Peter, do you think the Bible is inerrant? What do you make of the slavery passages?

Compassion does have some preservation based motives in that, when we are compassionate we are hoping to build a sort of social-security for ourselves and those we love. That is, if I help the guy next to me when he can’t help himself, perhaps he (or someone) will do the same should I fall on hard times. Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t try to relegate compassion to expecting something in return, but I do think this is one survival benefit of the trait. There must be more to compassion still. People will show compassion towards animals and rescue them if they are hurt, establish wildlife preserves to protect them from poachers, etc. If it was solely about getting a helping hand from or preserving our kind, it would be tough to imagine such acts.

Some researchers have observed acts of compassion and empathy by animals other than humans. Frans de Wall has written about compassion displayed by bonobos, while Jane Goodall has documented it among chimpanzees. There’s a recorded case of a dolphin saving whales of a different species. Most animals don’t show concern for the death of another outside their kind, but elephants will demonstrate it for others, even if they are outside their own family. Gorillas have cared for other animals such as cats and dogs as pets (perhaps they were just really confused?).

There’s been attempts over time to link the theory of evolution (usually called Darwinism to some kind of derogatory effect) to eugenics, genocide, etc, with an emphasis on “survival of the fittest". While Darwin undoubtedly said some unsavory things in his life, I’d like to quote him for reflection. I realize you did not directly invoke Darwin, rather, I am invoking him because in him we have a famous naturalist or two sorts who doesn’t make the conclusion you deem necessarily consistent.

“but if we were intentionally to neglect the weak and helpless, it could only be for a contingent benefit, with an overwhelming present evil”

But, I suppose, Darwin was just being inconsistent to himself.

I’d like to pose a question as well. If morality was just a preference, do you think that would be inferior to a system which relied upon external absolutes?

Now that we have seen behind the curtain, what real need is there for such a thing as compassion? Maybe it’s nice and seems to add enjoyment to life, but if it leads us away from what is best for our survival, then would it not be better to be a human being who no longer enjoyed the warm, fuzzy feeling of compassion so that he could choose what is best for survival unhindered by negative emotions?

In the epidemic analogy, a strict application of reason would tell us that genocide makes better sense from a survival point of view. But it is in conflict with compassion, which we also possess to help us survive. In this case, why would we go with the sense or trait that is not refined enough to do its job properly?

If you’re going to argue that we ought to leave belief in God behind because its survival advantage has been outlived and now we know better through the application of reason, then you ought to be consistent even when the implications are less satisfying.

If a moral system is flawed without an external absolute, where then is the external absolute to god’s moral system? I’m not just trying to be snide, I really do think that this type of logic is completely ad hoc; one minute people are trying to say it makes more sense, and the next minute, god is “special” and it doesn’t apply to him.

I wonder if a moral system would prove superior & more sensible to what Danny would try to get at, if it used the Dungeons and Dragons alignment system for its external guidelines.