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“I Guess Morality Just Loves Me, or Something…”
Patheos.com ^ | 6/18/12 | Elizabeth Scalia

Posted on 06/19/2012 6:39:16 AM PDT by marshmallow

You guys remember Leah Libresco, right? The favorite Philosopher Atheist of many of us, here in the Catholic portal? The adorable, ubersmart Yalie grad whom I introduced a while back, as “a smart young cookie and a life-long atheist” and whose blog began as a geeky atheist picking fights with her Catholic boyfriend?

Yeah, her, the girl whose banner has been flying at the atheist’s corner:

Well, today she makes an announcement that will startle many:

I tried to keep my eyes open for ways I could test which world I was in, but a lot of the evidence for Christianity was only compelling to me if I at least presupposed Deism. Meanwhile, on the other side, I kept running into moral philosophers who seemed really helpful, until I discovered that their study of virtue ethics has led them to take a tumble into the Tiber. (I’m looking at you, MacIntyre!).

Then, the night before Palm Sunday…I was up at my alma mater for an alumni debate. I had another round of translating a lot of principles out of Catholic in order to use them in my speech, which prompted the now traditional heckling from my friends. After the debate, I buttonholed a Christian…prodded me on where I thought moral law came from in my metaphysics. I talked about morality as though it were some kind of Platonic form, remote from the plane that humans existed on. He wanted to know where the connection was.

I could hypothesize how a Forms-material world link would work in the case of mathematics…But I didn’t have an analogue for how humans got bootstrap up to get even a partial understanding of objective moral law.

(Excerpt) Read more at patheos.com ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Skeptics/Seekers; Theology
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 06/19/2012 6:39:19 AM PDT by marshmallow
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To: marshmallow

Without God, everything is equally moral.


2 posted on 06/19/2012 6:44:15 AM PDT by Darteaus94025
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To: marshmallow

Moment of Surrender...


3 posted on 06/19/2012 6:47:31 AM PDT by Tulane
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To: Darteaus94025

Actually, IMO all ethics can be derived from a single axiom.

“All men are (created) equal”

The problem is that without the word in parentheses there is no basis for the conclusion that all men are equal.

In what way are we equal? Not in intelligence, looks, strength or any other characteristic.

We are all equal in moral value (the only way in which we are equal) BECAUSE we are all equally created by God, who doesn’t play favorites.


4 posted on 06/19/2012 6:50:38 AM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: marshmallow
"But I didn’t have an analogue for how humans got bootstrap up to get even a partial understanding of objective moral law."

Apart from God there can be no such thing as an "objective moral law". Without God then the Marquis de Sade was correct when he said, "whatever is, is right".

5 posted on 06/19/2012 6:50:45 AM PDT by circlecity
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To: marshmallow

It’s funny how this happens when people use reason.


6 posted on 06/19/2012 6:51:13 AM PDT by Tax-chick (Spinach at every meal.)
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To: marshmallow
"My friend pressed me to stop beating up on other people’s explanations and offer one of my own."

It's always easier to destroy than to create. Atheists strike me as the type that find a peppercorn in the cranberry sauce and declare the entire Thanksgiving feast ruined.

7 posted on 06/19/2012 6:55:41 AM PDT by randog (Tap into America!)
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To: mrreaganaut; T Minus Four; Graybeard58; Tennessee Nana; Godzilla; Colofornian; greyfoxx39; ...

ping to some of my fave freepers...


8 posted on 06/19/2012 6:59:08 AM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see")
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To: marshmallow

HAHAHAHAHA! Take that, Satan!


9 posted on 06/19/2012 7:03:05 AM PDT by ottbmare (The OTTB Mare)
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To: reaganaut

Thanks for the PING

and Im honored to be a fave of yours...

:)


10 posted on 06/19/2012 7:04:04 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana (Why should I vote for Bishop Romney when he hates me because I am a Christian)
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To: marshmallow

I was hoping to find this piece posted here- I just read it over at Hot Air.

What’s particularly striking to me is how honest this young woman has been and how difficult her journey, yet she wouldn’t quit. My experience has been that the very moment I attempted to have an objective and open mind that God practically knocked the rest of my doors down.

Apparently real faith comes easily to many- for some of us it takes years of earnest seeking.

Thanks for posting :)


11 posted on 06/19/2012 7:19:55 AM PDT by SE Mom (Proud mom of an Iraq war combat vet)
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To: marshmallow

I did not know this, but Bristol Palin has a blog on Patheos:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/bristolpalin/


12 posted on 06/19/2012 7:39:38 AM PDT by Springfield Reformer (Winston Churchill: No Peace Till Victory!)
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To: marshmallow

Christianity is the only religion that appeals to both the intellectual (Christ isn’t afraid of people questioning, or even disagreeing with Him), and the simple (like me- I was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see).


13 posted on 06/19/2012 7:41:34 AM PDT by MuttTheHoople (Obama doesnÂ’t have the work ethic to be Anti-Christ.)
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To: marshmallow

Very good. Yet ANOTHER turn of the wheel.


14 posted on 06/19/2012 7:44:36 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ("In Christ we form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." Romans 12:5)
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To: marshmallow

bkmk


15 posted on 06/19/2012 8:06:56 AM PDT by Sergio (An object at rest cannot be stopped! - The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight)
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To: marshmallow

Thanks for posting. Nice to see a smart aleck wise up.


16 posted on 06/19/2012 8:08:21 AM PDT by karnage
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To: reaganaut; Sherman Logan

Thanks for the ping, I especially liked what Sherman Logan had to say in number 4.


17 posted on 06/19/2012 8:27:18 AM PDT by Graybeard58 (Obama versus Romney? Cyanide versus arsenic.)
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To: marshmallow

Great post. I’ll forward this around a bit. I suspect she’s already gotten the boot from “athiest’s corner”.


18 posted on 06/19/2012 10:03:28 AM PDT by zeugma (Those of us who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.)
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To: marshmallow


19 posted on 06/20/2012 10:45:03 AM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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