Clipmarks | Moral Clips

Morality Without God?

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:11:13 GMT

clipped by: Jacob173

Morality Without God?

Confirmation of biblical wisdom came earlier this fall from an unlikely source: an Ivy League savant who says it's wrong to depend on the Bible.

WSA begins by complaining that his students quote to him Dostoevsky's favorite line, "If God is dead, everything is permitted." WSA then argues that we don't need God: We all should simply agree not to harm others—cause death, pain, or disability—unless there is "adequate reason."

But back to abortion. Ronald Reagan's logic was that if a hunter sees movement in the forest and doesn't know whether it's a deer or a person, he should not shoot. But WSA suggested in his book Moral Skepticisms (2006) that since we don't know whether abortion is morally wrong, it's unfair for employers to insist that health plans not pay for abortions.

Four conclusions:

4. "If God is dead, everything is permitted."

Prayer for Muslims

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:03:05 GMT

clipped by: chetler

Clip Source: www.kairosjournal.org

A Prayer for the Muslim World—Samuel Zwemer (1867 – 1952)

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who hast made of one blood all nations and hast promised that many shall come from the East and sit down with Abraham in thy kingdom: We pray for thy prodigal children in Muslim lands who are still afar off, that they may be brought nigh by the blood of Christ. Look upon them in pity, because they are ignorant of thy truth.

Take away pride of intellect and blindness of heart, and reveal to them the surpassing beauty and power of thy Son Jesus Christ. Convince them of their sin in rejecting the atonement of the only Savior. Give moral courage to those who love thee, that they may boldy confess thy name.

Hasten the day of religious freedom in Turkey, Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Africa.

Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son in the Muslim world, and fulfill through him the prayer of Abraham thy friend, “O, that Ishmael might live before thee.” For Jesus’ sake. Amen.²

Tags: islam, missions

Ernest Hemingway on War

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:35:40 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.

Clip Source: www.brainyquote.com

I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing to me is more revolting. I have long advocated its complete abolition, as its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a method of settling international disputes.

In modern war... you will die like a dog for no good reason.

Clip Source: www.brainyquote.com

No weapon has ever settled a moral problem. It can impose a solution but it cannot guarantee it to be a just one.

Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war.

Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.

Clip Source: www.brainyquote.com

Wars are caused by undefended wealth.

Clip Source: www.brainyquote.com

You can wipe out your opponents. But if you do it unjustly you become eligible for being wiped out yourself.

Tags: ernest hemingway, quotes, war

6 reasons not to give gifts this Christmas

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:33:23 GMT

clipped by: gppixelworks

Clip Source: women.timesonline.co.uk

6 reasons not to give gifts this Christmas

Giving costly Christmas presents to all your friends and family is a pernicious practice and I'd like to ban it

The festive season is approaching and swaths of shoppers are getting ready to hit the nation’s high streets and e-tailers, gathering nick-nacks for loved ones, friends and colleagues. Not me, though. I’m more interested in banning Christmas presents.

My argument is not a religious one: it’s about the money moral dilemma that Christmas (or Hannukah, or Eid) raises. And my target is not the parcels from parents or grandparents that sit under the spruces. It is the ever-widening circle of present-buying that people feel a need to fulfil. And here’s why.

1) We have disconnected from why we give gifts.

2) It creates an unfair obligation on others.

3) It mis-prioritises our finances.

4) We give gifts that aren’t used.

5) Kids are not born retail snobs.

6) “Inflationary giving” is a bad message for children.

Martin Lewis

moneysavingexpert.com/tips

Tags: christmas, xmas, gifts, presents, consumers, waste

Thomas Sowell: Random Thoughts

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:03:43 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: But what this means is that even the record-breaking federal deficit understates the government's real financial liabilities, because agencies like FDIC and the Federal Housing Authority are likely to need increased amounts of money to keep going.

An e-mail from a reader says that liberals like to take the moral high ground, even though their own moral relativism means that there is no moral high ground.

I doubt whether the man responsible for the massacre at Fort Hood will pay with his life for the lives that he took. He may well be free again someday. We can only hope that he does not get a hero's welcome when he arrives in some terror-sponsoring country, the way the Lockerbie bomber did.

A recent study by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights showed that, after the housing boom and bust, blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asian Americans and American Indians all reduced their subprime mortgage loans. Only politicians seem not to have learned anything from the economic disaster ...

