I’m curious Qzxtvbzr, what is natural law?
Natural law is the way things were meant to work. It is the natural, rational order of things. The rationality that is essential to mans nature and separates him from the animal. Any course of action, can be rationalized and boiled down by logic to see whether it is a rational way to act of not. Kinda like ego vs. id (or super-ego, I’m rusty on freud). Lots of people get the term natural law mixed up with darwin’s stuff. It is simply the rules of bevahior that a rational, thinking man would follow. If an action is rational you do it, if it irrational, then you don’t. Ex: Murder is an irrational action because it serves no good purpose. It doesn’t benefit a good. I’m really trying not to ramble here. I need to condense my thoughts so I’ll repost later. I’m neutoric right now with the debate tournament on Saturday.
EDIT: No need to an appology skep, but alot of people simply don’t have an interest in philosophy/theology. THey are happy with their beliefs and don’t feel a need to challenge them. That is why most people are ignorant of their religions and the true messages. That is also probably the reason people leave when they reach college. They hear one thing they can’t defend and bail ship. A lot of religion is grounded in fact, very little is blind faith. A great doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, expounds on why we believe what we believe. 1.) Most people don’t understand what theologians say, or 2.) think it’s boring or stupid, or simply don’t care. Haha, maybe what I’m saying is: “religion doesn’t breed ignorant people, people breed ignorant people.”
I wouldn’t agree, Murder can be logical if you kill somebody for food or your own survival. I believe there is no such thing as ‘Natural law’ only the rule of survival. Beyond the laws of physics there are no other laws in this universe, as other laws are man made or interpreted through man’s intellect seeing laws where none exist. In Nature the only constant is the strongest survive!
The case where one must kill to save one’s own life is a completely moral action and falls under natural law. To needlessly kill is irrational and doesn’t serve a purpose to benefit a good. However to kill for survival is a rational action.
So murder was a bad example. I just figured that the word murder conotated a needless killing. Say lust then. It doesn’t serve a rational end and it’s negative effects far outweight and concieveable positive ones.
Things are only ever ment to work as they do work. Otherwise they wouldnt be ment to work that way. The universe does not “malfunction” and have things that were supposed to work not work. This malfunctoining that we might see existing is simply us not looking at the situation correctly.
I’d say any of the existing polytheisms are the biggest duds, narrowing it down to monotheisms, I’d say Islamic or Christianity. Judaism in second place.
I will say that Buddhism(not hinduism) is the most convincing, I think.
I used to think religion a rather benign, misguided attempt at spirituality. But when i look at current major World conflicts: Gaza strip (Judaism vs. Islam) Cashmere (hinduism vs. Islam) I see that it is not so benign, it actually causes great harm. One can go further and point out inanities in legislation brought about by religion. Who was it who said something like the greatest hijacking in history was that of morality by religion. Eventually man will walk out of the cave, realizing that he no longer requires dressed-up fables, teetering old deities, and promises of immortality to do what he should have been doing all along. I think man should be counting on this earth, not some future heaven. loving those around him, not some imaginary being. And exercising his reason towards science and enlightenment, his passions toward art. I won’t tell you which religion(s) i consider the greatest con, by this point you will have already have guessed.
I believe it was Arthur C. Clarke.
I to will rejoice when spirituality has destroyed Religion… The sad part is most people don’t see any different between the two.
There is even a mythical aspect i relish (which is why i prefer the term ‘humanist’ to ‘secular humanist’, i don’t care how you get there, just get there), but the truth is that most people don’t see religion as myth. They actually say things like, “If you don’t believe in God, how do you know the difference between right and wrong.” Morality and religion are two different things. Most (if not all) religions have conned some of us out of the ability to live our own moral lives.