tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post106687216771742909..comments2024-03-25T09:01:20.997-07:00Comments on Diary of an Autodidact: Theofascism Part 2: Speaking a Common LanguageDiary of an Autodidacthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849157548643091986noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-77809320542948779992021-03-21T11:55:50.791-07:002021-03-21T11:55:50.791-07:00My point here is not to come up with a philosophic...My point here is not to come up with a philosophical basis for legislation - public order as you put it. That's a whole rabbit hole outside the scope of this series, and something far better minds than mine have addressed. The point I was trying to make was much more narrow, which is that if you cannot justify a rule without resorting to theology, it has no place in public policy. When it comes to theofascism, that is the core of the problem. When you cannot convince people using a common moral or "public order" argument, you end up resorting to a raw assertion of power - of violence - against those who disagree. Diary of an Autodidacthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11849157548643091986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-77738861251198621402021-03-20T08:10:07.742-07:002021-03-20T08:10:07.742-07:00While I typically enjoy your writing, I feel like ...While I typically enjoy your writing, I feel like this was a weaker installment. Particularly, the way you seem to be saying that it's okay for the government to enforce morality as long as that morality is universal - eg. murder is illegal because everyone agrees murder is wrong.<br /><br />But this contrasts to what you point out later - that commonly accepted moral precepts change over time.<br /><br />Morality, whether sect-specific or universal, is not something that should be legislated. It's simply not the government's business. Murder and theft are illegal not because everyone's opposed to them, but because they are deleterious to public order. The government's concern is properly practical good, not moral good.<br /><br />That's how I see it, anyway. And your explanation above seems by comparison to be the same sort of convoluted reasoning you decry: "THIS moral precept is okay for the government to enforce BECAUSE..."Nemohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00700748083153827583noreply@blogger.com