# Is there a place for "Sanctity" in a modern society?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-for-sanctity-in-a-modern-society/991028>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [October 3, 2023, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-for-sanctity-in-a-modern-society/991028 "2023-10-03T01:15:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 122

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**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-place-for-sanctity-in-a-modern-society/991028/122 "2023-10-13T12:55:32Z")

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> [@Max\_S](#):
>
> I disagree. I think the purpose of a moral system is to guide human action. People develop and rely on moral systems to try and guide their actions. That _is_ its end, its purpose, it’s _raison d’être_.

That’s what a moral system _does_. But if we take two moral systems, both of which guide people’s actions, how do we determine which to follow?

> [@Pitting Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-max-s/959074/605):
>
> I mean it in the literal, subjective sense.
> 
> > [@Pitting Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-max-s/959074/605):
> >
> > unconscionable acts, meaning acts so strongly against my conscience that I could not live with myself if I carried it out, such as turning out a child in inclement weather or shooting an innocent.

But surely you realize that this is no basis for a system of morality. If you were raised by Hitler, you might consider it “unconscionable” to allow any Jewish people to live!

You’ve got cause and effect mixed up here. You believe in a system of morality that you unquestioningly formed due to your background. Rather than examine why you think some things are unconscionable, you’ve just declared that this feeling is the source of Truth and that you’ll follow it blindly.

> [@Max\_S](#):
>
> How do you distinguish analysis of the church from the seal of confession, for example, in the context of institutional child molestation? I would think you’d use the same analysis in both cases.

I do! Both the physical church and the confessional seal are important to people. Taking them away would hurt people in some way.

However, the physical church is harmless. The seal of confession leads to horrible things, like child molestation going on unchecked.

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