But there is something we can measure to see if Morality is decreasing or increasing.
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quote:And what is that?
NJ I listed a whole series of such tests.
How is that a test? You are asking everyone their opinion on the matter. In order to make it a test, you'd have to ask people from the past what their beliefs were and compare it to how people of today would respond. But even if the results showed a marked difference, that wouldn't tell us anything other than people's perceptions and opinions have changed from those of the past.
Sorry charley but the question is whether or not morality is increasing or decreasing.
We'd have to first reach a consensus on what is moral, immoral, and amoral.
If there are absolute moral standards, no one has been able to show any such examples.
We can't really quantify something like that. When somebody says that morality is decreasing with time, what they are really saying is that what was once taboo is perfectly acceptable now. What was once held as virtuous seems to be looked down upon by today's standards. But we can't really measure that. When we look at the condition of the populace in the 1950's and juxtapose them by 1960's standards, we see a marked difference in mentality. But we can't really measure that if we don't first agree on what is moral, immoral, or amoral prior to conducting the test and compare them to the results of today's standards.
In addition, if there are absolute moral standards they will remain constant and the answer to the topic, "Morality Decreasing With Time?" is by definition, "No, morality is not decreasing."
This seems to be the fundamental misunderstanding of absolute morality. The criteria for absolute morality isn't that we all innately know when something is wrong, though it helps to support the inference when a general consensus is met. Absolute morality speaks more of a moral code to follow given by a higher authority-- actually, given by the highest authority. In this case, we generally think of God.
Do most people consider slavery immoral now?
I would say, yes. But first we need to understand what slavery meant and if it was considered right or wrong. In biblical times, slavery was not necessarily an immoral act. What made it immoral was the misapplication of it. Its the same premise that sex is not immoral in any way, unless, its misapplied.
For instance, in Israel, there were three main types of standards as it relates to economic status. And largely that still remains today with rich, middle class, and poor. In Israel we had the wealthy, we had slaves, and we had day laborers. Slaves were indentured servants who were purchased. They were considered the middle class of society. They had job security and a steady income. The idea was that your slave was your helper. They lived with you, they took care of the basic needs of the household. The master generally loved his slaves and their families. It was a reciprocal and symbiotic relationship. Because if the slaves weren't bought, they would have to fend for themselves and get whatever menial jobs they could take.
That brings us to the lower class in biblical times, who were day laborers. These were the bottom of the barrel during that time. They were drifters and peddlers with no job security who had to plead for work. It was an unstable life, as opposed to the slaves who were taken care of.
However, history is replete with instances of the maltreatment of slaves. In more current times, the British, like most people that time, bartered for human life. The African slaves come to mind. These people were sold by their own people into slavery and were horribly treated by many. When America was established, there was a lot of mistreatment as well as good relationships between slaves and masters. History only remembers the bad instances. The point is, slavery was designed to be a relationship between a master and slave, not what we envision slavery to mean today in the popular culture. So, it isn't slavery that is immoral, or ever was, but rather, is the mistreatment of human life has always been immoral even if people never spoke out against. Therefore, I would say that slavery is neither moral or immoral, but amoral. Its the behavior that makes an action either moral or immoral, not necessarily the act itself.
Do most people consider interracial marriage immoral?
I don't know how most people view it. I can say that for the majority of human history did not view it negatively, however, there was a time in the not-so-distant past when Victorian mentality maintained that interracial marriage was taboo. And this was directly influenced by the societal acceptance of mistreating slaves. Society has been getting away from the Victorian mentality that was once widely prevalent in snobbish soiceties. Therefore, I would say that interracial marriage is neither moral or immoral.
Do most people consider murder by "Princes" immoral?
I don't know what this means.
Do you consider having the right to a fair trial moral?
Yes.
Do you consider a government imposed by force moral?
If left to such an open interpretation, I would say that it is neither moral or immoral. I would have to have specifics in order to answer that candidly. I say that because it could either be that the government is maltreating its constituents or that the society is maltreating the government set to protect its constituents.
Do you consider punishments designed to provide slow painful deaths like stoning or the stocks as moral?
No, in the sense that if the punishment fits the crime. However, in accordance with that view, we are all prescribed to die in a similar vein according to the law. It then is immoral to take such a hypocritical stance on the matter. By stoning someone, we really should first stone ourselves.
Do you consider lynching moral?
No. An execution without a trial is immoral.
Do you consider denying people basic human rights based on color or sex as moral?
No.
"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." -C.S. Lewis
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