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Does One Have a Moral Responsibility to Fight Evil?

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Author Topic: Does One Have a Moral Responsibility to Fight Evil?  (Read 2989 times)
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Dawn Moline
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« on: July 08, 2007, 05:53:49 pm »

First, let us define evil in terms of "acts," not people.

Very few people are entirely good or evil for that matter. Seven out of ten people might believe George Bush to be evil, the remaining three might well he is doing God's work.  There are very few Adolph Hitlers out there wherein we can all agree what evil is. (and I am certain that even Hitler still has his supporters)

We are ordinary citizens, we see a crime occuring - perhaps, a murder of some kind.  Your neighborhood police would have you call them to stop it, and yet there isn't time. True sacrifice often only comes at great risk to one's self. Do we try and stop it? 

Do we even think we have the reponsibility to try and stop it?  Many would say the right things, but I fear many of our actions would be silent.

I would say that we have lost our connection with one another, but I really don't believe that.  We have NEVER had a connection with one another. 

Oh, we feel that connection with our friends, our family, but strangers? I am afraid not.

In humanity's long struggle, the fight has never been that of good versus evil, but rather the struggle to survive.  In that struggle, lives, principles and morals are sacrificed we become something less than we should be.

When fear and survival are our over-riding principles and when the names of victims are simply nameless strangers that we could care less about, I must ask, is that a life even worth living at all?

Cheers,

Dawn
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"The unexamined life is one not worth leading."
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HereForNow
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HUH?


« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2007, 06:16:58 pm »

In humanity's long struggle, the fight has never been that of good versus evil, but rather the struggle to survive.  In that struggle, lives, principles and morals are sacrificed we become something less than we should be.

When fear and survival are our over-riding principles and when the names of victims are simply nameless strangers that we could care less about, I must ask, is that a life even worth living at all?



Dawn, we have to know the good and bad.
If a mountain was totally smooth, what would we have to keep us from slipping?
These mistakes, or choices people make to "slaughter the sheep", if you will. Without regaurd is how those of us who don't make them choices, become all the more less likely of ever doing it.
Plenty of times I would drive to work and some individual might do something that just "irked" me abit and I wanted to just smile and "Hit the Gas"........(PA drivers  Angry)
You all know what I'm saying.  Smiley
Ofcourse, I'm just not that irresponsible. Can't do that!
That's where I win against evil. I tell it "NO, not right now"...
 Others who choose that path to destroy, wound up throwing there life away for a cheap thrill, and the worst part is that it didn't make them feel any better.  Cheesy
When fear and survival are our over-riding principles and when the names of victims are simply nameless strangers that we could care less about, I must ask, is that a life even worth living at all?


To best answer that, let's consider what we gain and lose either way. In the end, were left with still another moment that we must make that choice, there and then.
Good and Evil in today's world is acknowledged as either regression or progression in life style, and how you cope with consequences brought on by your actions. It's a complicated thing to answer directly because I was taught to never judge others. I guess in a sence we are more obligated to direct our own steps.

Cheers!
« Last Edit: July 08, 2007, 10:03:11 pm by HereForNow » Report Spam   Logged

Volitzer
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« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2007, 12:20:10 am »

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!   Smiley
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KTCat
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« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2007, 01:27:38 pm »

"Evil" is a word that has been flung about rather freely, if you ask me. Throughout history, almost all cultures that were seen as having different beliefs and ways of doing things were defined as "evil." I am certainly not saying that evil doesn't exit, nor am I saying that it shouldn't be fought, but I certainly do believe one must have a very clear definition of what constitutes "evil" before any nation or group of people declairs a battle against it.
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Aristotle
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« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2007, 01:31:21 pm »

Quote
It's a complicated thing to answer directly because I was taught to never judge others. I guess in a sence we are more obligated to direct our own steps.

Respectfully, Herefornow, I think we each end up judging what is good and what is evil everyday.  What is good and what is evil?  That is why we have laws, I suppose, to clarify things.

