GraphicsGuy Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 I think the key is to break free from the governed and dictated "right" and start looking at it personally, and come your own conclusions of what is right and wrong. I agree. It has to be personal and you can't just be a blind follower. "Right" and "wrong" need to be things that you personally believe in with reasons as to why you feel that way about them. Everything should be broken down. "Do I only think that's wrong because my father did?" "Do I only think this is right because my pastor says so?" etc. Pros and cons need to be weighed (e.g. - your example, Hans, of punishment for people who get abortions). Things need to be thought out. This is part of what I was pondering when I started this thread. Religion seems to aim for the masses and individualism seems to get buried. Control the individual by forcing them to adhere to the masses. "Be like us or don't be part of us." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsmoke Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 So then, what gives law its (unquestionable) authority? Where do "natural rights" (life. liberty and property) come from? From power, strength, and dominance. In part yes, but these are also illegitimate and the law would never hold up if these where the only threads holding it together. It depends on a culture that respects it. Without the respect of the community you will constantly have to contend with revolutionaries. Countries that maintain order only through violence or threat of violence are known as totalitarian. Law is also given authority through what Rousseau called the general will. There is of course the element of forcing people to be free through power, strength and dominance, but if the majority doesn't see the law as valid and moral then the law has a weak hold and the level of force to maintain it must necessarily increase. Obviously that's not an ideal situation. Getting back to the op and the points KCDad is making, religion can be used to influence the general will but it's not the only method of doing so and IMO, not the ideal way of doing so since it also involves fear and threats, though in this case spiritual. Ideally, law can be legitimized by the majority's understanding that it is in their own best interests as a group to maintain an orderly society that recognizes certain rights (I don't rape my neighbor's daughter or steal his chickens because I wouldn't want him to do that to me). This realization can be accomplished by shear logic. Exactly. It's inherent to our psychology as social organisms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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