What is "good" and what is "bad" when it comes to people? (enemy, Jesus)
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Not sure which category this fits in, but just wanted to share some of my thoughts...
GOOD PEOPLE VS BAD PEOPLE
All people have good and bad in each. So a “good” person means MORE good than bad. And a “bad” person means MORE bad than good. BUT, it’s all still very relative. For example, do you consider betraying someone a good thing or a bad thing? Well, in normal life, if it’s your friend or an acquaintance, it’s considered a bad thing. But if you live during the war and this person is from the enemy side, then betraying this person would be considered a good thing.
When you want to kill a person, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Well, during normal life it’s a bad thing. But during the war, again, it’s a good thing.
When a parent prohibits his child to play with the neighbor’s kid because the parent considers the neighbor kid below what he believes to be “good”, is that parent a good person or a bad person? What if that kid is considered “good” by others and the parent is considered to be prejudiced?
When people mistreat others, it’s generally considered as bad. But when this group of people is bigots or prejudiced, then within its members, mistreating the one they are prejudiced against is considered good.
Stealing a girl to make her into a wife could be considered good or bad depending on which culture you live in and which time period.
Cheating – many good people consider it ok to cheat on taxes. And to cheat in other little ways like copying music.
What’s good? What’s bad?
If you are too afraid to give your life for someone, does that make you a bad person? If someone is burning in the house and you are too afraid to go and rescue them, does that make you a bad person?
If someone is asking for help on the road and you are afraid to stop because you’re afraid they may be armed and may harm you, does that make you a bad person if you never stop and help?
If you are religious and you disown your child because of your beliefs and to prove your allegiance to God does that make you a bad person?
If you go to bars and like dancing and drinking, does that make you a bad person?
If you don’t like spending time with children and try to avoid that, does that make you a bad person?
If you are a mafia boss and you mistreat other people, but love your family, are you a good person or a bad person? What determines whether you are a good person or a bad person?
I think that harming others is what determines whether you are a bad person. But then, what if you harm others because you BELIEVE that you’re doing good for them? For example, if you allow your child to die to try to save his soul and don’t allow your child to be treated by the doctors because you believe that it would destroy his soul… are you a bad person or a good person?
Many bad people are bad because they can’t help it. If someone has hurt you a lot and the pain took over and made you into a hard and bitter person, is it really your fault? Could you have helped it? Did you have the power to turn out different? Some people could fight against the pain and bear it and still remain soft and gentle people. But others are too weak to fight and let the pain take over and make bad decisions.
Some people don’t have empathy. And they end up being selfish and only think of themselves because they don’t understand how that makes the other people feel. Such people are considered bad because it’s difficult to be around them. But they don’t have a choice. They were made that way.
So good people and bad people is relative. Plus, some bad people turn out bad because they had no choice. Circumstances, their body’s programming and teachings have shaped them into who they are. So is it really just to punish them? Are they really at fault? Is it really just of God to expect such people to beat all the odds that stand against them and to overcome even though they don’t have enough strength?
And what is justice anyways? Isn’t it just vengeance? “Justice says: you will pay for what you did. Doesn’t vengeance say the same? So God of justice is simply a God of vengeance?
It turns out that God himself who is supposed to be perfectly good is not so good. He punishes those who disobeyed him with torture. Such people would be considered monsters in our society. But God is considered good for doing that. That’s really messed up. God loses his temper. It’s considered an undesirable trait in a person, but I guess for God it’s ok…? God knew in advance that creating people would mean eternal torture for most of them (according to the Bible anyways), and yet he still went ahead and created them? Just so that he could please himself with a few faithful ones? What kind of “good” is that?
We are better than God. We can love strangers too. We can help others. We do have “God’s love” and more. God’s love means: if you obey me, I will love you. If you don’t, I will torture you. And not only that, if you don’t love me fully and you lose “your first love” for me, I will reject you and send you to torture. What a God!
No one is perfectly good. Not even God. Or maybe I should say: least of all God. So take hope everybody, we are all in the same boat: God and all…. We are all damaged… Didn’t it even say that God has created evil as well as good? Well…. we are his creation. And they could make an excuse for God and say: he made us perfect and then we disobeyed…. Well then, he didn’t make us perfect, did he? Perfect people don’t disobey. So it’s true that we were made in God’s image: humanity is truly the children of the God of the Bible: hot tempered, vengeful, narrow minded, intolerant, loving to those who love us, sometimes even loving to those who don’t like us (just because some of us are soft and gentle), forgiving some and not forgiving others, being selfish and doing things to please self even if we know it would bring pain to others…
So therefore, in all honestly, humanity has created God according to their own image, not the other way around. And there is no perfect person that we all should strive to be like. We can only be who we are. We should strive to be better to the best of our ability and beliefs. But that’s all we can do. It’s a false teaching that says that you can be as perfect as such and such person. We can only be who we can be. There is potential for growth. But we can’t turn ourselves into someone else. We should be ourselves. But try to live the way that makes us pleased with ourselves. And we really SHOULD learn to love ourselves. I bet there is some sort of a secret in this. I bet learning to love our SELF will help us later to love others. At the moment, we are much more into judging. We judge our selves and we judge others.