In the old days, the Ice Age, for instance, people did not have the luxury of having laws, it simply was a matter of survival, and might, of course, made right.

In a sense, might still does make right.  I am an American, but I am not blindly patriotic.  Throughout our history, if one really looks at our history, we truly have treated other nations abominably at times, all in the name of selfish self-interest. Napalming the Vietnamese, for instance, or bombing houses in Iraq. I can see, full well, how others might view our own nations actions as "evil."
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« Reply #5 on: July 09, 2007, 02:10:43 pm »


In the old days, the Ice Age, for instance, people did not have the luxury of having laws, it simply was a matter of survival, and might, of course, made right.


Ari,  That is a HUGE assumtion!   
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ILLIGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM

Thus ye may find in thy mental and spiritual self, ye can make thyself just as happy or just as miserable as ye like. How miserable do ye want to be?......For you GROW to heaven, you don't GO to heaven. It is within thine own conscience that ye grow there.

Edgar Cayce
HereForNow
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« Reply #6 on: July 09, 2007, 11:09:53 pm »

 When we look at politics as a whole, it's a collective debate of power.
As a member of the working poor, I'm entitled to pay taxes and bills to maintain social structure.
I'm a slave to a power that is not supporting the will of God. Good or Evil, is obvious without judging the individuals making these choices. I know that killing is wrong regaurdless of why it's being done.
It's all motivated by "Pride & Greed".....

I guess when you get down to it, those of us who choose not to live materialistically, but spiritually do so as a matter of survival. If I live to see the prophecy of revelations be fulfilled, I will need to know this anyhow. The Material world around us will pass away and as history has shown. It's back to square one.
I have judged good and evil as actions I may make along the paths I travel. The actions of another are the choices they have made all the same. All that we can do for others is pray for them, and continue to not make any bad choices for the sake of ourselves and loved ones. This is how good and evil is learned.
« Last Edit: July 09, 2007, 11:12:13 pm by HereForNow » Report Spam   Logged

Aristotle
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« Reply #7 on: July 10, 2007, 12:00:12 am »


In the old days, the Ice Age, for instance, people did not have the luxury of having laws, it simply was a matter of survival, and might, of course, made right.


Ari,  That is a HUGE assumtion!   

And yet, it is the truth, Rockessence, nonetheless - Rome, Persia, the Egyptians.  Does anyone truly believe that they were anymore just or fair than the people they conquered?  They were not, and yet, they made the rules just the same.
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« Reply #8 on: July 10, 2007, 12:05:14 am »

Quote
If I live to see the prophecy of revelations be fulfilled, I will need to know this anyhow.


I actually pity those that spend their entire lives, waiting for some prophecy to be fulfilled, Herefornow. Not only are those prophecies, most likely misinterpreted, the people who wrote them were, most likely, not gifted with anymore special insight than we are.  In other, words, they place their faith in another person's dream, or, perhaps, nightmare.

It is up to each individual to find their own truth, not accept that version of the truth given to us by someone else.
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HereForNow
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HUH?


« Reply #9 on: July 10, 2007, 11:22:39 am »

Quote
If I live to see the prophecy of revelations be fulfilled, I will need to know this anyhow.


I actually pity those that spend their entire lives, waiting for some prophecy to be fulfilled, Herefornow. Not only are those prophecies, most likely misinterpreted, the people who wrote them were, most likely, not gifted with anymore special insight than we are.  In other, words, they place their faith in another person's dream, or, perhaps, nightmare.

It is up to each individual to find their own truth, not accept that version of the truth given to us by someone else.

Yet this is just about the whole point I was trying to make Aristotle. If we are taking the time to get things right with our own spirit, the fate of the rest of the world regaurdless of what that is will not affect those who have found happiness in beleiving in something that gives them peace. They simply pass away feeling more fulfilled then those who choose to spend their entire lives, desiring nothing more then the world can offer.

