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<\/a><\/p>\nHappy New Year\u2019s Eve! \u00a0I\u2019ll still have a couple of posts going up this weekend, and, on Monday, I\u2019ll be debuting the guest bloggers who will be fleshing out their disagreement on the prospect of discerning purpose in nature.<\/a><\/p>\n I started this blog over the summer as a way to try to clarify my thoughts on religion and morality, especially after I started reading Christian\u00a0apologetics\u00a0and attending Mass with my Catholic boyfriend. \u00a0One hundred and fifty posts later, we\u2019re still surprised by the amount we agree on, even though we still can\u2019t see eye to eye on the Big Question. \u00a0While I\u2019ve been trying to thrash it all out, I\u2019ve been grateful for the thoughtful comments, questions, and links you\u2019ve shared with me through this blog.<\/p>\n For today\u2019s Quick Takes (the last of 2010) I\u2019m listing a potporri of things I\u2019ve changed my mind on, posts I\u2019ve promised that I\u2019ll actually write in the New Year, and questions that bother me:<\/p>\n The first apologetic work I read was C.S. Lewis\u2019s\u00a0Mere Christianity<\/em><\/a>, and, although I wasn\u2019t converted, it did make a big impression. \u00a0Reading Lewis\u2019s writings about morality has helped me try to be better in my day to day life and understand ways in which I was failing others. \u00a0My perspective on morality used to be extremely Kantian<\/a>:<\/p>\n I followed the Golden Rule and anything else that seemed to fall under the purview of the Categorical Imperative in an attitude of pure duty. The primary satisfaction I got from behaving rightly was like the quiet click of a Rubik\u2019s cube sliding through its final sequence or the sound of a pencil being laid down at the end of a proof.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n My mistake when I was younger was: in my utter detachment from the people affected by my actions, I was still treating people as things. Instead of \u2018ends in themselves\u2019 I treated them as means to an abstracted kind of righteousness for myself, their needs as tasks to be completed.<\/p>\n I\u2019m trying (and frequently failing) to try to approach other people in a spirit of love and charity, rather than duty. \u00a0Mere Christianity<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>turned out to be a big help\u00a0making this change<\/a>, as well as pointing me towards it. \u00a0If I more frequently feel like I\u2019m falling short (especially over this holiday, sadly), at least I\u2019m aware of my mistakes and can make a fumbling attempt at correcting them and mitigating their harm.<\/p>\n If revising my attitude towards morality is the biggest achievement this year, explaining the foundation of morality is definitely my biggest failure. \u00a0The biggest point on which my Catholic boyfriend and I disagree (besides the obvious one) is whether absolute morality is possible in an atheistic universe\u2013and that argument tends to undergird our a\/theist disputes.<\/p>\n I took a crack at explaining how I think about absolute morality using metaphors about mathematics and vision<\/a>. \u00a0It didn\u2019t convince my boyfriend or many of you, so I\u2019ll have to figure out a better explanation for next year.<\/p>\n In the new year, I\u2019m most looking forward to finally writing my defense of covenant marriage. \u00a0I haven\u2019t consolidated what I\u2019ve written so far into an index post, so here are quick links to parts one through four\u00a0which cover my thoughts on what\u00a0marriage\u00a0is not<\/a>, an annotated list of interesting writing on marriage<\/a>, why I think covenant marriage is a poor fit for Christians<\/a>, and some remarks on \u2018the woman problem.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n I can\u2019t wait to get cracking on this topic after the holidays.<\/p>\n Although I\u2019m most grateful to\u00a0Mere Christianity<\/a>\u00a0on philosophy questions, Christianity: The First 3000 Years<\/em><\/a> by Diarmaid MacCulloch has been invaluable to be as a history reference. \u00a0Among the incorrect<\/strong>beliefs I had about Christianity and other religions:<\/p>\n Oy. \u00a0Thank you Diarmaid!<\/p>\n The most troubling consequence for me, if Christianity were true, would be the extraordinary number of people who would miss out on any communion with God because atheism is so plausible. \u00a0After all, most people haven\u2019t got the leisure time to mount serious philosophical and historical inquiries into other people\u2019s religious beliefs. \u00a0I\u2019d be frightened by the prospect of a God that made no provision for the conversion of non-Christians who didn\u2019t study theology.<\/p>\n The most attractive part of Christianity for me is the\u00a0possibility\u00a0of redemption after severe transgressions. \u00a0I\u2019ve written before (in the context of the dehumanizing nature of war and combat training) about how immoral actions are like bad habits<\/a>. \u00a0They can make it more difficult to cultivate the kind of open attitude required to treat other people kindly and with charity. \u00a0Without the possibility of redemption, people can wound themselves past the point of recovery through their immoral actions. \u00a0The damage we inflict upon ourselves could be beyond our own ability or the ability of our friends to mend.<\/p>\n Currently, I don\u2019t think there always is a path back from the abyss, and that fact is the most depressing and upsetting part of my philosophy. \u00a0If Christianity were true, I could be relieved on this point..<\/p>\n And don\u2019t forget, if you want to help dictate my New Year\u2019s Resolutions, there\u2019s still time to\u00a0contribute suggestions for\u00a0books I should read, experiences I should seek out, etc at the open thread<\/a> I put up earlier this week.<\/p>\n Thanks so much.<\/p>\n\n
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