how exact do we have to be on these things?

After attempting to have a philosophical conversation (and wishing to high heaven that I sounded like one... a philosopher that is... no success) my philosophy major friend threw out the word "fiat". He was talking about (I would say "we" only I think that would give me much too much credit for the random poorly articulated comments I was making) whether or not there was an absolute ethic or not and whether God was the instigator of that ethic or merely another being that followed that ethic. Is there an ultimate good and bad? My friend believes that there is an absolute ethic. But he explained to me that whether or not God was the creator of this ethic or simply has an obedience to this ethic was something he still had to think about. A wonderful question and one that does not shake my understanding of God in the least. In fact, by trying to understand God in this way and considering such a question, I find that I can come closer to God. Is it strange that it doesn't matter to me what the answer to this question is? My friend thinks that that it is, and that such an attitude is the basis of one of the major flaws of having philosophical discussions at all: that my opinions and actions won't change as a result of the discussion. I felt powerless when I tried to respond to this and my rebuttal sounded something like, "Yeah, but in the end... does it really matter if we change or not? Is that our goal?" What? What does that mean? Anyway... Needless to say, he looked at me strangely and said, "And that is why we don't ask these kinds of questions in church."

Well, perhaps my aspirations to become a philosophy graduate student are proving to be more difficult than I first believed.

Still, I found one man who has a possible philosophy on one of my biggest soap boxes. And my friends, perhaps he is right? His is the philosophy I feel is the closest to mine so far. I'll share:

"...miracles cannot be in contravention of natural law, but are wrought through the operation of laws not universally or commonly recognized..."
-J.E.T.
(let me know if you would like a full citation)


And so, without further ado,

fi·at

1.	an authoritative decree, sanction, or order: a royal fiat.

2.	a formula containing the word fiat, by which a person in authority gives sanction.

3.	an arbitrary decree or pronouncement, esp. by a person or group of persons having absolute authority to enforce it: The king ruled by fiat.

[Origin: 1625–35; <>fierī to become]