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To: RockyMtnMan

No, that’s the different between “opinion” and “fact.” Moral questions are questions of fact, independent of individuals’ beliefs. Drunk driving, for example, is either morally wrong, or it’s morally acceptable. Whichever it is, is independent of whether you or I or 1,000 randomly selected likely voters think it’s right or wrong.


21 posted on 08/27/2010 7:30:29 AM PDT by Tax-chick (I should be, but I'm not.)
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To: Tax-chick
Society as a whole gets to decide what is morally acceptable. Our individual beliefs may not square with society's interpretation. Facts in the purest sense of the term can be proven through science and the results must be repeatable through time, opinions cannot.

The opinion of society is that drunk driving is immoral because it risks the life of others. If in the future we no longer value life the way we do now then the opinion of drunk driving could change, meaning it is not a fact that drunk driving is immoral.

Religious beliefs allow an individual to establish truths based on faith and the word of God. This is where science and religion get into trouble. What may be a matter of opinion to a scientist is considered a fact by a religious individual.

26 posted on 08/27/2010 7:39:07 AM PDT by RockyMtnMan
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