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Originally Posted by asaris
Further, I don't know why we're not allowed to use scripture to defend our moral and/or metaphysical beliefs and/or choices. If you ask me why I chose to give money to charity, and I answer "Because the Bible says that's a good thing", why isn't that a good answer? Similarly, if you ask why I believe in angels, and I say, "Because the Bible says that there are angels", why is that a bad answer? Surely it's, at the worst, no worse than believing in the existence of Australia because your Uncle Joe says it's there.
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Good points to bring up.
I think that solely using scripture to defends one's beliefs and choices is a poor method of philosophy because there are stronger and more valuable means of discussion.
Lets use your example of giving money to charity. If the reasoning behind your giving "is because the Bible says it is a good thing", this is less philosophically valuable than questioning it. I think that it would be more valuable to question one's reasoning, perhaps even after the fact. Such as, "The Bible says that charity is a good thing, and
this [insert other reason here] is why this is true."
I am not saying that it is necissarily inappropriate for people to believe things solely upon scripture. I would not advocate it, but I'm not particularly against it. What I am against, is people passing scripture for philosophy. If it is not open to questioning it is not philosophy. If one believes that their view is infallible and does not ever need to adapt,change, or evolve, then they will not make a good philosopher.
For the same reason, people who scream "THERE IS NO GOD!!" and do not listen to any other opinion is just as poor a philosopher.
(And as far as the Australia thing goes, Australia can be easily verified. Angels can't really be. It's sort of like me saying "I believe in jabberwocks because Lewis Carrol says so, and Lewis Carrol is infallible." It's not bad, but why bother trying to figure out philosophically if jabberwocks and angels exist? That is neither moral nor metaphycial.)