Originally posted by twhitehead
Its actually not relevant for the thread. All that matters is you consider my belief in the OP to be immoral. Do you then judge my belief to be less rational, or less reasonable, than a belief that is judged by you to
The morality I am referring to in this thread is the concept that doing harm to others without justification is wrong.
I realize th ...[text shortened]... o include social norms or religious beliefs, but I am not using it in that sense in this thread.
<<If I believe that my religion requires me to kill an innocent child, is my belief inherently invalid due to its apparent immorality? Are all those who hold such beliefs in some way less loony than those who hold religious beliefs that do not include the death of innocent children.
If so, why?>>
I don't agree that your definition of "morality" is irrelevant to this discussion - I believe it is central to it.
I think I know where you are going with this thread. You want to establish that ANY belief that is based on religion rather than rational argument is equally bad, whether that belief consists of murder or merely something like guardian angels.
It is my contention that there are too many "relatives" in your OP and no "absolutes". For example, the words "its apparent immorality" is clearly socially based and relative. Apparent to whom? Again, to the Aztecs the slaughter of babies (I must assume) was NOT "apparently immoral".
Perhaps I am still misunderstanding your point. Clearly (and I would guess that this is not disputed by anybody on RHP) religion makes people do strange, and often very bad, stuff. Remember Boko Haram, Al Fata, et al.Are these actions rational? To the perpetrators, of course they are, otherwise they would not do them. Are they moral? Again, to the perpetrators they are the most moral thing they can do, it will land them in Paradise. To us outside observers, with a different standard for morality, they are obscene.
Sorry, maybe i really don't know what your point is. Perhaps you could elucidate further.
EDIT Just read the title again: Belief vs Morality. Maybe my point is that there is no difference between the two, both are relative to the subject holding them. Belief equals morality, and morality equals belief. Even Rationality is inherent in the belief that somebody holds, although an external party may differ vigorously from both the belief, as well as the morality of an person, and consider such belief irrational.
EDIT 2: Unless, of course , you subscribe to the view that there is an Objective Moral Law, (which applies to us all regardless of what your beliefs are) but I know that you don't.
(You can see that i have time on my hands this morning! 😉. )