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Why the Fundamentalist Right Is so Fundamentally Wrong: Understanding Modern Morality
By Gerald Paske
The moral turmoil that has been a characteristic of our society ever since the middle of the last century has made ordinary citizens vulnerable to moral, political, and religious manipulation. This vulnerability, which has been successfully exploited by various fundamentalist and reactionary groups, is most prominently seen in the political processes of the last few decades. An ever-increasing number of citizens now vote their "moral conscience," even though that conscience is rather ill-informed. As a result, major social issues are not adequately addressed, and the political discussions that occur have become superficial and polemical. ...
The intent of this book is to help remedy this situation. ... While a great effort has been made to be fair to all points of view, no effort has been made towards a "balanced" discussion of these matters. The conservative-fundamentalist position is both morally and religiously mistaken and, due to its political power, is extremely dangerous. The thoughts presented in this book are intended to help more moderate people articulate and defend their intuitive understanding of these matters. When more of us better understand the moral turmoil of our times, we can return to a more serious and less polemical discussion of those issues that are currently so divisive. —From the Preface
Table of Contents
Preface, 9
PART I — A Defense of the New Morality
Section One: Modern Morality
1. Values and the Moderate Majority, 15
2. Moral Change, 18
3. An Illustration: Allowing to Die, 21
4. The Value of Human Life, 25
5. The Courage to be Moral, 27
Section Two: Family Values
6. Family Values and the New Morality, 33
7. Alternative Life Styles, 36
8. The New Sexual Morality, 39
9. Same-Sex Marriage, 42
10. Religion, Morality and Politics, 45
Section Three: Abortion
11. The Moderate Consensus on Abortion, 51
12. Early and Late Abortions, 54
13. Abortion and Sexual Abuse, 57
14. Abortion as Birth Control, 60
15. Abortion and Adoption, 63
16. Late-Term Abortions, 65
17. Implications of Aborting the Unborn, 67
18. Stem Cell Research, 69
Section Four: Religion, Church, and State
19. An Indictment of Religious Fundamentalism, 73
20. The Religious Impulse, 76
21. Church and State, 78
22. Personal Religion and the Legislator, 80
23. Religious Toleration, 82
Part II — Understanding Morality
Introduction to Part II, 87
Section Five: Traditional and Modern Morality
24. The Old in the New Morality, 91
25. The New in the New Morality, 93
26. Human Nature, 96
27. The Moral Relevance of Human Nature, 99
28. Understanding the Fall, 101
Section Six: Choosing a Morality
29. Examining the Two Standards, 107
30. Choosing a Standard, 110
31. Consequentialism, 112
32. The Structure of Morality, 114
33. Understanding the New Sexual Morality, 116
34. Reflection. 119
35. Harm. 122
36. Harms that Hurt, 125
37. Physical and Psychological Pains, 127
38. Harms that Do Not Hurt, 130
39. Autonomy, 132
Epilogue, 135
Index, 137
About the Author
Gerald Paske is professor emeritus of philosophy at Wichita State University, where he taught The Philosophy of Health Care as well as other classes in ethics for 25 years. He retired in 1999 and turned his attention to practical political issues of the day.
142 pages / 5 x 8 format / Summer 2006 / Includes CIP Data / Index / ISBN: 0-922993-60-2 (paper) $22.95
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