Maybe people just don't like being told that their moral stance is less strict t...

sh1mmer · on Nov 23, 2010

Stricter implies that I am applying more conditions to myself, 'holier-than-thou' implies that I'm somehow applying them to you too.

I've chosen my morality for me, I'll happily advocate it if you are interested. However, my act of choice in no way threatens your own act of choice.

What I find frustrating is that because I've made a choice for me people choose to assume I'm judging them.

DanielStraight · on Nov 23, 2010

This makes your point... I just find it incredibly odd.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're saying that when you say "stricter moral stance," you mean "more rules." That is not how I would interpret "stricter moral stance."

I suppose I'm also thrown off by the concept of "my morality." If morality is entirely personal, the whole concept of stricter or looser moral stances seems nonsensical. If it's entirely personal, then isn't everyone, by definition, strictly adhering to their own morality?

sh1mmer · on Nov 23, 2010

Some definitions of the word strict from the Random House Dictionary that might explain my position:

3. closely or rigorously enforced or maintained: strict silence.

5. extremely defined or conservative; narrowly or carefully limited: a strict construction of the Constitution.

8. stern; severe; austere: strict parents.

You could also think of strict as the root of "restrictive". I have a moral code which allows me to do less than you, it restricts my actions.

However it doesn't follow that my morality inherently requires me to expect it of others. That's a very western belief.