-Caveat Lector- I reached my posting limit on Sunday, so I could not reply to you then. Here is the response to your comments which appear after mine.
Let me say here when I talk of morality, I am not just talking about sexual morality. I am talking about all interactions between individuals, individuals as community members and those actions which link an individual's life to a plan that seems to go beyond the world immediately around us. There is no contradiction in what I say. The history of the determination of what is moral behavior toward others is demonstrated very clearly in the Talmud for example where the leaders of the Jewish community analyzed thru argument using precedent and review of accepted religious writings the basics of what was moral behavior in given situations. Community law had to conform to moral law. Moral law was not determined by what community law was. Nor was it not left to what each individual community member considered valid in their own thinking, because individual belief is limited by one's own experience and one's own exposure to information. In addition, human beings seem to very successfully rationalize any kind of action they want in their life. There would have been no necessity for religious law or civil law if "Just be a good human being" was good enough law. Your do-it-yourself moral code is very New Age and rests on the idea that every person is part of God energy and is tapping into some sort of cosmic consciousness to determine what is acceptable individual morality which needs no other justification. Authorized community morality, or laws, then become determined by those who are in power and have the strongest will as not all individual moral positions can be accommodated where there is community life. You talk of your morality not as a response, but as of your own determination. Idealistic. How will you resolve the differences between your morality, the morality of others and the morality of those in power when there is a conflict? How can you hold on to your moral beliefs in the face of those in power whose moral beliefs are different than yours and still survive as a member of a political community? You say that individuals can think what they wish. Can they act on what they believe or are they only allowed to think what they wish? Read Gene Veith's book, Modern Fascism. Modern Fascism is not what you think it is. -----Original Message----- From: Conspiracy Theory Research List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of thew Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 12:47 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [CTRL] Nuns as sexual victims get little notice -Caveat Lector- Do you not see your own contradiction here? Here let me make it explicit: > Morality is the basis of community. And > New Age morality is based on the idea of what is good for the > community rather than on respect for the individual My community is somewhat larger than yours I guess - it is not limited by ethnicity or creed. It is not the community of secular Judaism, nor the community of Judaism. It is the community of humanity. My response to another is not based on a " need to know what they believe in" - my response is based on what I believe in REGARDLESS of their beliefs. While I don't think it is particularly healthy for the species for either fundamentalist Judaism or Christianity to continue, I will fight to the death the right of individuals to HOLD those beliefs. Your mind is your own. As I understand what it means to be a good Jew is to repair the shattered unity of the universe, or in less esoteric terms, to behave in a manner that increases the overall good and weal of the universe and the individuals in it. Behavior not belief defines a good Jew. It also defines a good human being. As to depending on the morality of others - well that will always fall short on depending on the morality of one's self. The key question is how to balance the need for the good of the community against the need to enhance the freedom of the individual. It is a difficult line to walk, especially because it is shifting constantly. Not only constantly, but at an ever increasing rate. That is why we cannot rely solely on some 5000 year old book and 10000 year old metaphors to define what is or is not moral. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
