Antonia Senior on how Moral Relativism bolsters the BNP

[AvrilH]

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6886174.ece

Interesting article, though I'm sure it has been said before:

"...The only way to decide if a proposition is true or not, or if an action is right or wrong, is to test it and debate it. This takes more rigour than a lazy assumption that all views are truth and rightness is relative...."

Yes, very good article. Relativism has not really got much credibility intellectually, but we do continue to be hampered by it. It is really a kind of cowardice.

She makes an excellent point about religion as a template and moral short-cut.

Yes good, though I don't agreeat all that atheism makes it harder. Sure religious folk have their book of rules... they all have a different one, and each sect interprets differently. IMO thats where a lot of moral relativism arises from.

As a scientist (and an atheist) relativism puzzles me - truth is not negotiable.

Morals change over time.

What was good, decent and right 100 or even 1000 years ago are very different from the standards that we hold now.

Unless we are going to look back at our ancestors and denounce them as immoral and in turn accept than in time others will look back on us condemn us as immoral then there has to be a degree of moral relativism.

Allowing for a degree of moral relativism is also often the only way that two different cultures can get along, both agreeing to overlook their differences and not judge the other so that they can achieve something.

Oh course it can go to far, such as accepting something like FGM, but as a concept you can't just dismiss it.

I noticed someone on the comments thread made the point about the (loony) Left having always been the worst PITAs about this. The number of wanky middle class radical whiteboys slobbering excitedly over the 'cool' of the fecking Nation Of Islam and just brushing aside the antisemitism and misogyny; that old fool Galloway and his Respect party and all their woman-hating homphobic pals... It's not racist to say that aspects of some Muslim faith/organisations are vile when you know full well that there are similar vile aspects to Christian faith/organisations(misogyny, homophobia, assaults on unbelievers) - it's not that one condems an entire myth system for the nastier interpreteations nutters have put on bits of it when it's demonstrably obvious that nice people who just happen to want a myth system to adhere to are perfectly capable of picking the nice bits out (kindness, fairness, helping others) and basing their version of the belief on those bits.