Clip Source: townhall.com

If politicians stopped meddling with things they don't understand, there would be a more drastic reduction in the size of government than anyone in either party advocates.

It was fascinating to see Barack Obama warning us not to leap to conclusions about the killings at Fort Hood, Texas-- after the way he leaped to conclusions over the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, when he knew less about the facts than we already know about the massacre at Fort Hood.

My first column, more than 30 years ago, was titled "The Profits of Doom." Recent news stories about the millions of dollars that Al Gore has made out of his "global warming" hysteria suggest that some things haven't changed much in three decades.

Although the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation backs up bank accounts, a recent audit suggests that the FDIC does not have enough money in its own account to do its job. No doubt more money will be printed in Washington if necessary.

Tags: al gore gw hysteria, fdic and fha, housing bubble, federal deficit, fort hood texas, henry gates

news

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:20:52 GMT

clipped by: nez1335

Clip Source: www.irannewsdigest.com

IND: Although we are not a fan of terms like “the Evil Empire” – especially in reference to Iran (”Axis of Evil”) – and we are often suspicious of those who appear overconfident of their our own “moral clarity” because “moral clarity” can only be a few steps away from political intolerance, we admire President Reagan for his steadfast determination to call out the Soviet Union for its human rights abuses.

Ayn Rand on Rights of An Embryo

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:38:01 GMT

clipped by: sahara
clipper's remarks: "Observe that by ascribing rights to the unborn, i.e., the nonliving, the anti-abortionists obliterate the rights of the living: the right of young people to set the course of their own lives. The task of raising a child is a tremendous, lifelong responsibility, which no one should undertake unwittingly or unwillingly. Procreation is not a duty: human beings are not stock-farm animals. For conscientious persons, an unwanted pregnancy is a disaster; to oppose its termination is to advocate sacrifice, not for the sake of anyone’s benefit, but for the sake of misery qua misery, for the sake of forbidding happiness and fulfillment to living human beings."

"By what right does anyone claim the power to dispose of the lives of others and to dictate their personal choices?" ---- This quote is precisely the way I feel about mandating people to buy health care / insurance! I agree we need reform (of some type), but not to mandating coverage with penalties.

Clip Source: aynrandlexicon.com

An embryo has no rights. Rights do not pertain to a potential, only to an actual being. A child cannot acquire any rights until it is born. The living take precedence over the not-yet-living (or the unborn).

Abortion is a moral right—which should be left to the sole discretion of the woman involved; morally, nothing other than her wish in the matter is to be considered. Who can conceivably have the right to dictate to her what disposition she is to make of the functions of her own body?

Never mind the vicious nonsense of claiming that an embryo has a “right to life.” A piece of protoplasm has no rights—and no life in the human sense of the term. One may argue about the later stages of a pregnancy, but the essential issue concerns only the first three months. To equate a potential with an actual, is vicious; to advocate the sacrifice of the latter to the former, is unspeakable . . . .

Agha Shahid Ali

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:39:08 GMT

clipped by: Fast T friend
clipper's remarks: "From tomb to tomb,
I chew the ash of prayers.
Won’t poetry happen to me? "

Clip Source: www.poetryfoundation.org

We shall meet again, in Srinagar,

by the gates of the Villa of Peace,

our hands blossoming into fists

till the soldiers return the keys

and disappear. Again we’ll enter

our last world, the first that vanished

in our absence from the broken city.

We’ll tear our shirts for tourniquets

and bind the open thorns, warm the ivy

into roses. Quick, by the pomegranate—

the bird will say—Humankind can bear

everything. No need to stop the ear

Agha Shahid Ali is an Indian Muslim, English-language poet who "has become an American . . . MORE »

Clip Source: www.poemhunter.com

The Wolf's Postcript to 'Little Red Riding Hood'

First, grant me my sense of history:
I did it for posterity,
for kindergarten teachers
and a clear moral:
Little girls shouldn't wander off
in search of strange flowers,

and they mustn't speak to strangers.

Clip Source: sundeepdougal.tripod.com

QAWWALI AT NIZAMUDDIN AULIA’S DARGAH

We recline on the gravestone,
or on the saint’s poem, unaware
of the sorrow of the pulverized prayer.

