Strong Atheism starts from faith

[rjh4 is back]

I don't believe there are objective moral truths, I only believe in social morality, a consensus amongst society at a given time that states what is and what is not an acceptable way to behave to keep your place in society and receive the benefits.

But it's tricky, because I also believe in individual morals, what you do to yourself or with others in consensual exchanges in private residence is entirely up to you, whether it be drugs, sex, music, art etc.

So individual laws are for the individual to decide and is shouldn't be up for debate, nobody should have the right to decide what isolated individual behavior someone else should have, but this stops at the point of interaction with the rest of society, where social law comes into play and is decided by consensus.

Was that what you wanted to know?

Yes, that is the sort of thing I wanted to know.

Based on what you said, does that mean that if a majority group of a society was ok with killing members of a minority group in that same society (consensus reached in the society overall based on the majority group) and made it legal do to so, that you would be ok with such killing?

No, that would violate the individual rights of the members of the minority group.

You seem to be contradicting yourself, Void.

You say that when social law comes into play, issues are decided by consensus (I am taking this to mean a "majority of opinion". If you mean something different, please indicate how you are using the term.).

Clearly a member of a majority in a society killing a member of a minority in that same society is a point of interaction with that society that would be governed by your position requiring consensus (you appear to even admit that in your answer to my hypothetical).

In my hypothetical, the decision to allow killing of the minority was by consensus of the society as a whole.

So it would seem to follow that such killing of the minority should be acceptable to you since your consensus method for deciding what is right/wrong was followed.

Yet you still answer that such killing would not be ok.

So I ask that you please clarify your seemingly inconsistent position on this issue.

In addition, when you say: "No, that would violate the individual rights of the members of the minority group." does that not presuppose that the members of the minority in a society have some "rights" separate and distinct from anything that the consensus of the society might decide? From where does such a "right" come?

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Would you not, assuming God is proven to exist, still require faith in the righteousness and benevolence of his actions in the face of tragedy that you know he could prevent?

I know you did not direct this question to me, Void, but I do think it is a good and reasonable question so I would like to give you my answer (for whatever it is worth ). The answer is "yes".