There's an awful lot of different kinds of people I know at this point. Sure, some of them
are actors and actresses I have enjoyed late at night on premium cable,
but there's still a surprisingly large number of people I've met in real
life. Rich and poor, nonbeliever and believer, right and left, young
and old, straight and gay, white with a tiny minority of exceptions, they're all here, and I disagree with just about any random one of them a
lot for any number of reasons. Yet, we get along, whatever pyrotechnics
of argument may present themselves. So what is it, exactly, that we
all agree on that allows for a basic moral consensus. Atheists and
believers HAVE to share a certain set of core values in order for them
to exist civilly together in the same society or, especially, the same
room. That I see this, or its corollary with other diametrically
opposed individuals, on a daily basis underlies that we are
significantly less opposed that we suspect. A Christian and an atheist
arguing over what is the best way to raise productive adults who will be
moral and capable of raising their own productive adults are,
unknowingly in most cases, conceding a great deal of common ground.
Consider a Christian arguing with an ancient Aztec about whether it
would be better to have a productive adult capable of raising other
productive adults or a human sacrifice victim with his chest ripped open
to appease the gods and ensure the sun would rise, and you'll find out
really quickly that atheists and Christians have more important
priorities than nonbelief and belief. As an atheist, you can believe in
Jesus all you want, go to church four times a week, and you know what? I'll take you over an atheist Stalinist who thinks it's okay for people
to die horrible deaths in the gulags, because there are more important
underlying things. With all that as a jumping off point, here are ten
things that pretty much all people I'm willing to consider my moral
equal must believe.
1. Suffering is, at best, unfortunate, and needless suffering is a damned tragedy. Inflicting suffering upon nonconsenting individuals is evil, regardless of context, and all the moreso if done to children.
2. Activity that harms none but those consentingly participating cannot be evil. Such activities are, at worst, inadvisable and dangerous.
3. Looking for excuses to hate people who have done nothing to harm you is evil and a profound waste of time.
4. Exceptions to rules must exist because people who are exceptions to the rule exist. Stubborn adherence to the rules in the cases of these individuals is evil because it represents a willingness to grind those who do not and cannot conform in the gears of efficiency and convenience.
5. Withholding compassion and/or empathy is always evil. However evil the individual suffering, it still hurts and they are still human and flawed. Vulnerable, naked, and afraid, the most evil person who ever lived, whoever that might have been, would've deserved compassion. It neither picks your pocket nor breaks your leg to show compassion to your enemies. For some, such compassion might be the only good in this world they'll ever see.
6. Humanity has potential and it is exciting to think about where it may be going. However cynical one might be about our species and however many appalling reversals one might have seen or experienced in the progress of humankind, it simply must be considered an objective fact that we have come further as a species than we ever had any right to expect and that this upward momentum is far from done with us.
7. Pursuing happiness is the right of all persons and, insofar as it does not interfere with the happiness of others, respecting said pursuit is a moral imperative.
8. Romantic love that involves loving the other person more than you love yourself is redundant. Romantic love that does not involve this is not romantic love at all.
9. When people speak about their own lives, it is a moral imperative to believe them.
10. The collectivization of guilt is never morally justified.
-Frank
1. Suffering is, at best, unfortunate, and needless suffering is a damned tragedy. Inflicting suffering upon nonconsenting individuals is evil, regardless of context, and all the moreso if done to children.
2. Activity that harms none but those consentingly participating cannot be evil. Such activities are, at worst, inadvisable and dangerous.
3. Looking for excuses to hate people who have done nothing to harm you is evil and a profound waste of time.
4. Exceptions to rules must exist because people who are exceptions to the rule exist. Stubborn adherence to the rules in the cases of these individuals is evil because it represents a willingness to grind those who do not and cannot conform in the gears of efficiency and convenience.
5. Withholding compassion and/or empathy is always evil. However evil the individual suffering, it still hurts and they are still human and flawed. Vulnerable, naked, and afraid, the most evil person who ever lived, whoever that might have been, would've deserved compassion. It neither picks your pocket nor breaks your leg to show compassion to your enemies. For some, such compassion might be the only good in this world they'll ever see.
6. Humanity has potential and it is exciting to think about where it may be going. However cynical one might be about our species and however many appalling reversals one might have seen or experienced in the progress of humankind, it simply must be considered an objective fact that we have come further as a species than we ever had any right to expect and that this upward momentum is far from done with us.
7. Pursuing happiness is the right of all persons and, insofar as it does not interfere with the happiness of others, respecting said pursuit is a moral imperative.
8. Romantic love that involves loving the other person more than you love yourself is redundant. Romantic love that does not involve this is not romantic love at all.
9. When people speak about their own lives, it is a moral imperative to believe them.
10. The collectivization of guilt is never morally justified.
-Frank
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