Hypothetical Ethics

Chat about a topic supported by books, TED Talks, podcasts, personal experience, philosophies of mankind mingled with humor (shout out to IOT), and maybe we’ll even do a google hangout or conference call once a month.
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moksha
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Hypothetical Ethics

Post by moksha » Fri Feb 15, 2019 4:55 am

A Cake Quandry

You are a wife, mother of five, work in a Provo bakery, and you just received an order for a wedding cake. There is no rush since the wedding will be in two months. It needs to be delivered to the N. Kaiden Jensen and Alex R. Pingree Wedding in Lyndon, Utah. Yikes, your grand-uncle is apostle Dallin Oakes, and your husband is finally in his long-coveted position of Elders Quorum President. You decide to either make or refuse to make the cake based on the following grounds:

A. Two dudes getting married offends your religious sensibilities.
B. You realize there will be a lot of publicity and it might reveal that your baking stinks. By refusing on religious grounds you can be known as a bigot rather than a bad baker. You do not want the Sisters in your Relief Society to say "I told you her brownies were bad!"
C. You make the cake and list your reasons below.
D. Some other excuse that you can list below.
Good faith does not require evidence, but it also does not turn a blind eye to that evidence. Otherwise, it becomes misplaced faith.
-- Moksha

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Just This Guy
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Re: Hypothetical Ethics

Post by Just This Guy » Fri Feb 15, 2019 6:03 am

I never understood the idea of refusing to make a cake.

If you really don't want to make a cake, then all you have to do is not take the order. Say whatever you want. You are unable to fulfill do to prior commitments. YOu don't think you can meet thier standards. Whatever.

They are trying to give you money and you are turning it down so you can make a public spectacle for your religion. It plays into the martyrdom complex that many people get. It has nothing to do with your religion. If it did, they would find a polite way to step away form it. It is purely about trying to get their name in the spotlight.
"The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." -- Douglas Adams

Reuben
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Joined: Sat Oct 28, 2017 3:01 pm

Re: Hypothetical Ethics

Post by Reuben » Sat Feb 16, 2019 6:08 am

C. Make the cake so you can think of yourself as being less bigoted, which might help it become true.

D. Don't make the cake because you know you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from writing homophobic slurs in ketchup between the layers.

D. Don't make the cake because you see yourself as a loyal soldier in the culture war.

C. Make the cake because you see yourself as an ambassador of peace in the culture war.

C. Make the cake because Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres came to you in a dream and told you to do it.

D. Don't make the cake because Cesare Lombroso and Fred Phelps came to you in a dream and told you not to do it because "they're just as morally degenerate as lefties" and you didn't notice them holding hands.
Learn to doubt the stories you tell about yourselves and your adversaries.

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