Morals won't keep me warm in winter.

A friend of mine was telling me how happy he is about some recent progressive trends in American society. We talked about the societal shift in America from being what one might call (euphemistically) a puritan society with stringent morals, to a morally liberated society where the only thing that isn't OK is to think that something is not OK. The major problem with morals is that they impose a sense of "rightness" or "wrongness" that can be utterly confusing. This is because, believe it or not, there is no universally accepted idea of right and wrong. In fact the terms "right" and "wrong" are merely abstract ideas like "love" and "hope"... but even worse. At least Love produces data. Love can be measured in terms of chemical reactions in the brain, increased heart rate or other physical responses. But right and wrong are based totally on personal belief and faith that a certain action or outcome is a "good" while another is "bad". We used to rely on superstition and and fear to give us a standard of right and wrong that while not universal, shared many similarities among the worlds superstitions. Fortunately increased availability of "education" has elevated scientific thought (to it's proper place as Lord and Savior) and helped us to let go of these cumbersome superstitions.

Of course it's an ongoing process and some of us are (understandably) having a hard time completely letting go of our morals. However, the fact remains that there is no universal laws by which one can "prove" scientifically that slavery is wrong or that the holocaust was either good or bad, so I think it's only a matter of time before we stop clinging to our outdated traditions and step out into the brave new world where it won't matter if we are a man or a woman... because even a woman (with all her frailty and physical inadequacy) can still give a slave orders.