Sidney Winston

Reg,

I shed no tears whatsoever for the decline of the Christian Right and only regret that it hasn’t happened faster in my own community.  I can’t count the numbers of times people come into the store giving out bible tracts and wearing T-Shirts with thoughtless scriptures like: “Iron sharpens Iron” from Proverbs 27:17.  (Uh, no.  It’s ha…[Read more]

I am actually very afraid for this country. The few crazy assholes are ruining it for the rest of us with their conspiracy theories and lies. They may be smaller in numbers but as long as these fringe extremists types exist in the intensity and propensity to violence, our country isn’t safe. Remember…how many men did it take to ram a plane int…[Read more]

The reality is not that the Evangelicals are being attacked but that they are imploding. Their ranks are not being repopulated by their children because the younger generation sees that conservative beliefs are either to some degree racist, homophobic or anti-LGBTQ. They are too educated and have a much less insular view of the world than their…[Read more]

I’ll try not to settle too much on Tucker Carlson as a barometer of who to watch until the mid-term and 2023 elections, but hey, imo, he represents to a significant degree the most dangerous Americans. In this case, fallout and tribalism wrt humanity’s covid saga, including whacko conspiracism will last a long…[Read more]

From The Atlantic, IDEAS: Tucker Carlson, Unmasked

Excerpt:

Although Carlson makes a lot of ridiculous claims in a short period in this clip, it is his comments about children that are most disturbing. After complaining that mask mandates imposed by the state are equivalent to living in North Korea, Carlson executes two athletic rhetorical…

[Read more]

I think we just need to dig a bit deeper. Its not a dead issue, after all. If we just use our skulls a little more we can figure this out.
That’s the spirit. Maybe we have a ghost of a chance at resolving this yet.

Or we can just give up and bite the dust. Perhaps this discussion is on its last legs.

But most norms aren’t random

Uhhh. Yes. A lot of them are. I mean…come on Simon, in parts of the world they lob off pieces of little children’s genitals. Want a less extreme example? To be presentable in an office in western countries a man has to wear an uncomfortable pointless cloth noose around their neck and in Southern Europe a woman has t…[Read more]

_Robert_ wrote:
I think we just need to dig a bit deeper. Its not a dead issue, after all. If we just use our skulls a little more we can figure this out.

That’s the spirit. Maybe we have a ghost of a chance at resolving this yet.

I think we just need to dig a bit deeper. Its not a dead issue, after all. If we just use our skulls a little more we can figure this out.

Cemeteries really are like parks, and a lot of them actually make it that way because they really want people to come visit, not stay away.… And if the families not there that day they wouldn’t even know so what difference would it make? I guess I’m interested to understand all the philosophies behind it, I don’t understand all that but I’m jus…[Read more]

I think what is sadder is where nobody goes to visit a grave whether they’re a stranger or not…

People can dislike the breaking of norms just because they are norms.  I guess it’s because groups are run using norms, and to break a norm threatens to rupture their moral order.

But most norms aren’t random, they have connection to things like benefit and harm, and respect.  This one is a case of respect.  Some people will dislike it, even if…[Read more]

It depends on the reason why they are upset.

I think in most cases, the reason why you are doing something, despite the fact that it upsets people…is more important than why someone gets upset about something. Pointlessly doing something that upsets someone, (whether they get upset for an understandable reason or a completely ridiculous…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:

Davis wrote:
Who’s going to mind? That is the crucial question.

It depends very much on the moral system that you are using.

I’m curious as to which other people could be involved, under different moral systems. I would have thought it’s a question of simple reality.

In reality, you likely won’t find out who does or doesn…[Read more]

I’m curious as to which other people could be involved, under different moral systems.  I would have thought it’s a question of simple reality.

Under some deontological systems, depending on how you frame your moral rules, consistency is much more important than “upsetting particular people in a particular situation”. Though again that enti…[Read more]

Davis wrote:
Who’s going to mind? That is the crucial question.

It depends very much on the moral system that you are using.

I’m curious as to which other people could be involved, under different moral systems.  I would have thought it’s a question of simple reality.

Davis wrote:
upsetting people alone is not enough of a reason to not do something.

It depends on the reason why they are upset.  We tend to see “disrespecting your dead” as a sacred no-go area, while “disrespecting your beliefs” we understand as fair game.