Rex, I appreciate your critique – your points have merit, and I respect them. However, just as I arguably went a little too far in one direction, you arguably went a little too far in the opposite direction.

I see morality not as a “principle,” but as a human impulse. A lot of this conclusion came from reading Patricia Churchland’s Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition. I believe morality is ultimately only effected in organized society through social contract. So you could say this belief of mine about morality was another implied premise. Overall, I accept your critique of my syllogism as inadequate.

Turning to the quote above, who do you include in “we”? “Reasonable people”? Or all people? Some people are not reasonable and tolerant, so how productively could they be included in the discussions you allude to? I believe the United States, as the country defined and ordered by its Constitution, now faces an existential threat, and that when all other measures have failed, it will be too late. If you believe differently, I respect that, in the spirit you express in the above quote. My impression is you are more idealistic on these points than me.