Judging is easy. It comes naturally. But seeing beyond the seemingly bad and loving in spite of faults that is a higher ground.
Good or bad is decided by society. That society sets "norms" for what is acceptable and non-acceptable behaviors. They reinforce these "norms" by creating laws. So, a society and it's laws establish what is good or bad. And, often, those "norms" or laws are created based on morality of a society. And, of course, morality is normally based on the religion the largest percentage of the population subscribe to (if any).
Since very little in life is rudimentarily good or bad, it's individual behaviors that are considered good or bad. This goes back to the basic survival of man in it's most primeval form - in the way that the ends justify the means.
For example, food is scarce for a small tribe of people. A man reaches over because he's still hungry and pulls food from an emaciated baby. That baby may perish because of lack of nourishment because of the actions of that man. Is that good or bad?
What if the man needed it to keep his strength up for future hunts, or for defense of his tribe against another? Another child could be sired. But, without that extra protein or vitamins the food provided, it could have been more devastating for the tribe than a child dying.
Is that any better?
Good or bad is determined by society based on morality as set forth in their laws.
But remember, different societies, different religions, different moralities, different "norms", different perspectives on "good and "bad."
“Savages we call them, because their manners differ from ours, which we think the perfection of civility; they think the same of theirs. ” - Benjamin Franklin
Not sure which category this fits in, but just wanted to share some of my thoughts...
GOOD PEOPLE VS BAD PEOPLE
All people have good and bad in each. So a “good” person means MORE good than bad. And a “bad” person means MORE bad than good. BUT, it’s all still very relative. For example, do you consider betraying someone a good thing or a bad thing? Well, in normal life, if it’s your friend or an acquaintance, it’s considered a bad thing. But if you live during the war and this person is from the enemy side, then betraying this person would be considered a good thing.
When you want to kill a person, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Well, during normal life it’s a bad thing. But during the war, again, it’s a good thing.
When a parent prohibits his child to play with the neighbor’s kid because the parent considers the neighbor kid below what he believes to be “good”, is that parent a good person or a bad person? What if that kid is considered “good” by others and the parent is considered to be prejudiced?
When people mistreat others, it’s generally considered as bad. But when this group of people is bigots or prejudiced, then within its members, mistreating the one they are prejudiced against is considered good.
Stealing a girl to make her into a wife could be considered good or bad depending on which culture you live in and which time period.
Cheating – many good people consider it ok to cheat on taxes. And to cheat in other little ways like copying music.
What’s good? What’s bad?
If you are too afraid to give your life for someone, does that make you a bad person? If someone is burning in the house and you are too afraid to go and rescue them, does that make you a bad person?
If someone is asking for help on the road and you are afraid to stop because you’re afraid they may be armed and may harm you, does that make you a bad person if you never stop and help?
If you are religious and you disown your child because of your beliefs and to prove your allegiance to God does that make you a bad person?
If you go to bars and like dancing and drinking, does that make you a bad person?
If you don’t like spending time with children and try to avoid that, does that make you a bad person?
If you are a mafia boss and you mistreat other people, but love your family, are you a good person or a bad person? What determines whether you are a good person or a bad person?
I think that harming others is what determines whether you are a bad person. But then, what if you harm others because you BELIEVE that you’re doing good for them? For example, if you allow your child to die to try to save his soul and don’t allow your child to be treated by the doctors because you believe that it would destroy his soul… are you a bad person or a good person?
Many bad people are bad because they can’t help it. If someone has hurt you a lot and the pain took over and made you into a hard and bitter person, is it really your fault? Could you have helped it? Did you have the power to turn out different? Some people could fight against the pain and bear it and still remain soft and gentle people. But others are too weak to fight and let the pain take over and make bad decisions.
Some people don’t have empathy. And they end up being selfish and only think of themselves because they don’t understand how that makes the other people feel. Such people are considered bad because it’s difficult to be around them. But they don’t have a choice. They were made that way.
