That's in theory. I agree with you, in theory; but in practice, in all political bodies, and even in a democracy, the individual is swallowed up by masses. If anyone's not sure about that, tell them to just take a placard and go picked a government all alone. They'll quickly see how much "responsibility" the government feels to them as individuals.Belinda wrote: ↑Fri Aug 25, 2017 6:53 pm Immanuel Can wrote:
Each individual in a democracy has the right and responsibility to evaluate collectives , their moral systems, and individuals.'We" aren't. We ought to be against handing over the moral compass of the individual to the collective, though, and against any hope of looking to large-scale governmental solutions to purge us of our social ills. That hope has piled up the corpses; the sooner it's given up, the better for us all.
However, democracy is still likely our best option. Personally, I'd rather live in a society in which individual conscience matters, in which no ideology can be imposed, and in which the collective cannot submerge the individual entirely. I'd also argue for strong limitations to political and governmental power over the individual. But all of that will still never be enough. For even democracy is a fallible response to a perpetual problem, the problem of human nature. And human nature is not improved when the collective is empowered. What happens is that certain propensities of human nature are magnified, and at the same time the moral qualms of the individual tend to be swallowed up by the collective. What you get, then, is veniality-plus-power without morality.
Which "theocracy" are you agonizing about? You mean ISIL? So far as I can see, that's the only vaguely "theocratic" entity that anybody's campaigning for today.When there are individuals in theocracies those individuals who have not been brainwashed have the right and the responsibility to evaluate the theocracy within which they are oppressed.
I think the moral compass is pretty much the same: it's called the conscience. But basic human conscience isn't enough, clearly; for it can be chilled by use of rationalizations, dulled by solipsism, or killed off by indoctrination into political ideology. Then men do what men do.The moral compass of theists can be the same as the moral compass of atheists and secularists. The supernatural narrative of theists does not have to involve God in punitive responses to human frailty, but can posit a God of mercy, reason, and knowledge.
As for "human frailty," that's a nice euphemism. I assume you can't be using it for what happens in political ideologies: indoctrination, dispossession, incarceration, torture, gulags, and executions. I think that any God purporting to be a God of Justice would surely have to address these rampant exhibitions of "frailties," wouldn't you?