[glugger]

(05-04-2018 06:55 PM)AnonymousBosch Wrote:  

.......
As such, they believe they are morally-righteous, of course, without a moral core based in Truth, it always breaks down.

This reminds me of a point my mother made against one of the arguments for gay marriage - "It's two consenting adults, there's nothing wrong with it."
She'd then ask them about their views on polygamy, then incestuous relationships, then bestiality. Most people would become uncomfortable and object to one of the questions, and draw their own line in the sand.

She'd then repeat back their original argument - "It's just consenting adults, there's nothing wrong with it." And logically there wasn't, but that didn't make them any less uncomfortable. Everyone drew their own line in the sand, each shifting as they saw fit.

She'd then explain how her position was based on the bible, and it being the truth, would never shift.

(05-04-2018 06:55 PM)AnonymousBosch Wrote:  

I was reading the Catechism recently, and this jumped out at me:

"It is not licit to do evil so that good may result from it. An evil end corrupts the action, even if the object is good in itself, since the end does not justify the means."

Note 'justify' in this context doesn't mean rationalizing the behaviour to oneself: it's the Catholic understanding of it meaning, co-operating with the Will of God via one's free will.

Back to me previously-saying dysfunctional acts produce dysfunctional results: No matter what action Social Justice Warriors take believing they are morally-righteous, they are only following the Law of Self. As such, the end result will always be dysfunctional: ever decreasing-spirals of persecution, excommunication and - in the worst cases - murder of disbelievers, and the dark reality of the security of being a true believer being able to be revoked at any moment as these circles decrease.

Since I take this as both dictated and observable truth, if the Right also starts believing the ends justify the means, similar dysfunction is bound to follow, though I struggled with this point for a couple of years. Note my professed discomfort with seeing people in power stepping down due to what appears to be blackmail from Trump's people. What dysfunction will result?

Essentially fruit of the poisonous tree, just from a moral perspective.

Many would view the actions that the right are now taking as a 'trolley problem:'

Quote:

There is a runaway trolley barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead, on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing some distance off in the train yard, next to a lever. If you pull this lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks. However, you notice that there is one person tied up on the side track. You have two options:

Do nothing, and the trolley kills the five people on the main track.

Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person.

Which is the most ethical choice?

I've always argued that you should do nothing, as 'An evil end corrupts the action, even if the object is good in itself.'

But that doesn't stop people from pulling the lever.