Don’t put that in your mouth. Unless …

Ok - so, I am the mom of a 5 yr old and the other day he put a bunch of pennies in his mouth. He didn’t have a good reason why he did that, though he did say they tasted horrible. Like any good mom, I made up a new rule. If it isn’t food, it doesn’t belong in your mouth. Simple enough. Self-evident. Easy to follow and easy to understand. No exceptions. Right?

Wrong. My sister kindly pointed out that toothbrushes and toothpaste are not food, yet, they do indeed belong in your mouth. So, there you have it. No rule, no matter how simple or how obvious or how much you agree with it is absolute. They all have valid exceptions.

Why am I bringing this up? Because Humanism is all about personal ethics and ethics are nothing more then a set of rules to help you be a better more moral person. The problem is that many people treat ethical rules as if they are absolute when they aren’t. Humanists understand that all ethics are situational. Meaning that even if a rule is good, there are times when you need to break it to do the right thing. For instance, if you don’t occasionally put non-foodstuff in your mouth, like a toothbrush, your teeth will eventually fall out.