Is it immoral to refuse to believe?

Why? said:
Doesn't refusing to believe in something, like say the holocaust, have the potential for evil as it perpetrates a lie that could lead to re-living that horror?
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Well you seem to be answering your own question. To refuse to believe something in the face of overwhelming evidence and then to propogate that disbelief is a form of lying, which I would argue is an immoral activity.
 
draqon said:
It is immoral to deny existence of holocaust...

...because the current power says so. The current power is stronger than that of another power that refuses to believe in holocaust.
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Actually the facts make a difference.

If I punch you in the face and break your nose, but I am the Sherrif's son and it's the old West, the official story may be that you fell down. (of course official stories can be lies)

If I punch you in the face because you tried to rape my sister and this, the attemped rape, was witnessed by 50 people, the fact that I am the Sheriff's son makes no difference. (if the official story is true and obvious and you deny it, you have an agenda that is immoral, even if there are other official stories that are lies.)
 
To refuse to believe something can't be immoral. Acting upon the disbelieve may be, but it depends on what it is.
 
Enmos said:
To refuse to believe something can't be immoral. Acting upon the disbelieve may be, but it depends on what it is.
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I actually agree. If you keep quiet in your apartment and don't believe. But once you act on it by speaking about it you moved from stupidity into immorality (with certain disbeliefs, that is).
 
Of course, a lie can be beneficial to society. It is a lie than all men are created equal. They are not. Some men are short, others tall, others good looking, others ugly, others smart, others stupid etc. And yet, this lie is beneficial for a democratic society, and I dare say we all accept this white lie for the benefits it provides.
 
Why? said:
Of course, a lie can be beneficial to society. It is a lie than all men are created equal. They are not. Some men are short, others tall, others good looking, others ugly, others smart, others stupid etc. And yet, this lie is beneficial for a democratic society, and I dare say we all accept this white lie for the benefits it provides.
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It's also a lie that man is created ;)
 
Why? said:
Of course, a lie can be beneficial to society. It is a lie than all men are created equal. They are not. Some men are short, others tall, others good looking, others ugly, others smart, others stupid etc. And yet, this lie is beneficial for a democratic society, and I dare say we all accept this white lie for the benefits it provides.
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What are you talking about?
All men being created equal has nothing at all to do with ability, looks, intelleigence or any other such qualities being equal among them.
It has only to do with rights, consideration and opportunity.
It doesn't mean that Bill is as smart as Bob, it means Bill should be afforded equal opportunity as Bob.
 
Rights are whatever you want them to be. They are lies as well. Where on your skin when you were born did it say you had a right to privacy? A right to vote? A right to liberty? These are fictions. They don't exist. These lies are beneficial for our society, though.
 
Why? said:
Rights are whatever you want them to be. They are lies as well. Where on your skin when you were born did it say you had a right to privacy? A right to vote? A right to liberty? These are fictions. They don't exist. These lies are beneficial for our society, though.
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I agree. It was humans who invented the very idea of human rights ....yet some people seem to think that it's, somehow, innate.

And oddly, since most here agree with evolution, then why is it only the human animal has those rights, yet we kill and eat some other animals? It's because we, as humans, have decided that some animals have rights, others don't.

Baron Max
 
These rights are given to you by society, they are not innate. But still, you have them in your own society.
 
Why? said:
Rights are whatever you want them to be. They are lies as well. Where on your skin when you were born did it say you had a right to privacy? A right to vote? A right to liberty? These are fictions. They don't exist. These lies are beneficial for our society, though.
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They are not fictions, they are functions - they exist because we deem it so.
Rights are given to men by men.
All men being created equal is not an observation of objective fact or physical law to be true or a lie, it is a mandate - it is a basic rule governing an effort to create a free society.
Whether or not that effort is effective is a matter of opinion, and completely beside the point.

It is not meant to be a statement of fact. It is what the founding fathers determined should be an ideal to strive for as the cornerstone of what they were forging.
It was intended to be a guidepost.
 
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