[ppaul]

I was making a prudential argument about an issue that has traction for some, and perhaps not others. That is all.

But you see where the arguments break down?
If there is no God from whom we ultimately derive our rights and laws, then there is no Supreme Lawgiver to whom we are accountable. Every man for himself. Power is the ultimate. Survival of the fittest. Hitler was on to something, eh? If there is no God, if our laws/judgments are ultimately based upon evolutionary materialism, then Nietzsche's superman is the highest good - Hitler was right after all.

[Torie]

A priori beliefs are essential, no doubt, and religion is helpful as a practical matter, since for many, getting it "right" on their own is simply too difficult. But religious tradition cannot be a strait jacket either. It is a balancing test, and a bit of a high wire act I agree, but fewer and fewer in the developed Western democracies accept religious tradition uncritically. They fuse it into their own judgments and life experiences. And that is the way it is, and I think it is largely, but obviously not totally, to the good.

[little jeremiah]

Great debating points. If only those embracing the dark side could see where their "logic" takes them.