Morality = Rules

"Stephanie <haaa@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>" wrote:
> Some people think morals = rules.  Or if one does not share THEIR moral
> code, then they are without morals.  It is called being closed minded.

There is a big difference between "morality" and "moralizing".  It is
such a big difference that you rarely find both things in the same
person.


OTOH, you can be so open-minded your brains fall out.  About 10 years
ago I was at a customer's site (I sometimes work as a consultant), and
came across a Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan discussion already in
progress (it was about an associate of Harding's who attacked Kerrigan
before the 1994 Olympics).  This won't be exact, but it gets the
general flow of conversation:

    Person A said that the man who attacked Nancy Kerrigan had "sinned",
    and that his actions were unmistakably wrong and immoral.

    Person B said "I wouldn't be comfortable saying that someone had
    done something immoral."

    Person A, incredulous, said "A huge guy over 6 feet tall attacks a
    little girl who barely weighs 100 pounds, smashes her leg with a
    metal club in an attempt to cripple her, and you're unwilling to say
    that was an immoral act?"

    Person B said "I just don't feel we should make judgments like that."

Note here that Person A didn't judge the man himself, but the *act* he
committed.  Even at that, Person B wouldn't agree: saying that someone's
*action* was immoral is improper, no matter what that action was.

It became apparent that Person B considers judging actions to be immoral;
so far as I could tell, it was the *only* the only thing he considered
immoral.


So while I agree that you should be hesitant to judge others by your
moral code, you can't be willing to give up *everything* in your effort
to be accomodating.


Darren Provine ! kilroy@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 ! http://www.rowan.edu/~kilroy
"Man always travels along precipices.  His truest obligation is to keep
 his balance." -- Pope John Paul II