Conflict, imposition, and morality

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 140455

Lupinlore wrote:
"I am totally convinced that my moral code is superior to Snape's."

Del replies:
I'm not. I am convinced that *God*'s code is superior to anybody
else's, but that's because He's God.

"If I was not so convinced, I would adopt Snape's code and abandon my
own."

Not me. I would never adopt Snape's code even if I abandoned mine,
simply because I know that Snape's code is a painful one.

"There IS no objective stance in morality.  The only thing that can be
done is for everyone to uphold the moral stances they honestly think
are correct, which means that, whether they admit it or not, they
think everyone who doesn't agree with them is the wrong and needs to
mend their ways."

I disagree. I do uphold God's moral stance, because He is God, and
therefore knows better than any human being. But I try not to judge
those who don't know God, I try not to judge their moral codes as
being wrong, *because we have no common ground from which to do the
judging*. I even defend their right to live by their own rules in
their own sphere if they want to, as long as they respect the law.

"But the very point of having laws and rules, the only possible 
purpose for them, in fact, is to force people to do what is morally 
right whether they want to do it or not, and whether they agree with
the assessment of what is right or not."

Yes, to force them to do what is morally right *according to the
morality of the majority*, not necessarily according to their own
morality. There is NO obligation for anyone to *adopt* the majority's
morality, there's only an obligation to *respect* it in a few
circumstances. Big difference.

"One can say that Dumbledore is not a High King and Snape has no legal
obligation to obey him, but that is evading the point."

Not at all. It's refusing to face that fact that is evading the point,
IMO. Snape simply has NO obligation to adopt anyone's moral code,
period. As long as he respects the law, he's free to act in whatever
way he wants. That's what *freedom* is about.

"The point is who you believe is in the right.  If you believe that DD
is in the right, then Snape absolutely has a moral obligation to adapt
himself to DD's moral code -- whether Snape agrees with the code is of
no importance whatsoever."

What if I believe everyone is in the wrong? Including DD? Because
according to your logic, that's what I should believe, since nobody in
the Potterverse upholds the One Right Moral Code: Christ's. Everybody
is only upholding their own, human-made, fallible, moral codes, so
everybody is in the "wrong". Granted, some come closer to The One
Right Moral Code than others, but so what? They are still all "wrong".
Or rather, in my view, they are all *right*. 

"The nature of human interaction is that a person will inevitably
think their code is right and everyone else's is wrong, and that other
people therefore have an obligation to do what is right."

Then I guess I'm not a human being O_o

"Is that imposing my moral code on someone else?  Absolutely.  There
is no other way to be a moral person -- which is the same as saying
there is no other way to be a person."

Just because you can't conceive of another way, doesn't mean nobody
else can. Be careful in projecting your own mindset on other people.
(I'm not saying I'm not guilty of doing that too, mind you. I'm
*trying* not to do it, but I don't always succeed, far from it :-)

Del