The question
From a concluding post on a forum following the murder of Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab for supporting a victim of the infamous blasphemy law of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan....
I find it very interesting that nobody can give a simple answer to a pretty straightforward question.
Let me restate the question
If a believer in a certain god is asked by his/her god to do something which may be illegal/immoral by the believer's standards, can the believer argue that command?
Short answer: No.
Long answer: Since the premise of the question is that the person is a believer in that particular god, and the legality and morality is determined by the god, anything the god commands becomes legal and moral. (Nixon anyone?)
When Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son on a mountaintop by Yahweh (please insert god of choice), there was no question of this command being illegal or immoral. The only question was whether Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son to his god or not. As Abraham led his son up the mountain (Ishmael or Isaac depending on which holy book you subscribe to), there was no question in Abraham's mind as to what he was going to do when he got there. I am pretty sure that the faithful do not rejoice in the big switcheroo, they celebrate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son.
Which brings me to the real problem here. There is no freedom to disagree in faith, because that is what it is by definition, a belief not based in logic or rationality but mere dogma.
How does one differentiate between the ranting of a delusional man who thinks he has been ordered by god to kill someone and another follower of the same god who thinks they have been ordered not to kill anyone?
Both positions are faith based, and non-arguable.
If the faithful find it impossible to even argue a hypothetical question about their god issuing an illegal command, I feel it is improbable they will ever actually question a belief however misplaced or deluded it may be.
So, I am not surprised when one of the faithful performs an extra-judicial murder, since by our own admission, the judicial powers do not exist here, they emanate from above.
I find it very interesting that nobody can give a simple answer to a pretty straightforward question.
Let me restate the question
If a believer in a certain god is asked by his/her god to do something which may be illegal/immoral by the believer's standards, can the believer argue that command?
Short answer: No.
Long answer: Since the premise of the question is that the person is a believer in that particular god, and the legality and morality is determined by the god, anything the god commands becomes legal and moral. (Nixon anyone?)
When Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son on a mountaintop by Yahweh (please insert god of choice), there was no question of this command being illegal or immoral. The only question was whether Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son to his god or not. As Abraham led his son up the mountain (Ishmael or Isaac depending on which holy book you subscribe to), there was no question in Abraham's mind as to what he was going to do when he got there. I am pretty sure that the faithful do not rejoice in the big switcheroo, they celebrate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son.
Which brings me to the real problem here. There is no freedom to disagree in faith, because that is what it is by definition, a belief not based in logic or rationality but mere dogma.
How does one differentiate between the ranting of a delusional man who thinks he has been ordered by god to kill someone and another follower of the same god who thinks they have been ordered not to kill anyone?
Both positions are faith based, and non-arguable.
If the faithful find it impossible to even argue a hypothetical question about their god issuing an illegal command, I feel it is improbable they will ever actually question a belief however misplaced or deluded it may be.
So, I am not surprised when one of the faithful performs an extra-judicial murder, since by our own admission, the judicial powers do not exist here, they emanate from above.
posted by Xoff at 1/13/2011 09:33:00 AM
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