From: mjmh@crsa.bu.edu (Michael J M Holmes)
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: Re: Unbe Awakens
Date: 21 Dec 92 21:54:12 GMT
Organization: Boston University Center for Remote Sensing

In article <1992Dec18.165850.18161@e2big.mko.dec.com> pel@maximo.enet.dec.com (Phillip E lujan) writes:

>In article <105249@bu.edu>, mjmh@crsa.bu.edu (Michael J M Holmes) writes:

>(Excellent personal viewpoint on morality and religion deleted)

>Starknight activates his grav-beams and drifts up to /*.  "Let me give you a
>hand down from here, my friend.  Although, while I'm up here..."

>"My personal feelings on this matter are that morality and religion are NOT
>the same thing.  Personally, I find that most people have their own sets of
>morals, and live by them constantly.  Please note that I distinguish morals
>from societal constraints (i.e., Thou shalt not kill); some people would have
>no moral qualms about killing someone else.  Fortunately for the vast
>majority of us, society (which includes religions) places certain additional
>restrictions on us, based on their view of the 'rightness' or 'wrongness' of
>a certain type of action.

[some deletions - Starknight is talking about his moral but nonreligious
  friend (a Cthulhan?)]

>"Hmmm....  I seem to have gotten off the track, just a little.  Oh, absolute
>moral standards - and whether or not one religion has a monopoly on that.  I
>don't think so, and I'll tell you why - because morals differ from person to
>person, place to place, time to time.  For example, most of us would be
> (in RL)
>revolted at the thought of eating human flesh, and would consider it morally
>wrong.  Yet, to our distant ancestors, eating the flesh of a dead enemy was
>not only a common practice, it was MORALLY right - for, in that way, you
>showed your respect for his skills...  It was morally wrong to leave the body
>of a conquered foe for the lesser creatures to eat; besides, his ghost might
>come back to haunt you.

/* is trying to regain his voice after all of the talking (babbling?)
he has been doing.

"I think this is a good point - all of us are in some sense
constrained by the time we live in, and by the society we
developed in."

"Hmmm.  If I have Michael's ideas correct, though, a response
to this might be that our cannibalistic ancestors were pretty
far away from the 'absolute moral standard,' and that our current
societal views are closer to that standard."

"Of course, a cynic could say that our ancestors were closer
to the absolute standard, and we have been in moral decay
ever since we stopped practicing cannibalism... "

>"Well, enough pontificating."  Starknight looks down at the growing pile of
>soapboxes, then flits to the floor, /* on his back.  Activating his pressor
>beam, he flicks the soapboxes into a darkened corner and orders a 
>rum and tonic.

"Mike, Starknight's drink is on my bill."

Everyone in the place looks startled, since /* never
had a duck-like mouth _before_ this!!!

"Thanks for the lift down, Starknight!!  Much appreciated!"

:)



-- 
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Mike Holmes       mjmh@crsa.bu.edu           "Happiness Will Prevail!"
Boston University Department of Geography (a truly GREAT place to work!)
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