# What's our basic moral obligation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 30, 2022, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-our-basic-moral-obligation/974049 "2022-10-30T23:34:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-our-basic-moral-obligation/974049/41 "2022-11-01T18:18:25Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I’m rejecting the premise that a particular party is owed fealty as a moral obligation. To clarify, I reject that premise too, but think today one particular party should be stopped as a moral obligation. But our system doesn’t allow voting or donating (or volunteering) _against_ a party as a literal option. The only practical way to do something close to that is doing these things _for_ the other major party. I don’t actually like the Democratic Party all that much, especially now that they’re helping fund some campaigns on the far right, and masquerading as old fashioned local newspapers as a propaganda vehicle. But democracies are generally a good deal happier than autocracies, and the Democratic Party is trying to move us away from autocracy and toward democracy, so they’re the clear choice. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I take the OP to mean ‘right now, under the current political conditions in the USA’; not to mean ‘now and forever, no matter what and who they’re espousing at the time’. Yes, exactly, thorny\_locust – and in retrospect I might helpfully have said as much in the first post. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-our-basic-moral-obligation/974049/42 "2022-11-01T18:45:57Z")
That sounds like [Matthew 25: 35-35](https://schumanchu.eu/html/l/l_00040eatbabies.html) to me. I don’t see religion and moral as being the same subject. And politics is another matter altogether, whatever politicias say. So what the basic moral obligation in the USA right now? Stop fascism, i.e. Trumpism. And in Europe? Stop fascism, i.e. Putin. When we have succeeded in that other tasks will arise, don’t worry about it. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-our-basic-moral-obligation/974049/43 "2022-11-01T19:52:52Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > This wasn’t enough for me, so I’ve been volunteering to help elect Democrats in local and statewide elections. I find working for local offices much more fulfilling. You actually get to spend time with the candidate (sometimes too much time), and get to know them. They also get to know you, and what your positions and concerns are. The last election, the candidate I backed won by fewer votes than doors I knocked on, so I can feel as though my efforts actually made a difference. Many years ago I volunteered for the federal representative’s campaign, and it felt impersonal and as though what I did didn’t matter. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I’ve got basically nothing to go on other than the party lines they choose to be listed under. I go by what party endorses them. I dunno, I used to be more picky when I voted. I mostly leaned Democrat, but there were a few Republican candidates that I thought would do a better job, so I voted for them. Now, it’s straight down the party line. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-our-basic-moral-obligation/974049/44 "2022-11-01T21:02:17Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Politics is so exhausting. I donated my hundreds of dollars, and minutes ago I got back from voting a straight Democratic ticket, and then I read this, and it still doesn’t feel like enough. Its not, but I’m not sure that anything we can do as individuals is enough. The problem is systemic in our current culture and political system. The problem is that some 40% of American voters live in a different reality, that they find more compelling because it more closely matches their preconceived notions. You can’t convince them of the truth because the truth is incompatible with everything else they “know” to be true and so is rejected. Electing Democrats will help to mitigate the harm they can do, but its only a temporary solution, much like giving a blood transfusion to someone suffering from internal arterial bleeding. Unfortunately, I don’t think that there is much that can actively be done to correct this, short of fascistic media controls, which has the problem that A) if we had the political power to neutralize the opposition in this way then the opposition would already be weak enough that we wouldn’t need to B) becoming fascists to prevent fascism misses the point. What I had been waiting/hoping for was a " have you no sense of decency" moment, where an inexcusable event would take place that cause people to take a good long look in the mirror and realize what they had become. The presidency of Donald Trump should have been that moment, as should have the Mueller report, as should have been the first Impeachment, and as fucking absolutely for sure should have been the Jan 6th attack on the capital. But it is clear that there is no evidence that can’t be rationalized away to fit the desired reality. So the best we can do is keep up the temporary symptomatic treatment of trying to keep the disinformers out of office as long as we can and hope that somehow the system self corrects. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-our-basic-moral-obligation/974049/45 "2022-11-01T21:26:02Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > That sounds like [Matthew 25: 35-35](https://schumanchu.eu/html/l/l_00040eatbabies.html) to me. I don’t see religion and moral as being the same subject. There’s no religion involved, because there’s no mention of faith. Treating each other humanely is a moral position that doesn’t require any belief system. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-our-basic-moral-obligation/974049/46 "2022-11-01T21:42:57Z")
I don’t know, if you quote word for word a piece of the bible that is so well known that even I recognize it you don’t have to say the word “faith” for it to become religious. It’s like turning the other cheek or father why have you forsaken me or am I my brother’s guardian?, it is religion. On the other hand, yes, it would be nice if we treated each other humanely. But this particular definition of humanely sounds religious to me. May be my problem. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-our-basic-moral-obligation/974049/47 "2022-11-01T21:52:14Z")
I’m an atheist. I don’t believe Jesus is the son of god. But that doesn’t mean i have to reject everything in the bible. Jesus, or whoever created his story, included enduring teachings that can guide our morality today. If it makes you feel better, think of it as what Bill & Ted asked us to do: “Be excellent to each other”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-our-basic-moral-obligation/974049.md?page=2)