Atheism and morality (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 22:01 (5125 days ago) @ dhw

TONY: I have said many times that I think humans have the capacity to know the difference between right and wrong, but not the capacity to do the right thing. The idea that a societal consensus can define something 'right or wrong' is utter rubbish. What society can do is make something legal or illegal, which has little if anything to do with right/wrong or moral/immoral. There does exist a 'right/wrong', but it does not lie in a book, or society, or in a legal system. It lies in the 'heart' of a person.-
'Society' is an abstract idea, in the purest form, meaning merely a collection of individual relationships. However, in allowing this abstract creation to govern the will of the individual, we make the morality of the individual subservient to the will of the society. Once a society extends beyond a very very few people, it is no longer acting as a moral compass taking its direction from its constituents, but as a legal entity fully equipped with the whipping stick and the ability to wield it. The 'Society', as an entity, is not compelled by morality, right/wrong, good or bad, but by its own survival and power and in this regard it is no different than the entity known as 'religion'. Societal consensus can only define something as right/wrong as applied to its own survival, which supersedes all of an individuals personal freedom. The unfortunate side affect of this is that it allows groups of people to enforce their will on other groups of people within the society, as the society must placate as many as possible in order to ensure its survival as an entity. So I am not in disagreement with your statement that society tries to deem what is moral, only that they fail miserably at it because they put freedom as secondary to survival of an abstract institution by allowing one persons aversion to something to control the actions of another. Individuals in general will do what is right for them. It is not the responsibility of others to condemn, control, or clean up the mess made from those choices. The only role I advocate for society is for protecting its members from force, whether internal or external. I prize my life, and the liberty to live that life as I see fit, and the liberty of others to do the same, above all things. -All of that being said, I understand the need for societal governance, but it is still the bitter pill we all have to swallow to some extent or another. And, in my opinion, is just as harmful as it is helpful.