What are universal truths and what determines morality?

• rydawg5

  The question I pose is more for the understanding of how morality or right and wrong exists and how some morality isn't timeless and other forms of morality (universal truth) seems to be regardless of the generation.
  
  Since racism is so wrong, why is this epiphany only like 50 years old?
  
  Also, racial prejudice is bad but nearly every other prejudice is not "bad" because prejudice toward something you relate to is actually a natural tendency of human behavior..
  
  If you are from Ohio, you are usually prejudice to favor Ohio things. Same goes for religion, hobbies, ideas, etc. Not saying you don't naturally "tolerate" other things or different people. But they aren't like you so you don't identify with them. (I don't think this is a universal truth that you have to pretend that things like you aren't favored by you. If you pretend that is the case then you are just lying to yourself to make yourself look good in front of others).
  
  It's crazy to think that the most moral people, widely accepted as moral in their time, may have been monsters in our eyes due to their beliefs in a past generation.
  
  So if a society cannot rely on "logic" or "reasoning" to determine morality that stands the test of time then what can or what are universal truths that will always last?
  
  If Christians of today would hang out with people of the Bible, they would probably feel they are hanging with a hell-bound crowd. So, if God was in charge of morality, wouldn't that not be the case?
  
  Lastly, if people in the past were deemed moral because of their ignorance.. again.. wouldn't God unveil that to them if it was a universal wrongdoing? IE Murder.
• TBone14

  

  I enjoy your thought provoking topics of late, but using the words "racism, God, Christians, Bible, logic and reasoning" on a post on the OC is asking for all hell to break loose.
• rydawg5

  Lol I agree
• TBone14

  

  As for your question, I don't think there are any universal truths. There is nothing that every person will agree with universally. Rape is a bad thing, until you ask a serial rapist. It is their favorite thing ever.
  
  When I was 17, I was convinced that Bud Light was the greatest beer in the world. As I have gotten older, I realize I was mistaken. Dumb example perhaps, but the point remains. Truths or beliefs you hold can change due to time and circumstance. Murder is bad but the questions posed in a book like, 'A Time to Kill' (movie was OK) may change your thoughts.
• gut

  I think "universal" is the concept of do unto others...the basic foundation of morality (and in most cases, law) tends to be the concept of treating others as you would like to be treated.
  
  Racism is an interesting one, as it arguably falls into the above. However, nationalism is generally not viewed negatively. Extended even further, culture and ethnicity tend to be valued rather than viewed as exclusionary. Neither is a great comparison, and you can't discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, either...but the lines would be much more blurred if not for our history of slavery.
• SportsAndLady

  

  Said is a douche. Truth
• WebFire

  
• ernest_t_bass

  

  SportsAndLady;1613369 wrote:Said is a douche. Truth

  Bro, you have 24,564 posts, tho, bro.
• jmog

  Racism is an interesting one.
  
  In the last 170 years we went from actual slavery (one of the worst things you can do to a human), to deep ingrained racism as a whole culture (segregation, Jim Crow, KKK, lynchings, etc) up until about 40-50 years ago, to the point now where you can not say a single remark that someone might believe to be disparaging without being called a racist.
  
  I truly believe that a majority of young people today have not seen ACTUAL racism in their lifetime, they think they have, they have been told they have, etc, but the stuff that went on through MLK, Rosa Parks, etc era is real racism.
  
  With respect to universal truth, I believe there is. Not on some things as "simple" as theft, sexual "sins" (adultery, homosexuality, sex before marriage, etc) because the culture's beliefs on those change over time and situation.
  
  I do believe in a universal truth that is already mentioned above, it is more "basic" than the morals of the Ten Commandments or laws of today. Treat others as you would want them to treat you. That is a very simple statement to make but very profound and broad reaching when it comes to realistically describing one's moral "code". If you boil down most religions' or countries' moral laws, I think they almost all boil down to that simple sentence, treat others as you would have them treat you.
  
  Now, many religions and different cultures have vastly distorted that. I mean look at Islamic terrorists, if you read the moral standards of the Quran, they are FAR outside of those. Look at Christians that bomb abortion clinics, they are FAR off base from what their belief system and moral standard is supposed to be. Even the USA breaks it's own moral codes as a whole, with things like slavery for nearly 70 years, only counting blacks as 3/5 of a person when it came to population/representation counts (in the actual Constitution, just removed/amended once the culture realized it was morally wrong).
• sleeper

  

  Morals are different for every person but the collective morality of people is what determines what is right and what is wrong. This can change over time due to more information being exposed to each subsequent generation.
• Manhattan Buckeye

  Be thoughtful
  Be kind
  Don't commit crimes
  
  Seems simple to me.
• dlazz

  sleeper;1613475 wrote:Morals are different for every person but the collective morality of people is what determines what is right and what is wrong. This can change over time due to more information being exposed to each subsequent generation.

  Ding ding ding
• sleeper

  

  Manhattan Buckeye;1613501 wrote:Be thoughtful
  Be kind
  Don't commit crimes
  Don't talk about black people in private
  
  Seems simple to me.

  Fixed.
• salto

  

  SportsAndLady;1613369 wrote:Said is a douche. Truth

  reps.
  
  Said may be a douche but at least he's not the constant liar like_that runner-up.
• like_that

  

  salto;1613523 wrote:reps.
  
  Said may be a douche but at least he's not the constant liar like_that runner-up.

  What did I lie about? Most people here have agreed with me that you live a pathetic life.
• ernest_t_bass

  

  like_that;1613546 wrote:What did I lie about? ALL people here have agreed with me that you live a pathetic life.

  FIFY. Only ones that disagree don't count: sizzle pig, HOF on coattails, salto, said.
• cruiser_96

  

  I found this: http://fb.me/19Dg9vXyk
• steubbigred

  TBone14;1613348 wrote:I enjoy your thought provoking topics of late, but using the words "racism, God, Christians, Bible, logic and reasoning" on a post on the OC is asking for all hell to break loose.

  lol very true
• salto

  

  SportsAndLady;1613369 wrote:Said is a douche. Truth

  GG SAF
  

  ernest_t_bass;1613460 wrote:Bro, you have 24,564 posts, tho, bro.

  What does post count have to do with said being a douche?