Sini's "Moral Luck" example is not the best, because the action is inherently immoral in most people's mind (i.e. Playing Russion Roulette).

The classic example is:

You & I both run a red light, I get pulled over & receive a ticket for my action. You happen to strike & kill a pedestrian who though it was safe to cross the street. You are charged with manslaughter.

Our actions were exactly the same, we both ran a red light ... but the outcomes & punishments were very different.

Most people will view your action as "less moral" than mine, because of the outcome ... even though, as a matter of fact, our actions were identical ... we both ran a red light & both received punishment for our actions.

Thus the idea of "Moral Luck". Seems, I had it in this scenario & you did not ... of course the pedestrian happened to be very unlucky as well.

My suggestion is that when engaging in a conversations such as this, with someone who has with no religous belief, use the term "Ethics" rather than "Morals" ... describe things as "Unethical" rather than "Immoral". These are terms they can relate to & neutralizes the conversation from all that is "God", or "Jesus" related ... most of the time, without them even realizing it.

After all, Ethics, is just a secular term for the age-old concept of Morals. It can be quite comical & I often crack myself up interchanging the two terms depending on who I am talking to.

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