What We Believe, Part 4: Natural Law

What makes some laws worth obeying, while others demand to be overturned? In Part 4, Bill examines the difference between Natural Law and Political Law.

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[davenetdog]

These videos are better than ANY college course!

[yonahrr]

Bill, after reading through a smattering of comments I'm at a loss to explain how the concept of Natural Law, which you explained so elegantly and succinctly could be so misconstrued by so many people.

[MrDarudin]

@maychorian Perfectly valid point , I believe that only through continuing permanent exchange of ideas can we truly progress as peoples since it does lead to a continuing selection of those ideas , which suit each society best at that point of time at which it chooses to adapt those.

PS: I do want to mention that I honestly enjoyed our little conversation as you are one of the few individuals who does not seem to resort to personal insults. Best Regards :D

[maychorian]

@MrDarudin Very well then. I will respectfully disagree. In my view, slavery was a bad law because it violated the rights of the humans who were used as slaves--namely, their rights to choose where to live, what work to do, and sometimes it even took away their lives. In my view, slavery was eventually acknowledged to be a bad law because people better understood natural law, not simply because society's sensibilities had a shift.

[MrDarudin]

@maychorian No since under a utilitarian concept of society it served the benefit of our society and the expense of fractional exploitation , hence the exploitation of slaves allowed the majority of the British population at the point of time to flourish , however once attitudes have changed and personal liberty became more important than common progress it became an outdated concept. This was an organic process based upon the wishes of all society rather than an ideological struggle.

[maychorian]

@MrDarudin So then, it WASN'T a bad law until people decided it wasn't? You say it wasn't SEEN as a bad law. But was it one?

[MrDarudin]

@maychorian Directly speaking , yes , slavery was not seen as a bad law up until the point where it became obsolete due to the fact that it didn't pay society to use it any more which led to the subsequent abolition of slavery in 1807 here in Britain , which was a result of a change in attitude . However by today's measures slavery is of course unacceptable as it opposes our traditional values of equal moral worth of the individual .

[maychorian]

@MrDarudin If you don't believe in absolute principles, how can you determine what is a good law and what is a bad law? Purely based on the social sensibilities of the time? So then, slavery was not a bad law, because it matched up with the social sensibilities of its time? It only BECAME a bad law later, when sensibilities changed?

[MrDarudin]

@maychorian I , as a British tory democrat do however disapprove of this view as it operates with absolute terms. I do believe that law and laws should be the expression of the cultural , traditional and social values that our respective countries at the contemporary moment in time. Hence my view of legal morality is based upon the believe that since humanity itself is imperfect and bound by time it would be ludicrous to establish invasive categorical principles.

[maychorian]

@MrDarudin On the contrary, as a Christian I believe that natural law was created by God. An atheistic libertarian believes that it was created by nature. Liberals believe that law is created by man, and is not natural, and therefore is subject to be changed with every new generation. I believe that law is as timeless as the universe, and as eternal as the moral God who laid the physical foundations of the universe, as well as the moral and spiritual underpinnings of the world.

[MrDarudin]

@maychorian Sorry , but I as a conservative do disagree with you ! Natural laws are a liberal invention .

[MrDarudin]

@yonahrr Because everything should be debatable in essence . I for one do find it hard to believe in the truth that their is any form of natural law as this would require the possibility of a technically perfect society where only natural laws would exist. Such a society would however ignore traditional and democratic values hence rendering our communities bare and empower individual members at the expense of others. It is hence libertarian and antidemocratic.