rivercrow

Why does it seem like a lack of trust travels beside a demand for honesty? If you demand honesty, should you not grant others a greater measure of trust in return?

I think honesty is relativistic, not fixed. I do believe there are some absolutes about respecting life, but I am willing to make concessions to necessity. (Is this a Singerian ethos?) Also, I think that individual recognition of personal truths is dependent on the awareness of the individual. People grow and change. Who am I to require individuals to progress in their personal awareness at a greater speed than they are capable of?

So perhaps I think that there are Absolutes, but that personal truths are not as solid. Fluid.

Is this feminist ethics at work? Does a belief in personal absolute assume some kind of authoritarian reality? I think this may be a reason why I am uncomfortable with rote dedication to dogma, whether that is a personal or institutional dogma. Hubris? Perhaps that too.

How does my distrust of other’s dogmatism affect my level of trust in those individuals? I do know where they stand, if their logic is sufficiently consistent and apparent. But adherence to dogma can be subverted by personal affiliations and politics. (Having seen that happen.) So, even dogma can be relativistic. A declared dogma may be easier to circumvent, because it is based on parroting, not on personal engagement with the issues.

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