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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Morrow" data-source="post: 2157437" data-attributes="member: 27012">You could ask a sports fan which team makes the most intellectually sense to follow.  In many contexts, the "best" team to follow is the one that does the most winning.  Yet sports fans frequently follow and cheer for teams that do not win the most games.  In fact, I know of plenty of sports fans that will bet on teams that the odds are against simply because they are fans of that team.  Why?  Because the heart is not always where the mind is.  That's my point.  And I think morality is an issue of the heart, not the mind.Do you do much sports betting?  Do you know any lifestyle sports fans?  Go to a Philadelphia Eagles game in Philadelphia and cheer for the other team, then tell me again that people don't make this a huge priority in their life.And if you ask a die-hard Eagle's fan, "Which is the best team in the NFL?", plenty will answer, "The Eagles", despite the fact that they didn't win the Superbowl, which is analogous to what you are expecting -- that people will vote for the home team.  But it doesn't follow that all fans will vote for the home team and one can't assume that anyone who says "The Eagles" rather than "The Patiorts" is a die-hard Eagles fan nor can anyone assume that anyone who says "The Patriots" is a Patriots fan.In plenty of cases, this is true.  But in other cases, it's not.  There are die-hard fans who will admit that their own team stinks with a sense of resignation and others who will never admit that their favorite team stinks.  But what you seem to be doing is akin to assuming that everyone who says that The Patriots is the best team in the NFL must be a Patriots fan and so on.  It doesn't follow.  And part of the reason why it doesn't follow is that you are assuming that everyone has strong beliefs about their own morality.  That's no more true than assuming that everyone (or nobody) has strong beliefs about professional football.  And there are plenty of people who admire that which they aren't, which is akin to a person who lives in Philadelphia being an Eagle's fan by default but admiring the Patriots because of their prowess on the field.  (And for an analogy that you complained about, you are sure getting a lot of ground out of it, no?)The parameter that you are assuming is that everyone is, in effect, a die-hard fan of their own moral position and will respond the way you expect die-hard sports fans to react to questions about the best sports team.  I don't think you can assume that.  In fact, I know plenty of people who admire the morality of others more than their own.  That's often why people admire heroes and religions, even when they don't live up to their standards.Ever talk to a fan that cheers for a team that never wins and (unlike Boston) never gets close to winning?</blockquote>

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