Tags: poetry, agha shahid ali, kashmir

Daily Updated SMS From sms4smile.today.com

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:50:54 GMT

clipped by: snoie4

Clip Source: sms4smile.today.com

Fiza Me Baharo Ke Sambhlne Se Pehle,
Aasman Mein Sitaaro Ke Bikhrne Se Pehle,
Humne Khuda Se Tume Manga Tha,
Is Zameen Par Tere Utrne Se Pehle..

Palko Ki Nami Me Chupa Kar Sapno Ko,
Hamne Unhe Jaane Ki Ijajat Dedi..
Hum Tut Kar Bikhar Gaye Jami Me,
Aur Unhe Muskura Kar Jeene Ki Ijajat Dedi..!

How Much Can Someone Care?
A Women Suffrin Frm Brain Tumour Died.
Her Hsb Opnd Her Cupboard N Found Sm Tablets Wd A Lettr
“Take Dm Dear U Catch Cold Easily Wn U Cry”.

Don’t Spoil What You Have By Desiring What You Don’T,
Because What You Have Now Could Be One Of The Many Things You Once Desired…

Santa:Jab Mai Chhota Tha To Kutub Minar Se Gir Gaya Tha.
Banta:Fir Tu Mar Gaya K Bach Gaya?
Santa:Mujhe Yaad Nai Tab Me Bahut Chhota Tha.

BOY: My girlfrnd broke up wid me n sent me pics of her
wid her new bf 2 mke me jelous!
FRND:realy bad!
BOY: yeah,i sent dem to her dad.
Moral!
B INNOVATIVE.

Tags: sms, text, text message

TOOLS OF TRUTH

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:13:24 GMT

clipped by: censusguyZ
clipper's remarks: WE ALL NEED A MORAL TUNE-UP FROM TIME TO TIME

Clip Source: us.mg3.mail.yahoo.com

There's a lot of talk about incivility in the news these days. But how can we make positive changes in our society? Each month, Beliefnet editors have been unveiling a new gallery, plus a special “Family Values Toolkit,” to help children of all age ranges appreciate the difference between right and wrong. Use these tools to help guide the next generation along the path to adulthood, and help create a better world for all of us.

Tags: values

King And Nonviolence

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:04:44 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks:

Yes it's true that September 11th changed a lot of things and reminded us how vulnerable we are. It made us realize we face a dangerous and diabolically clever enemy. It strengthened our resolve and triggered important steps to prevent future attacks, actions that made us more secure as a nation. But 9/11 did not and could not change the basic ground rules:

War or incitement to violence is justified only when it's in response to a deliberate attack and only when it's undertaken as a last resort. And even during wartime, nations must observe the highest moral standards.

It's so easy to incite violence. And it's so wrong.

Clip Source: yglesias.thinkprogress.org

I think I’ve written some variation on this ever year now for several years, but I do always wish that praise and attention for Martin Luther King, Jr. would pay more attention to his teachings on violence and non-violence.

By the standards of today’s discourse, King would be considered deeply unserious. Serious people understand that if you think something is important, the serious way to go about expressing that is by voicing support for having other people go kill other people. Doubts about the ethics of such action are loathesome moral equivalence and doubts about their wisdom demonstrate naïveté.

And yet even though this Christian nonviolence is in many ways the most mainstream aspect of this radical figure who’s become a mainstream icon, it’s something that none dare take seriously today.

List of countries unilaterally invaded by America

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:48:09 GMT

clipped by: aperiozar
clipper's remarks: This is a list of 70 countries unilaterally invaded by America since WWII - killing countless civilians in the process.

Clip Source: www.thirdworldtraveler.com

A Brief History of U.S. Interventions:
1945 to the Present

by William Blum

The engine of American foreign policy has been fueled not by a devotion to any kind of morality, but rather by the necessity to serve other imperatives, which can be summarized as follows:

* making the world safe for American corporations;

* enhancing the financial statements of defense contractors at home who have contributed generously to members of congress;

* preventing the rise of any society that might serve as a successful example of an alternative to the capitalist model;

* extending political and economic hegemony over as wide an area as possible, as befits a "great power."

This in the name of fighting a supposed moral crusade against what cold warriors convinced themselves, and the American people, was the existence of an evil International Communist Conspiracy, which in fact never existed, evil or not.

The United States carried out extremely serious interventions into more than 70 nations in this period.

Tags: us, war on terror, us invasions

D'Souza on the afterlife

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:33:30 GMT

clipped by: chetler

Clip Source: www.newsweek.com

today we have new questions—about Darwin, brain science, modern physics, and Islamic terrorism.

