Except for one, and it really pisses people off when it comes up during discussions: Death.
Yep, I am of the opinion that death is the absolute end to being alive. If I'm wrong, I apologize now. If I'm correct, you owe five bucks after I die. Other than that, I love taking the "con" side in discussions about absolute moral truths.
I was reminded of this when I read an editorial in our little 30,000 circulation local paper. A local citizen was responding to a letter written by a 'moral relativist.' And boy, was this respondent indignant! At one point, today's letter writer accused the moral relativist of being 'capable' of believing the 9/11 plane crashers had a valid moral POV that made their actions 'the right thing to do.'
As Rocky Balboa often said, "I coon believe it..." Because of course the 9/11 participants thought they were doing something morally correct. It boggled my mind that today's indignant writer couldn't comprehend that.
That kind of absolutism is dangerous. Maybe not to the individual, but Mankind probably suffers. But I understand the thrill of embracing certin moral absolute truths. "Knowing" you're absolutely right is way heady stuff; it's an intoxicant with no hangover for the individual, for the most part. Not to mention the banishment of what we herd animals may hate the most, not being part of a group. Moo.
If only Herdism didn't come with the inescapable corollary that one believe one's Herd is better than any other Herd.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I absolutely love the word Herdism. I, sadly, know a few that believe they are the complete authorities on religion, politics and the economy. Frustrating.
wow, I love being absolutely right on occasion, but not at the expense of being absolutely ignorant to a situation.
well played Bert.
If you believe in the Vonnegutian worldview, then the problem with viewing death as an end to life is that you're collapsing time into a two dimensional thing. In Slaughterhouse Five, the aliens view it with a third dimension: everything is always happening and time is not linear.
Then again, most of my absolutism is based on Swedish vodka.
Herdism? What about Pride-ism? Now that's what I'm talking about.
Post a Comment