Comments on: Mother Nature is amoral http://dangerousintersection.org/2008/01/06/mother-nature-is-amoral/ Human Animals at the Crossroads of Culture, Science, Religion and Media Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:08:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Mark Tiedemann http://dangerousintersection.org/2008/01/06/mother-nature-is-amoral/#comment-33179 Mark Tiedemann Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:22:05 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=2002#comment-33179 James, Are you being ironic? It is very simple---humans who confuse the two have a worldview in which THEY ARE SPECIAL! To repeat, William Jennings Bryant (he of Monkey Trial fame) made it crystal clear. He said (I'm paraphrasing) that evolution is acceptable as long as we LEAVE HUMANS OUT OF IT. Why? Because to include us would make us ANIMALS. And it said in the Bible that Yawheh made man SPECIAL. The rest of nature is amoral. But this view says that Humans aren't part of THAT nature, ergo we are superior, blessed, privileged, and we have morality to prove it. Don't go looking at process or historical development of ethical systems, to these folks morality is something that exists a priori and comes from god and was only given to humans. Therefore.... (Sorry for the sarcasm, but you offered a rational position in questioning a fundamentally irrational belief.) James,

Are you being ironic? It is very simple—humans who confuse the two have a worldview in which THEY ARE SPECIAL! To repeat, William Jennings Bryant (he of Monkey Trial fame) made it crystal clear. He said (I’m paraphrasing) that evolution is acceptable as long as we LEAVE HUMANS OUT OF IT. Why? Because to include us would make us ANIMALS. And it said in the Bible that Yawheh made man SPECIAL. The rest of nature is amoral. But this view says that Humans aren’t part of THAT nature, ergo we are superior, blessed, privileged, and we have morality to prove it.

Don’t go looking at process or historical development of ethical systems, to these folks morality is something that exists a priori and comes from god and was only given to humans. Therefore….

(Sorry for the sarcasm, but you offered a rational position in questioning a fundamentally irrational belief.)

]]> By: James McCarthy http://dangerousintersection.org/2008/01/06/mother-nature-is-amoral/#comment-33145 James McCarthy Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:18:24 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=2002#comment-33145 Why do religious people confuse evolution with morality? Evolution is nature and everyone knows that nature is amoral. Just because our early, more ape-like ancestors were subject to the ravages of Survival of the Fittest, it doesn't mean that we can conduct modern day society along those same cruel lines. THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW. Morality does not apply to nature. I thought that was understood. Morality only applies to present-day, more higher evolved human beings and how we conduct human society. Why do religious people confuse evolution with morality? Evolution is nature and everyone knows that nature is amoral. Just because our early, more ape-like ancestors were subject to the ravages of Survival of the Fittest, it doesn’t mean that we can conduct modern day society along those same cruel lines. THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW. Morality does not apply to nature. I thought that was understood. Morality only applies to present-day, more higher evolved human beings and how we conduct human society.

]]> By: Alison http://dangerousintersection.org/2008/01/06/mother-nature-is-amoral/#comment-15612 Alison Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:12:25 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=2002#comment-15612 Most creatures evolve in ways that allow them to survive in their environment. We, though, change the environment to suit ourselves. I don't think many of us would be happy to do without most of the things that make our lives comfortable, but we'd be happy to compromise to lessen our environmental impact. Unfortunately, there are so many people who can't or won't change that the corporations that are actually making the worst changes in the environment have little need to change. I hate seeing more and more environmental legislation being passed, partly because it is short-sighted and crafted by politicians who know more about their approval ratings than the science behind environmental preservation, but also because each new piece opens up more loophole possibilities for corporations to take advantage of. This makes it a little more disheartening to look at how little difference your personal changes make, but you just have to keep plugging at it. Most creatures evolve in ways that allow them to survive in their environment. We, though, change the environment to suit ourselves. I don’t think many of us would be happy to do without most of the things that make our lives comfortable, but we’d be happy to compromise to lessen our environmental impact. Unfortunately, there are so many people who can’t or won’t change that the corporations that are actually making the worst changes in the environment have little need to change.

I hate seeing more and more environmental legislation being passed, partly because it is short-sighted and crafted by politicians who know more about their approval ratings than the science behind environmental preservation, but also because each new piece opens up more loophole possibilities for corporations to take advantage of.

This makes it a little more disheartening to look at how little difference your personal changes make, but you just have to keep plugging at it.

]]> By: Pat Whalen http://dangerousintersection.org/2008/01/06/mother-nature-is-amoral/#comment-15602 Pat Whalen Sun, 06 Jan 2008 15:35:50 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=2002#comment-15602 This is one of the better worded attacks on the worship of "natural" or "the way Mother Nature intended". We have to break loose of the notion that we exist in some sort of near perfect balance and any change will imperil that balance is ways we can't imagine. Thats not to say our actions can't have unintended consequences and we shouldn't be cautious but the same can be said of our inactions. This is one of the better worded attacks on the worship of “natural” or “the way Mother Nature intended”.

We have to break loose of the notion that we exist in some sort of near perfect balance and any change will imperil that balance is ways we can’t imagine.

Thats not to say our actions can’t have unintended consequences and we shouldn’t be cautious but the same can be said of our inactions.

]]> By: Skblllzzzz http://dangerousintersection.org/2008/01/06/mother-nature-is-amoral/#comment-15600 Skblllzzzz Sun, 06 Jan 2008 08:53:15 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=2002#comment-15600 Mother Nature is not even looking out for herself..... Mother Nature is not even looking out for herself…..

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