The 'Golden Rule' in Matt 7:12
Loving your neighbour with the love Paul describes in 1 Cor 13:3-8
What is a morally upright life?
by jgnat 39 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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yadda yadda 2
Philosophy of ethics 101.
The foundation of all morality is simply compassion and empathy. We reject that which causes suffering to others out of empathetic recognition that the suffering of another is the same suffering we could experience and must avoid.
The great 20th century philospher Karl Popper author of "The Open Society"considered that the moral obligation of human society is to eliminate the worst kinds of suffering. Therefore, humanity's moral agenda is to eliminate starvation, war, etc.
To put it simply, a 'morally upright' life is perfectly summed up by the Dalai Lama below. It is a life which reduces the suffering of others, but if that cannot be achieved, then it at least does not add to the suffering of others.
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jgnat
xchange, excellent point. Along that same line was the foot binding in China which I believe has petered out. Yes, these are examples where one society's mores clashes with another; "do no harm" with "sanctity", or a form of fastidiousness. I think we were wrong however to interfere with the original traditional dance of the Hawaiian people.
http://www.huladancehq.com/hula-dancing-history.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hula
Pinku, there's a reason I qualified my claim of universality. How far are you willing to go to suggest that all animals hold the same morals as humans? There's a reason I included the Praying Mantis. It is moral and right for the female Mantis to eat her mate after sex? Or how about the universal right of bacteria to go forth and multiply in our bodies?
yadda, human compassion is a many varied thing, and is tied to cuteness. Too bad we have more compassion for the Panda than the Eastern Rattler.
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Pinku
When we say something is universal, there could be some exceptions because of the gradual deterioration of the system of things on earth. When I said universal—it is in general term. For example, people who habitually ill-treat others will not like to be ill-treated. This means everyone knows what is right and wrong. People choose to do wrong because of its immediate benefit and feel confident of facing the consequences later somehow! Such people may abound, yet the universality of right and wrong remains intact!
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jgnat
Pinku, because of our native myopia, we call universal what is good for people.
Has the Praying Mantis deteriorated from a sainted form?
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Pinku
When we say exception, it could be in both the directions—downward or upward. We find moral decline, yet IQ has gone up. What a 5-year-old child grasps now reminds us of the amount a 10-year-old child did a few years ago. Man can innovate devices (compare the Mobile phones and cars with that of past years) yet some cannot innovate his behavior. Hence exception is exception, and what is universal remains universal always. That is what you left UNTOUCHED—the definition of true religion: “TAKING DELIGHT IN THE WELFARE OF ALL BEING.” For this principle, even a “shadow of variation” will not happen. It is eternal, always remains unchanged even in your worst dreams!
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jgnat
Moral decline? Where?
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jgnat
I don't think we are getting smarter.
https://www.ted.com/talks/james_flynn_why_our_iq_levels_are_higher_than_our_grandparents
We are displaying adaptability.
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jgnat
Pinku, you are not thinking things through. I maintain that "universal morals" goes no farther than humanity. There are implications.
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jgnat
And the topic of this thread is the morality of Sanctity. There is a tendency of contributors to relate their fundamental moral foundation. Can you think of examples of sanctity?
