Article Here: qualifies under 1A of the Pre-Approved texts. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/morals-without-god/?ref=opinion
The title of this article as I was scanning down was "Morals Without a God." I found this title to be very interesting because of the instant base of people that it would bring, and turn away. It is highly doubtful that you would find an extremely devoted Christian to be reading this article and evaluating seriously, many of the claims that are made. Often it is the most controversial pieces of literature that give us so much insight into society. In this text it can also be assumed that most of the readers would come from a more liberal perspective that is interested in the reshaping of morality post-God. Of course here at BYU this is a notion that would be generally controversial among both students and faculty, and the points raised are legitimate, but still wouldn't appeal to to many hard Christians. Nevertheless, some of the main readers of this would undoubtedly be members of the scientific community who are searching for the 'rules of existence' as determined by nature and the fundamentals of science.
I too read this article and found it very interesting. I agree with your idea of the audience being primarily liberals, willing to redefine morality and god. While this is in turn controversial, I think it is important for us, even with strong opinions one way or another, to know of the other side and stay educated. Good Analysis!
ReplyDeleteGood job analyzing who the author is writing for and the kind of audience that would even want to read the article. It's definitely true that if people don't agree with the premise of the article they probably won't spend a lot of time thinking about the points the author makes. I liked your point though that their case is still legitimate even if it doesn't appeal to us as BYU students.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree that most devout Christians most likely will not look any further than the title of the article, you have to also factor in those that do. Presumably you are a devout Christian (you are at BYU) but you decided to explore the article and even write a paper on it. I think you should also give an explanation as to why you, and people like you, decide to read further.
ReplyDelete