On and on and on they go

What does it take to make them stop? The current head of the Roman Catholic church in Scotland is telling people what to think, again. Cardinal Keith O'Brien has threatened Scotland's democratically elected representatives that they could be thrown out of his club for morons if they accept that women have the right to choose what to do with their bodies. This from the man who promotes the view that condoms shouldn't be used in Africa, with its blossoming AIDS crisis. From a man whose boss took a picture of a kidnapped child and recited a few magic words over it, to the adoration of thousands. Why? It won't bring her back, and it won't help her parents, who were negligent enough to leave her on her on own in the first place.
It needs to be stated clearly - taking moral advice from your imaginary friend is a sure road to psychopathy. Forget the condom issue. Forget the abortion issue. Forget even Peter Sutcliffe being told by god to murder women; the tube bombers, who were told by god to blow up commuters and Abraham who was told by god to murder his infant son. Simply consider the difference between an act which is good and an act which is evil. An act which is good is one which helps other people's lives, an act which is evil either harms other people or prevents a good act from being performed. If all your moral advice comes from your imaginary friend, then you're more than likely to perform evil acts, simply by not stopping and considering the consequences. And that's without considering all the evil being done by not allowing scientific research, for example, using stem cells. The more we know about the human condition, the easier it becomes to determine good actions and evil ones - because we know more about what is good and what is harmful for people. But that involves a careful study of evidence, not conversations with yourself...