RE: Good vs Evil
May 7, 2019 at 12:40 pm
(This post was last modified: May 7, 2019 at 12:44 pm by Smaug.)
Germany actually had 'absolute' standards in the 20's and 30's. Like 'Deutschland Ueber Alles' or good-old 'Gott mit Uns' (God is with us). Moreover, all totalitarian countries tend to have a set of very strict 'absolute' standards, often backed up with Religion.
If the Ten Commandments are the absolutes you mean then they are not so absolute, too. Per say, the most strict taboo placed upon murder is so omni-present only because it's generally agreed that living without a threat of sudden deadly attack is much better for the most people and because the consequences of murder are irreversible. And yet there are exceptions to this taboo. The most prominent one is of course War. More often then not even a strictly offensive war is a'ok with the Religion. Just look into a history book or watch the news from the Middle East. Under certain conditions even peace-time murder is encouraged by the Religion - see stoning people to death for things that are not even crimes by today's standards. So the commandments are relative even within borders of a single faith. They have too much fine print under them.
Also even the confessions of a single religion cannot agree on their standards. Some say that you cannot kill under any circumstances, some tolerate or even encourage manslaughter for the name of God.
If the Ten Commandments are the absolutes you mean then they are not so absolute, too. Per say, the most strict taboo placed upon murder is so omni-present only because it's generally agreed that living without a threat of sudden deadly attack is much better for the most people and because the consequences of murder are irreversible. And yet there are exceptions to this taboo. The most prominent one is of course War. More often then not even a strictly offensive war is a'ok with the Religion. Just look into a history book or watch the news from the Middle East. Under certain conditions even peace-time murder is encouraged by the Religion - see stoning people to death for things that are not even crimes by today's standards. So the commandments are relative even within borders of a single faith. They have too much fine print under them.
Also even the confessions of a single religion cannot agree on their standards. Some say that you cannot kill under any circumstances, some tolerate or even encourage manslaughter for the name of God.
