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secular humanism > tolerance
Secular Humanism
Says:
Intolerant
attitudes, often cultivated by orthodox religions and puritanical
cultures, unduly repress sexual conduct. The right to birth control,
abortion and divorce should be recognized.
We need to
be tolerant: Isn't it true we need to tolerate other people's
sexual attitudes and actions? For example, who are we to tell someone
that homosexual
behavior is wrong? Isn't it true that what someone does in their
own home, as long as they are not hurting someone, is not our business?
If you believe
that moral values derive from our own experience,
then the above statement makes perfect sense. If there are no absolute
moral values, if moral values are based on our human experience
(meaning a society's moral values are whatever that society agrees
on as a moral value), then we must tolerate other's behaviors because
what they are doing is morally correct based on their experience.
Think about
it. Doesn't this scare you? Whatever the majority thinks is right
or wrong, becomes what is what is morally right or wrong at that
time. That value becomes the moral standard. This means that cultures
that practice cannibalism are doing nothing wrong. The people in
that culture have agreed that their behavior is moral and acceptable.
This means Hitler did nothing wrong. This means that there was nothing
wrong with the slave culture 200 years ago in the American south.
You can not say any of this was wrong, because then you are applying
your moral values. You are being intolerant of other people's
values.
Think about
it. How can you be sure what is morally right or wrong? Over the
years things will change. What was morally wrong when you were young,
is acceptable when you become older. Something that was acceptable
for you to do when you were young, is no longer acceptable 30 years
later. That's what has happened in America. People who grew up in
the 40's and 50's have different moral values than those raised
in the 70's and 80's.
If moral values
are based on what the current society agrees are correct moral values,
then moral values change during our lifetime. What we learned from
our experiences and from our parents, is no longer valid when we
grow older.
But you say,
the situation has changed. We live in a new world. We need to have
updated values and morals that are appropriate for the world we
now live in.
How dare
you say this! You are being intolerant of another person's life.
The moral values a person has have developed throughout their life
are who that person is. You are treating that person as worthless
because you are intolerant of their values!
Do you see the
problem?
No matter how
"tolerant" you try to be, there will be some behavior
-- some thoughts, some beliefs -- which based on the moral values
you have defined for yourself, you can not tolerate.
Perfect tolerance
is anarchy. An anarchy is something we can not tolerate and accept,
because then we no longer have a civilized society.
God has solved
all of these problems. God created us -- our body, mind and soul.
He knows everything about us. He has established moral values that
are unchanging, for all people, for all time. Two of those values
are that we are to love
one another and we are to hate sin.
Loving another
person does not mean we tolerate everything they do. We can love
a person, but hate their sinful behavior. A person's behavior is
not that person.
To love another
person means to want the best for that person. To hate a person's
sinful actions is to want the best for that person.
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