Still for Rudy

Fred Thompson is moving closer to entering the race for the Republican nomination. I'm open to his candidacy but don't really know enough to support him. So far, I still like Rudy. His toughness, discipline and managerial skill make him the best candidate. It's true I have some reservations. He has an authoritarian streak. I like the fact that he is so tough and politically incorrect that he is attacked as a fascist but sometimes I wonder if the charge might actually be a little too accurate. Also, many wonder if at some point he will just go nuts. They point to various outbursts during his years as Mayor. Also, he does seem to have some unsavory friends such as Bernard Kerik. Nonetheless, I think he's the best of the candidates so far. We'll see how it turns out.

God and Morality

In a debate between Christopher Hitchens and Douglas Wilson over Christianity, Wilson attacks Hitchens by claiming he has no basis for his morality. Hitchens in the concluding exchanges says that morality has evolved. Wilson responds that this means that morality is always changing and may disappear. However, I don't see this as a conclusive demonstration that Christianity is superior to atheism. How is Christian morality better than an evolved human based morality? How can God be a useful source of morality when no one can contact Him? If we base morality on scripture, how do we know which scripture is the correct one? Moreover, if we accept one scripture as God's word, then we cannot reject parts of it, can we? Yet, there is quite a lot of morality in the Bible that modern Americans do not accept. Hitchens points to various instances of biblical approval of genocide and slavery. It is true that simply saying the our sense of morality evolved is not that satisfying but for someone without faith, God is not much of a source of morality either. In the end, I think that Wilson's arguments are a demonstration of the wish fulfilment nature of religion. It would be nice to have a guide to tell use what is good and what is evil. At one point Wilson says that without God, when an evil person dies he gets away with all of his sins. Again, this seems to me simply a desire for justice not any evidence for the existence of God. Yet, despite this, I hesitate to join Hitchens in declaring that we would be much better off without any religion. Because religion has infused human society for so long, I don't know what a non-religious society would be like. In the West, religion is weaker than in the past but its influence continues. Will we be better off if it completely dies off? I'm still think about that.