So good people and bad people is relative. Plus, some bad people turn out bad because they had no choice. Circumstances, their body’s programming and teachings have shaped them into who they are. So is it really just to punish them? Are they really at fault? Is it really just of God to expect such people to beat all the odds that stand against them and to overcome even though they don’t have enough strength?
And what is justice anyways? Isn’t it just vengeance? “Justice says: you will pay for what you did. Doesn’t vengeance say the same? So God of justice is simply a God of vengeance?
It turns out that God himself who is supposed to be perfectly good is not so good. He punishes those who disobeyed him with torture. Such people would be considered monsters in our society. But God is considered good for doing that. That’s really messed up. God loses his temper. It’s considered an undesirable trait in a person, but I guess for God it’s ok…? God knew in advance that creating people would mean eternal torture for most of them (according to the Bible anyways), and yet he still went ahead and created them? Just so that he could please himself with a few faithful ones? What kind of “good” is that?
We are better than God. We can love strangers too. We can help others. We do have “God’s love” and more. God’s love means: if you obey me, I will love you. If you don’t, I will torture you. And not only that, if you don’t love me fully and you lose “your first love” for me, I will reject you and send you to torture. What a God!
No one is perfectly good. Not even God. Or maybe I should say: least of all God. So take hope everybody, we are all in the same boat: God and all…. We are all damaged… Didn’t it even say that God has created evil as well as good? Well…. we are his creation. And they could make an excuse for God and say: he made us perfect and then we disobeyed…. Well then, he didn’t make us perfect, did he? Perfect people don’t disobey. So it’s true that we were made in God’s image: humanity is truly the children of the God of the Bible: hot tempered, vengeful, narrow minded, intolerant, loving to those who love us, sometimes even loving to those who don’t like us (just because some of us are soft and gentle), forgiving some and not forgiving others, being selfish and doing things to please self even if we know it would bring pain to others…
So therefore, in all honestly, humanity has created God according to their own image, not the other way around. And there is no perfect person that we all should strive to be like. We can only be who we are. We should strive to be better to the best of our ability and beliefs. But that’s all we can do. It’s a false teaching that says that you can be as perfect as such and such person. We can only be who we can be. There is potential for growth. But we can’t turn ourselves into someone else. We should be ourselves. But try to live the way that makes us pleased with ourselves. And we really SHOULD learn to love ourselves. I bet there is some sort of a secret in this. I bet learning to love our SELF will help us later to love others. At the moment, we are much more into judging. We judge our selves and we judge others.
Judging is easy. It comes naturally. But seeing beyond the seemingly bad and loving in spite of faults that is a higher ground.
My sister inlaw used to pick her nose, and I ain't tellin' ya what she did with 'em either. BAD, BAD, BAD, and eeeeewww nasty.
We have been taught since we were younger what is considered "good" and what is "bad"..
In certain cases, it's natural. When someone punches, hits, slaps, and pinches you,then I think it's natural to become sad or angry or even cry.
When someones tickles you, shakes your hand, etc, we've been taught to laugh, or have no typical reaction at all.
In other cases, we're taught that something is good or bad based on what society believes is good or bad, sometimes not coming from fact.
For instance- hitting woman is considered wrong but society, but in fact, it would add to be the same if you hit a man.
Smoking, drinking,lust, etc, is something that I believe is proven to be wrong.
Smoking causes cancer
Drinking,if excessive can cause your kidneys to fail
Lust is a major addiction and depending on your religion,for me is one of the "Seven Deadly Sins"
I tend to mind my own business and try not to judge...with that being stated hypocrites REALLY bother me and it really doesn't matter what they are being hyopcritical about! I think people should either practice what they preach or keep their mouths shut period.
I tend to mind my own business and try not to judge...with that being stated hypocrites REALLY bother me and it really doesn't matter what they are being hyopcritical about! I think people should either practice what they preach or keep their mouths shut period.
Jesus said about pharisees (aka: hypocrites): what they tell you, that do... what they do that don't imitate
in other words: their behavior is bad so don't imitate it, but their words are right, try to do it
so on the other hand, what if no one ever talked about "doing the right thing" or doing it the right way... how would people know how to do it right? where would they get that information?
it's like people are messengers of good information; but they just can't do it themselves (or in lots in cases they can't)
but if we followed the rule: don't say it unless you can do it, then almost no one would say anything because almost no one can do it right
but when we heard it said (by someone) at least we can strive to achieve the good things
so from this perspective, it's a good thing that some people keep saying how things should be (even if they can't do it themselves)
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