A Final Observation

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POOBAH
My, my, I leave for a dinner party and look at the mess I created!

I don't feel it is appropriate to make points about his claims, knowing Mr.
Carter can't respond, so I guess he'll get the last word on most of these
issues.

I do want to make a separate observation, however, based on a couple of Mr.
Carter's final comments:

CARTER
You forget that we have moral upbringings that "forbid" alot of things, yet
we still do them. Lying, cheating, and worse. Those of society who are
worse land in jail.
And people would no doubt me even MORE inclinded to break these morals they
were "brought up with", when they find out that those "morals" are not
real, they're just a bi-product of biological evolution.
<and>
Now, let's come back down to *reality*.
1.	Humans do things that are not in their "best" interest.
2.	People ARE individualistic, and selfish, and do seek gratification.
Period. That's why we have robbery, rape, and murder commited EVERY DAY.
David's explanation is not "all good", it's not an explanation AT ALL. Its
just saying, "Well, if you're as smart as me, uh, then you won't do it,
because, uh, the you would be an outcast."
Guess what? Some people do not care to being part of or cooperating with our
wonderful society! Ever heard of the Unabomber? How about the Trenchcoat
Mafia? THEY HAD NO REASON NOT TO COMMIT THEIR "ATROCIOUS" ACTS.
Your argument for acting morally works ONLY IF you accept certain
presuppositions.
1.	I DESIRE TO LIVE. (Many people do not.)
2.	I WANT TO COOPERATE WITH MY SOCIETY. (Many people do not.)
3.	I DESIRE MY BEST SELF-INTEREST, AS DETERMINED BY SOCIETY. (Many people do
not.)

POOBAH
I don't think Carter is the only person to share such a pessimistic view of
humanity; it seems endemic to the conservative Christian worldview. If
people aren't horrible, if the world isn't in a state of decay, then a
savior isn't necessary. Still, I think perhaps this is one of the saddest,
and most direct, impacts of fundamentalist Christianity. If you asked most
fundamentalist US Christians who are today living in one of the most booming
economies during one of the most profound periods of human social change in
human history, during a period when crime is falling, people are living
longer, whether they thought society was getting better or worse, I imagine
most would say worse, and a much higher percentage of them would say so than
the rest of the population. We see this in the responses to the Littleton
massacre, with leaders crying that there is a "crisis" in our country, when
all statistics say that violence in schools is down.

It's sad to see such a large portion of the population so down on themselves
& others.

Not that it's all that relevant, but for the record, I think the vast
majority of people do act in their own best interests, most people don't
commit robbery, rape or murder, nor have any desire to. The vast majority of
people want to live, wish to be cooperative and be accepted.

I know this isn't strictly related to any of the issues at hand, but perhaps
it explains why Carter doesn't think that people agreeing to cooperate with
one another isn't good enough. His religion has taught him that people can't
be trusted.

And I find that to be sad.

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