Re: reason and facts...
Jonathan Dixon (dixonj@MIMICAD.COLORADO.EDU)
Sun, 28 Nov 1993 21:08:27 -0700
Steve Souza said:
> quoting From: Jonathan Dixon dixonj@MIMICAD.COLORADO.EDU
>
> > The policies should be grounded in reasonable, fact-supported beliefs
>
> Jon, just to understand your position... who gets to decide if the reasons
> are reasonable, and if they're based on facts??
>
Rather than fact-supported, perhaps I should have said "not
contradicted by the facts." A policy which would (probably) fail
under this yardstick is "Gays shouldn't be leaders in Scouting because
they might abuse the scouts." Since (as far as I understand, not
having checked the statistics, etc, normally quoted on this; there
hasn't been anyone claiming statistics otherwise that I've heard, tho)
gays are no more likely to abuse children than straights, this policy
would be based on a reason which is false and would therefore be a bad
policy. (NOTE: I am not trying to imply that that one reason is the
whole argument put forth by BSA, nor am I intending to imply a stance
on the issue; it is put forward solely for illustrative purposes)
As to who gets to decide on reasonableness, that is perhaps a stickier
issue (one I didn't consider in choosing a description in my original
posting). I guess the best answer is that it should be seen as a
reasonable belief by society as a whole. This doesn't mean that
society as a whole has to agree with it; just that it is not an
obviously absurd belief (ie, "the sun will rise tomorrow in the east"
is a reasonable belief, "Mohammed is a great prophet" is another
reasonable belief, "white people are inherently superior" is an
unreasonable belief, and "I'm always right" is just as unreasonable)
I think this pretty much sums up the bulk of my meaning, and I would
be willing to clarify anything of mine further as the need arises.
Jon Dixon
dixonj@mimicad.colorado.edu
ASM Troop 1046, Bowie, MD, NCAC
Eagle '85 Vigil '89
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
