rationally certain.

(Note: I am not an objectivist. I agree with a good deal that Ayn Rand said and wrote, but I vehemently disagree on many of the real-world applications of her philosophy that she and many of her followers have espoused.)

Toward a Moral Life

“Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual).” — Ayn Rand

Daily Archives: 14 October 2009

…and speaking of pronouncing moral judgment…

Pronouncing moral judgment

(Note: I am not an objectivist. I agree with a good deal that Ayn Rand said and wrote, but I vehemently disagree on many of the real-world applications of her philosophy that she and many of her followers have espoused.)

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