[Foundation-l] Re-licensing

[Ray Saintonge]

Anthony wrote:
> Maybe you could explain the etymology of that term for us, Mike.  Your last
> paragraph seems to imply that you understand it.
>   

Per Eric Partridge's "Origins," both words are Latin in origin.  "Moral" 
is from "mores" the plural of "mos" indicating "a way of carrying 
oneself, hence especially of behaving; a custom as determined by usage, 
not by law."  "Morose" is from the same source. "Right" derives from 
"rex" meaning "the king"; it took a king to set things straight.  Is 
there something "natural" in that?
>> It's true that religious beliefs don't have great force in Western
>> courtrooms. I dismiss this particular religious belief not because
>> it's irrelevant in a courtroom, however, but because there is no
>> evidence in the physical world that this difference exists.
>>     
> In what way is the concept of moral rights a religious belief?
>   
U.S. courts still have witnesses who swear to tell the truth, "So help 
me God," with one hand on the Bible; this only shows that the separation 
of church and state is far from perfect.  The concept of larger moral 
rights (rather than those associated with copyrights) is religious 
because it is based on faith alone.
> That would be odd if it were true. But it isn't. Theft and slavery are
> morally wrong, in addition to (and regardless of) being illegal.
Theft has been quite consistently viewed as wrong throughout history, 
with possible exemptions for kings.

To say this of slavery, however, in the US context, would be to say that 
Christian slave-owners before the Emancipation Proclamation were all 
immoral.

Ec