Reply #14: You pretty much said it all. [View All]

[JDPriestly]

We tend to react to situations based on group affiliations rather than based on broader moral values.

So, if somebody from "our side" does something, we cut them a lot of slack, but if somebody from that we personally define as the "other side" does something, we judge them harshly.

That is the rule of man, not the rule of the law. The thing about believing in a deity or even in humanist values is that you realize that you have to be able to see beyond the interests not just of your own self but of the group to which you feel you belong.

That's hard to do, but we cannot be truly human or truly righteous if you will unless we are able to leave our ego behind at least every once in a while.

That is why we must always question authority. Authority's power is based on the fact that the authority leads and directs the group that you supposedly belong to. If an authority leads some group you don't belong to, then it probably doesn't have any authority over you. It isn't your authority. So, to go beyond just belonging to a group and conforming to the authorities of that group, we have to go beyond our personal ego and our personal desire to belong and our sense that we belong. That is really hard. But it is what made it possible for Amos and Hosea to preach as they did and for the Berrigans to do what they did.