Posts
Is morality black and white? Is it all a scam pulled on the unsuspecting and the stupid for the continuing benefit of the ruling class? Is morality in the mind's eye of the beholder? Is it some make-it-up-as-you-go Rorschach Morality Test?
Depending on your social situation you can mix and match contingently. For those who go to church we've found some quick tips to aid you in a self-criticism exercise in front of your peers after your next go-round Kumbyah. It works too for all-night rap sessions in the dorm with sociology undergrads. Hey, it might even work if you kill someone. We want you to feel good about yourself. That's why we do all this. You are special. Just like Muslim martyrs. Special but misunderstood. Here's tips on how to get through the morality test.
***
There are only ten Rorschach [morality] inkblots.
Don't hold the card at an unusual angle. Watch how you phrase things. Say "This looks like ..." or "This could be ..." never "This is..." After all, you're supposed to realize that it is just a blot of ink on a card. By the same token, don't be too literal and say things as, "This is a blotch of black ink." Don't groan, get emotional, or make irrelevant comments. Don't put your hands on the cards to block out parts. The psychologist will watch for all of the foregoing as signs of brain damage.
If there are no right answers for the test, there are some general guidelines as to what is a normal response. You can probably see images in the inkblots proper and in the white spaces they enclose. Stick to the former. Don't be afraid of being obvious. There are several responses that almost everyone gives; mentioning these shows the psychologist you're a regular guy.
You don't want non sequiturs, images that don't fit the blot in the judgment of the psychologist. These may be signs of psychosis.
Since time is a factor, it is important to come up with good answers fast. (It looks particularly bad if you take a long time and give a dumb, inappropriate answer.)
http://www.deltabravo.net
***
No wonder, then, that a New York professor's study of his own students a few years ago uncovered a 10 to 20 percent segment that could not define the Nazi extermination of the Jews as "wrong." Their refusal to brand those actions morally wrong came from a belief that, despite their personal dislike of such actions, the Nazis could not be judged from those outside their own culture, and no one can successfully challenge another's moral worldview.
Among older adults, according to two Barna polls, 60 percent of people 36 and older held to moral relativism, while 75 percent of the adults 18 to 35 did so. Among teens, only nine percent of born-again respondents affirmed moral absolutes (compared to four percent of the non-born-again teens).
Small wonder, then, that Stanley Fish, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, recently argued for a postmodern approach to political analysis in the quarterly political journal The Responsive Community.2 Fish argued that a postmodern approach to the terrorist acts of September 11 would focus not on the inherent moral wrong of the acts, but instead on the "competing claims" on both sides. The claims would not be supported by evidence or objective standards, but by "received authorities, sacred texts, exemplary achievements, and generally accepted benchmarks." According to Fish, postmodernists don't deny the existence of truth, or of objective morality, but they deny that such truths can be known or, even if known, they could not be communicated convincingly to an opponent. Truth, for Fish, is acknowledged by societies not on the basis of undisputed truth, but on "power, reward, or rhetoric."
According to Barna, the most common basis for moral decision-making among teens is "doing whatever feels right or comfortable in a given situation." This view was affirmed by 38 percent of teens and 31 percent of adults. Only 7 percent of teens and 18 percent of adults said the Bible was their basis for morality. George Barna noted, "Substantial numbers of Christians believe that activities such as abortion, gay sex, sexual fantasies, cohabitation, drunkenness and viewing pornography are morally acceptable. The result is a mentality that esteems pluralism, relativism, tolerance, and diversity without critical reflection of the implications of particular views and actions."
-- Gretchen Passantino
http://www.equip.org
***
To which we can only say "Pass God, and praise the ammunition."
Let's take a break from this hard thinking stuff. A musical interlude.
***
Kum Ba Yah
Kum ba yah, meaning "Come By Here" in the Gullah language, is the title of a Christian hymn which originated in the lowlands of South Carolina. Gullah — a Creole blend of heavily-accented English and West African languages — was spoken by the African-American slaves living in the area. The melody is of African origin.
LYRICS:Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah!
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah!
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah!
O Lord, kum ba yah!
Someone's laughing, Lord, kum ba yah!
Someone's laughing, Lord, kum ba yah!
Someone's laughing, Lord, kum ba yah!
O Lord, kum ba yah!
Someone's crying, Lord, kum ba yah!
Someone's crying, Lord, kum ba yah!
Someone's crying, Lord, kum ba yah!
O Lord, kum ba yah!
Someone's singing, Lord, kum ba yah!
Someone's singing, Lord, kum ba yah!
Someone's singing, Lord, kum ba yah!
O Lord, kum ba yah!
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah!
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah!
O Lord, kum ba yah!
Wasn't that special?
Now, we'd like you to look at some of the picres and graphics we've posted here at various times. You might see Linda, the 18 year old girl who was gang-raped and had her face smashed in. Is it wrong if our Muslim cousins hurt that girl? It's a trick question. You must refer to the above Rorschach Morality Test clues.
(Hmmmm. Very interesting.)
"Caveat Emptor," we always moralize.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
No comments:
Post a Comment