“Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” – Martin Luther King, 1967
I’ve been seeing this line quoted a lot lately (or misquoted or paraphrased). The sentiment King expressed may be a comforting one, but it’s bullshit.
It boils down to karma, what goes around comes around, and similar nonsense. Obviously, such beliefs make no sense unless you believe in a guiding force or principle behind everything. Karma, the moral universe, God – at base, it’s all the same thing and it’s all wishful thinking.
It’s uncomfortable to think that the universe has no form of intelligence or morality, that evil goes unpunished, that good is not rewarded, and so on. But that’s what the lack of evidence for the opposite leaves us with.
3 comments:
"It's uncomfortable to think that the universe has no form of intelligence or morality...."
Heck, that's junior high school in a nutshell. ;)
Your comment on my blog today has inspired me to create the term "shortlisted slushpile," wherein I hope my mss are waiting, soon to be rescued....
Just oodles of angst.
That's the way I remember school, though - at all levels.
I like "shortlisted slushpile". It would be better if the pile glowed in the dark, too, so they couldn't ignore it.
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