nerdygirl wrote:
Densaugeo wrote:
While ideas of justice - including religious ideas - change over time, I think that's a good thing. The justice of a few hundred years ago included slavery, conquest, and many other evils. The justice of Christianity changes regularly, as well: in just a few years, I have seen many religious people go from believing homosexuals are destroying the culture, to talking about 'loving the sinner'. This isn't an isolated effect in a few denominations, it's a general trend affecting most Christians.
While justice may be culturally determined, the culture in turn is determined by people. If you don't like your culture's justice, then you can work to change it, especially if you're in a democratic country. Justice will never be perfect or complete - even if you believe in a god, you must still acknowledge that the humans of a religion are imperfect - but belief in a changeable justice allows it to be improved. Not only improved, but also adapted to new circumstances.
I agree that we should work towards having good justice in the here-and-now as best we can. Ultimately, human justice systems are at best a tarnished reflection of true justice. That's the way it is in an imperfect world.
That's true.
nerdygirl wrote:
How can one culture call another culture wrong, though? If justice is culturally determined, then we shouldn't have any say over what is right and wrong, which carried out to its full extent will result in chaos and endless conflict (which we already see) as cultures fight against each other due to differing values/morals and ideas of justice.
I wouldn't call another culture wrong, because that is a subjective claim that depends on your point of view. However, I do make factual claims about other cultures - for example, if their moral system allows slavery - and ask which sort you would rather have. You may not have the right to tell other people or cultures what to do, but you do have the right to decide what you yourself will do, as well as the right to offer suggestions and ask questions (provided you in turn consider the ideas of others).
nerdygirl wrote:
The Bible doesn't change. Views of it has changed, and one can argue over whether certain views are more- or less- in line with what the Bible teaches, and frankly that should be left up to the people who actually know and understand the Bible fully, which is not most people.
Find a Protestant and a Catholic Bible, and check their tables of contents. There are several books that Protestants removed from their version of the Bible. That's just one of many, many examples of ways the Bible has changed.
nerdygirl wrote:
Justice is different than morals. They are related, but they are not the same. Justice is calling someone to account when they have wronged another. Morals reflect values.
I'd say we have a different idea of justice. The first definition I found, from one of those Google answer boxes:
1. just behavior or treatment.
"a concern for justice, peace, and genuine respect for people"
synonyms: fairness, justness, fair play, fair-mindedness, equity, evenhandedness, impartiality, objectivity, neutrality, disinterestedness, honesty, righteousness, morals, morality
Justice includes more than punishing crime. Incidentally, morality is listed as a synonym.
Spiderpig wrote:
By conquering it, thus proving to be superior according to the only universal law---the law of the jungle. Victors get to write history to make the defeated look like soulless degenerates, not the other way round.
You could do that, but I would not wish to live in such a culture. There is a reason why so many Western scholars have recently been reexamining the roots of Western culture, and why international affairs since WW2 have taken a turn towards ending colonialism and respecting other nations' sovereignty (with a few notable exceptions...).
03 Jul 2015, 6:43 pm
