Posted on 04/27/2007 6:09:12 AM PDT by wilco200
I haven't seen any coverage or commentary on this, but one of the most interesting exchanges I saw last night was John Edwards response to the question "Who is your moral copmpass.?"
Edwards paused for literaly 10-12 seconds before figuring out what he wanted to say, he gave a passing nod ot "his Lord" then spent the remainder of the time talking about his wife, father and family.
I know that the far left of his party is godless, but his lake of conviction on this simple question made it appear as if he had no conscious (I know..I know)
And wasn't his wife the one who judge his neighbor a "rabid, rabid Republican" without even meeting the man and just because his owns a gun and is poor?
The answer to the question to me seems obvious - If your Christian, your moral compass is Jesus Christ.
So, what does tuning your back on him say about your morality?
That is news?!
It’s a chronic disease of most RAT politicians.
It is possible to get penalty points for watching dem debates.
I was at my sons baseball game. They won 14-8.
He should have stopped with Lord... he blather that came after proved that he hasn’t a clue.
To ancient Aztecs - cutting out the still beating heart of a human sacrifices (including children) was the highest order of good.
To a large percent of Muslims - killing, raping and enslaving infidels is the highest order of good in Islam. To Hindus - Attacking, ignoring, prejudicing against and letting die for people in lower order castes is perfectly alright.
To certain Pacific Tribes - eating your enemy was the highest form of good.
And I could go on for pages... Matthew 22:37-40 -- Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
And Jesus also said "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Luke 6:31; Luke 10:27 (affirming of Moses) and Matthew 7:12)
But by no means has this "philosophy" been accepted the world over as "good or moral." Not by a long shot.
What makes murder inherently wrong (to Christians) is not that it feels wrong, but that a transcendent Creator to whom we are answerable commands: "Thou shalt not murder." What makes kindness to others inherently right (to Christians) is not that human reason says so, but that God does: "Love thy neighbor as thyself; I am the Lord."
What is "good or evil" without God? Without any footing for moral actions - anything can be rationalized as good or evil. You can just make it up as you go along. Good actions can be whatever society thinks it is with the popular culture at the time. If that be in Nazi Germany or Pol Pot's Cambodia or North Korea - that means doing "good" is slaughtering millions of people and sending millions more into misery. But, by their own human standards at the time in history, they were all doing good.
You grew up and live in a country founded in Judeo-Christian values, so it may seem obvious to you what is "good." But that is due to the Judeo-Christian influences on you (even if you don't believe in God). To others without that kind of influence, doing "good" can be radically different.
For instance, we are also a country that for all intents and purposes, allows abortion, for any reason, at any time, including up to 1 sec before birth (partial birth abortions). I can send you transcripts of debates in the house and senate on this. I have no doubt that 200 years from now, future Americans will wonder how we could have let such evil go on and did nothing to stop it for so long (a lot like we look back on slavery).
But all the "cool" people are pro-choice - so it is good.
Regards,
2banana
He looked like a deer in headlights. I could see him contemplating—”How do I answer this with out infurating the Godless in my party?”.
The Dems want the voters to be stupid, so they talk stupid and the media goes right along. I listened to audio from parts of the debate and have heard smarter things said from occupants of a kindergartern sand box.
It was also funny when Brian Williams asked him about his $400 haircut and trying to claim he’s for the poor.
Make us do your dirty work!
Yeah, thanks! ;9)
I kept waiting for a dollar sign to pop up.
His compass points in the direction of money.
Edwards again proved to be the same lightweight who was smashed by Cheney in the last debates. Richardson and Obama were horribly unprepared. Biden and Hillary are overrehearsed. Kucinich and Gravel are just nuts.
The Dems again show that they have absolutely nothing to offer.
Yep, that's the part that struck me. I'm going to give him a reluctant pass on the lame response, because to be fair, the question itself was lame and inappropriate for a presidential debate.
It was his wholly immature manner and incompetence in fielding the question that got me. That, combined with the transparency of his struggle to "choose" the politically-advantageous answer makes the whole idea of his being president not just ridiculous for policy reasons, but downright laughable on its face. I've seen more statesmanship in a fifth grader ordering at burger king.
Asking a liberal trial lawyer about morality is like asking a nun for dating advice. Neither has the experience with which to venture a useful opinion.
How do you figure the question is inappropriate? Everyone has some set of values that guides their actions. “Who is your moral compass” speaks of the values that will guide a potential president while in office. The answer is telling, I think, whether honest or disingenious. (I didn’t watch the debate as I was out of barf bags.)
I should add that if Edwards had a moral compass, he might be able to use it to find his moral compass.
What did Edwards say to that question?
I'm nominating you for the hammer and nail award of the day!
Thanks, I’m flattered (or maybe flattened).
So, according to Edwards, murderers, rapists, drug kingpins etc. are really no different than the rest of us. Yikes.
He went into the story of his youth of course. How his family went to a restaurant when he was a young boy, and they had to leave after looking at the menu. Edwards didn’t understand why they had to leave until after they got outside and his dad told him. Now Edwards said last night his dad was in the audience. If you think about it, in any other time, you wouldn’t think Edwards would want to admit that his dad couldn’t provide for his family.
Funny enough Medved is playing this part of the debat right now.
oops—meant debate
Thanks for the report. :)
"His Lord", I wonder who (or what) that is.
Most people would say "Jesus Christ" immediately and be proud of it.
Did you notice, also, that after he mentioned “my Lord” he kind of backtracked— it was like, um, well, I pray to Jesus, but I’m not really controlled by it or anything... as if Jesus is just another option he consults or something. He kind of gave the Lord a brush off, I thought. Guess he is walking that fine line the Democrats have to walk— that theme of I pray, but I’m not real religious or a nut or anything.....
Agree, he seemed embarrassed to bring "Him" up, put knew he had too. They can only be REALLY fake when they are fund raising in Black Churches (ie. hillary and the algore)
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