All People Equal Means All Opinions Not Equal. Also Means All Cultures and Religions Are Not Equal. Elsas Excellent Elementary Ethics. Good Ethics Made Easy.
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easy elementary
good ethics:
people equal,
all opinions, beliefs,
cultures, religions
not equal
easy elementary
good ethics:
people equal,
all opinions, beliefs,
cultures, religions
not equal
All People Equal Means All Opinions Not Equal.
Also, All Cultures and Religions Not Equal.
Elsas Excellent Elementary Ethics.
Good Ethics Made Easy.
- Are All People Equal? -
if yes, then all opinions are not
In the West, children are taught - it's drilled into them - that all people are equal. Great. They're also taught - it's drilled into them - that all opinions are equal.
That makes no sense. Why not? Many people hold the opinion that all people are not equal. And if all opinions are equal, then the opinion that all not equal and equal - IF all opinions are equal.
The conclusion?
IF all people are equal,
then all opinions are not equal.
Elementary, my dear everyone!
It's not possible that all people are equal, and at the same time that they are not - that, say, women are equal to men and also not equal to men - that gays and lesbians are equal to heterosexuals, and also not equal to heterosexuals.
Something has to give. If we throw out the opinion that all opinions are equal, we come to a much more sane world.
But we have to start being able to defend our opinions. Why do we hold that all people are equal? What do we mean by equal? Clearly we don't mean that all people are the same. And we don't mean that all people are equally caring - or equally smart - or equal in height - or in age. So what does equal mean?
We also have to start defending opinions in general - being able to defend them, instead of just having them and saying, "Well, that's my opinion, and everyone's entitled to their opinion."
A fear: that would lead to chaos.
Knowledge: people have fought for social change based on the belief that, say, women and men are truly equal - not that it's just an opinion, no more valid than the opinion that men and women are not equal.
What's needed? One. Thinking skills. Two. Courage. It's easy to hide behind, "all opinions are equal."
Yesterday I even heard someone argue that it's too hard to teach thinking to children or even teenagers - an 18-year-old, in her opinion, was too young to be able to think about religion or culture or opinion, so they had to be taught that everything was equal.
This person - a grown woman, mother of 2 children, news anchor on a respected radio station - was sure she was making sense.
But 18-year-olds have the right to vote, to drive, to drink. They are tried in court as adults. Shouldn't they have learned, way earlier, how to judge right and wrong, how to evaluate opinions - and cultures (including their own), and religions (including their own).
I remember when times were different. We discussed religion and culture. We backed our opinions as well as we could. And around us, society underwent enormous changes. In the Catholic religion, huge numbers of nuns and priests left the church - precisely because they discussed and thought and learned and thought and discussed some more.
Time to go back to open thoughtful discussion - where all opinions are not equal, but instead opinions need backing, thinking is valued, and positive change happens.
signed,
Elsa
July 18 , 2010
copyright © Elsa Schieder 2010, 2011 - all rights reserved
All People Equal Means All Opinions Not Equal.
Also Means All Cultures and Religions Are Not Equal.
Elsas Excellent Elementary Ethics. Good Ethics Made Easy.
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All People Equal Means All Opinions Not Equal.
Also Means All Cultures and Religions Are Not Equal.
Elsas Excellent Elementary Ethics. Good Ethics Made Easy.
EASY ELEMENTARY GOOD ETHICS: PEOPLE EQUAL,
ALL OPINIONS, BELIEFS, CULTURES, RELIGIONS NOT EQUAL
The Idea Emporium on the Beliefs that
All People Are Equal,
All Opinions Are Equal,
All Cultures Are Equal,
All Religions Are Equal
Judging is wrong, I keep hearing. It's wrong to be judgmental.
Who are we to judge?
Well, we're people with the capacity to think, to evaluate information,
to draw conclusions from the information we receive - including sometimes
the conclusion that we don't have enough information -
but often the conclusion that we have way more than enough information -
but that it just isn't comfortable to admit what we easily see and know.
Things that should be huge topics in the West - are all people equal,
and what does that mean? Also are, very differently, all opinions, beliefs,
cultures and religions equal? These things that
should be well thought through and understood,
instead are generally closed off, cordoned off -
as if from a massive danger.
What is the danger? Because I agree there is a danger - just as there
is a danger when any deep infected wound is opened.
One danger: having to face the anger
of those who do not want us to face these questions.
Another danger. Needing to face the limitations in our own thinking -
which means learning not to be a mental couch potato.
So ... Judging is wrong. Why or why not?
It's wrong to be judgmental. Why or why not?
Who are we to judge? Who else, if not us?
Maybe it would be better if we let dolphins do the judging,
but we don't yet understand many of their sounds.
So ... all cultures are equal?
What's the evidence?
So ... all religions are equal?
What's the evidence?
So ... all opinions are equal?
What's the evidence?
Even ... all people are equal?
What's the evidence?
And what do we mean by equal, anyway?
What happens if we judge ourselves and judge others?
I'd say good ethics, elementary ethics, even easy ethics
means having good tools to make judgments.
And it's essential to have good ethics, elementary ethics, easy ethics -
certainly something that a 5-year-old can grasp -
and an 18-year-old could understand deeply.
As for the sources of ethics, I turn to reality - the evidence from studies.
We have masses and masses of studies.
So again ... all cultures are equal?
What's the evidence?
So ... all religions are equal?
What's the evidence?
So ... all opinions are equal?
What's the evidence?
Even ... all people are equal?
What's the evidence?
And what do we mean by equal, anyway?
Using good thinking, we get to easy elementary good ethics,
reality-based.
Elsa
July 18 , 2010
copyright © Elsa Schieder 2010, 2011 - all rights reserved
EASY ELEMENTARY GOOD ETHICS: PEOPLE EQUAL,
ALL OPINIONS, BELIEFS, CULTURES, RELIGIONS NOT EQUAL
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