I'm not waiting for the end of the world. I'm trying to raise my spirit, before I die. I used it more as an example.
The end of everything is not going to be something we have any control over if it even happens. I would just like the chance to make whats left of my life alot more spiritually enlightened with more positive things then the world is serving up now. By beleiving in things like unconditional love for all people, and looking for more peaceful ways to solve problems we progress beyond the barbarian mantality that the world has today. To do nothing is to just give up and conform to what we know is wrong. I see no pregression in that, do you?
I'm not being argumentive in this point. I'm just not willing to accept that this is the best we can do. I choose to beleive in something besides political power being the governing force in my life. I'm trying to evolve beyond what I've become in spirit. Without judging others in the process......
« Last Edit: July 10, 2007, 11:27:27 am by HereForNow » Report Spam   Logged

Jake
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« Reply #10 on: July 31, 2007, 03:46:30 am »

Quote
... the prophecy of revelations...

Not to get of track here, but HereForNow are/were you a Jehovah's Witness? It is not a bad thing if so. It would mean that you are bringing a very different perspective to these discussions. Just curious.

I for one think that the more, and varied, perspectives we can get, the better.

My obviously ambiguous view of "evil" makes my responding to this topic very hard. As such other than this intrusion, I will continue to read along.
Sorry to disrupt the train of posting.  Smiley

Jake
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Volitzer
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« Reply #11 on: July 31, 2007, 03:03:07 pm »

Ambiguous!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Hell look at Communist-China, look at the Bushtapo in America, look at the overall Illuminati, look at the International-Socialist Order.

It's not a question of ambigious it is a question of category.
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rockessence
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« Reply #12 on: July 31, 2007, 08:27:51 pm »

Saw a bumper sticker today....BUSH...LIKE A ROCK...ONLY DUMBER
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ILLIGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM

Thus ye may find in thy mental and spiritual self, ye can make thyself just as happy or just as miserable as ye like. How miserable do ye want to be?......For you GROW to heaven, you don't GO to heaven. It is within thine own conscience that ye grow there.

Edgar Cayce
Tom Hebert
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« Reply #13 on: August 01, 2007, 04:21:14 am »

First, let us define evil in terms of "acts," not people.

Very few people are entirely good or evil for that matter. Seven out of ten people might believe George Bush to be evil, the remaining three might well he is doing God's work.  There are very few Adolph Hitlers out there wherein we can all agree what evil is. (and I am certain that even Hitler still has his supporters)

Now, this is true.  When I was in college during the radical 60's, students were asked to join in the boycott and demonstrations of cafeteria workers against the company owners.  I did not feel led to participate.  To do so would be to assume that cafeteria workers are "good people" and that cafeteria owners are "bad people."

Quote
We are ordinary citizens, we see a crime occuring - perhaps, a murder of some kind.  Your neighborhood police would have you call them to stop it, and yet there isn't time. True sacrifice often only comes at great risk to one's self. Do we try and stop it? 

I think this depends on the risks and benefits that are involved.  It may not have anything to do with selfishness.  Most people seeing a small child drowning in a lake would jump in and try to same him, assuming you could swim.

On the other hand, if you see a convenience store being robbed at gunpoint, are you going to try to wrestle the robber?  Is it worth risking your life for a few dollars from the cash register?

Quote
Do we even think we have the reponsibility to try and stop it?  Many would say the right things, but I fear many of our actions would be silent.

We have a moral responsibility to do good, but that's different from having a responsibility to stop evil.

Quote
I would say that we have lost our connection with one another, but I really don't believe that.  We have NEVER had a connection with one another. 

Oh, we feel that connection with our friends, our family, but strangers? I am afraid not.

In humanity's long struggle, the fight has never been that of good versus evil, but rather the struggle to survive.  In that struggle, lives, principles and morals are sacrificed we become something less than we should be.

When fear and survival are our over-riding principles and when the names of victims are simply nameless strangers that we could care less about, I must ask, is that a life even worth living at all?

No.  And that's why I believe that we really haven't lost our connection with one another.
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Jake
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« Reply #14 on: August 01, 2007, 10:57:46 am »

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." - Albert Einstein

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