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To: snowrip

“Suggesting that it is impossible to have an ethical existence without a belief in God is ridiculous.”

Have any societies been able to conceive of an absolute morality without the belief in a higher power? Without a higher power Men behave as gods without consequence.


199 posted on 04/12/2007 9:22:01 PM PDT by ffusco (Maecilius Fuscus,Governor of Longovicium , Manchester, England. 238-244 AD)
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To: ffusco
“Suggesting that it is impossible to have an ethical existence without a belief in God is ridiculous.”

Have any societies been able to conceive of an absolute morality without the belief in a higher power? Without a higher power Men behave as gods without consequence.

Do you jest?

Have you ever heard of Greek Philosophy?

The Greeks were polytheistic.

The word ethics is from Greek.

Online Etymology Dictionary
ethics

1602, "the science of morals," pl. of M.E. ethik "study of morals" (1387), from O.Fr. ethique, from
L.L. ethica, from Gk. ethike philosophia "moral philosophy," fem. of ethikos "ethical," from ethos
"moral character," related to ethos "custom" (see ethos). The word also traces to Ta Ethika, title
of Aristotle's work. Ethic "a person's moral principles," attested from 1651.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

The word moral is Roman as translated by Cicero from Greek.

Online Etymology Dictionary
moral (adj.)

c.1340, "of or pertaining to character or temperament" (good or bad), from O.Fr. moral, from L.
moralis "proper behavior of a person in society," lit. "pertaining to manners," coined by Cicero
("De Fato," II.i) to translate Gk. ethikos (see ethics) from L. mos (gen. moris) "one's disposition," in
pl., "mores, customs, manners, morals," of uncertain origin. Meaning "morally good,
conforming to moral rules," is first recorded c.1386 of stories, 1638 of persons. Original
value-neutral sense preserved in moral support, moral victory, with sense of "pertaining to
character as opposed to physical action." The noun meaning "moral exposition of a story" is
attested from c.1500. Moralistic formed 1865.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

Was Zeus, or Cronos, or Hera, the higher power you referred to or was I just reading to much into your post?

200 posted on 04/12/2007 10:08:04 PM PDT by higgmeister (In the Shadow of The Big Chicken)
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