merlin said:
... What is scary is that the overriding reason many voted for Bush seems to have been moral values suggesting a religeous bias.
Michael,
I totally understand your concerns in this area and also the point made by someone earlier (I'm really sorry, I can't find it now and it's getting too late for me to try) that being religious should disbar anyone from being a politician (paraphrasing).
Personally, I believe that there's a difference between religion and spirituality and that anyone claiming that any book or document is the 'word of God' should be hung, drawn and quartered. I do believe in God in a sort of 'the mind of the universe' sort of way but not in the 'word of God'. I also believe that the practice of some orthodox religions can be
expedient in that it can lead to family and other values that can result in greater overall happiness. Nevertheless, in my book,
truth outranks
expedience, so I reject such religious practices.
But that's just me.
It seems to me that the liberal values that we all subscribe to (I think), do not of themselves result in a higher morality or higher ethical standards. I realize that Michael (michaelab), and others, have their socialism to plug this gap but that works no better for the rest of us than Roman Catholicism (or whatever).
Clearly from the viewpoint of a Muslim, Christian or Jewish fundamentalist Western society is empty of much real meaning and, looking at the crime rates, drug addiction and rates of unwanted pregnancy, etc., perhaps we can agree that they have a point.
I don't pretend to know what the answer is but I would just like to finish this lengthy (sorry) post by raising one of the questions relevant to your fears about Bush and the Christian right - abortion and stem-cell research (which they feel, I believe wrongly, are the same issue).
You and I have probably been brought up to believe that abortion is a woman's right - her body, her decision, etc., etc. At the same time, we have seen premature babies, some of 24 weeks' term, being delivered and kept alive.
My question is, what if you believe that the aborted foetus has a life and that, therefore, abortion is murder? If that was your belief, would you be out of order to try to make abortion illegal?
I guess Michael, that what I'm attempting to say is that your point about 'moral values suggetsing a religeous bias' may not be as scary as it seems.
Goodnight all.