Very interesting discussion. One lesson for me: whenever you start a discussion about morality, expect intensity. A while back I wrote a post called "Evil Triumphs When Good People Do Nothing" based on the very quote by Edmund Burke that David Cain thinks is ridiculous. With all due respect I disagree with David, and wrote the post to explain my position about why I think that quote is so vitally important, especially today. I followed it up with another post called "Become A Force For Good" to clarify what I thought was a weakness of the first post. I'd be very interested to hear what folks here think of my positions in those two posts. Feel free to comment here or on my own blog.
AlexL
Happiness in this World