D'Souza must address himself to skeptics, who presumably have made their peace with the expectation of personal annihilation.

moral code underlying acts of self-sacrifice and charity that appear to run counter to the Darwinian imperative to outcompete thy neighbor.

It happens in the multiverse, the infinitely multiplying complex of worlds predicted by some versions of quantum theory. In the multiverse, physical laws can take on different values, and matter itself may have a different form, so "there is nothing in physics to contradict the idea that we can live beyond death in other realms with bodies that are unlike the bodies we now possess."

In the AWARE study, randomly generated images will be projected in the rooms of critically ill patients, in locations where they can be viewed only from above—by someone having an out-of-body experience,

Tags: heaven

'US Foreign Policy is Straight Out of the Mafia'

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:19:33 GMT

clipped by: katsteevns

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Noam Chomsky: 'US Foreign Policy is Straight Out of the Mafia'

by Seumas Milne

But he is surprised so many people abroad, especially in the third world, are disappointed at how little Obama has changed. "His campaign rhetoric, hope and change, was entirely vacuous. There was no principled criticism of the Iraq war: he called it a strategic blunder. And Condoleezza Rice was black - does that mean she was sympathetic to third world problems?"

The veteran activist has described the US invasion of Afghanistan as "one of the most immoral acts in modern history", which united the jihadist movement around al-Qaida, sharply increased the level of terrorism and was "perfectly irrational - unless the security of the population is not the main priority". Which, of course, Chomsky believes, it is not. "States are not moral agents," he says, and believes that now that Obama is escalating the war, it has become even clearer that the occupation is about the credibility of Nato and US global power.

European Court bans classroom crucifixes

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:17:37 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: "Those societies which cannot combine reverence to their symbols with freedom and revision, must ultimately decay either from anarchy, or from the slow atrophy of a life stifled by useless shadows"
- A.N. Whitehead

Clip Source: www.corriere.it

The woman who took the case to the Strasbourg court is Soile Lautsi Albertin, an Italian citizen of Finnish origin. In 2002, she asked the Vittorino da Feltre primary and middle school at Abano Terme in the province of Padua, attended by her two children, to remove the crucifixes from classrooms in accordance with the principle of the secular state.

The case went back to the TAR, which in 2005 itself rejected the appeal, maintaining that the crucifix is a symbol of Italian history and culture, and so of the country’s identity and of the principles of equality, liberty, tolerance and secularism of the state, a position confirmed by Italy’s Council of State in 2006. But now, the tables have been turned.

the Italian government must pay her 5,000 euros in moral damages. It is the Strasbourg court’s first ruling on religious symbols in school classrooms. “Now Italy will have to take account of the sentence by the European court of human rights”, commented Ms Lautsi

Tags: eu, freedom, religion, italy, islam, muslim brotherhood

Clipmarks | Moral Clips

Morality Without God?

Prayer for Muslims

Ernest Hemingway on War

6 reasons not to give gifts this Christmas

6 reasons not to give gifts this Christmas

Giving costly Christmas presents to all your friends and family is a pernicious practice and I'd like to ban it

Thomas Sowell: Random Thoughts

news

Ayn Rand on Rights of An Embryo

Agha Shahid Ali

Daily Updated SMS From sms4smile.today.com

TOOLS OF TRUTH

King And Nonviolence

List of countries unilaterally invaded by America

A Brief History of U.S. Interventions: 1945 to the Present

by William Blum

The engine of American foreign policy has been fueled not by a devotion to any kind of morality, but rather by the necessity to serve other imperatives, which can be summarized as follows:

* making the world safe for American corporations;

* enhancing the financial statements of defense contractors at home who have contributed generously to members of congress;

* preventing the rise of any society that might serve as a successful example of an alternative to the capitalist model;

* extending political and economic hegemony over as wide an area as possible, as befits a "great power."

This in the name of fighting a supposed moral crusade against what cold warriors convinced themselves, and the American people, was the existence of an evil International Communist Conspiracy, which in fact never existed, evil or not.

The United States carried out extremely serious interventions into more than 70 nations in this period.

D'Souza on the afterlife

'US Foreign Policy is Straight Out of the Mafia'

Noam Chomsky: 'US Foreign Policy is Straight Out of the Mafia'

European Court bans classroom crucifixes

A Brief History of U.S. Interventions:
1945 to the Present