Here’s an interesting trio:
artisticsolution wrote: Anyone can harm in the name of goodness...it's called terrorism.
Walker wrote: Harming in the name of goodness can also be called self-defense.
artisticsolution wrote: There is no such thing as harming in the name of goodness.
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artisticsolution wrote: There is no such thing as harming in the name of goodness. Harming is not good. Self defense is not good. Self defense is merely an instinct. It is our warped thinking that causes one to say, ' hell yeah...I got to defend myself today...it was a good day!' Who says that? It's much better to not have to defend onesself!
Resorting to self defense may be necessary but I would hardly call it goodness. It is a last resort. We have just been brainwashed to believe its good by movies and the media.
Movies and media are not the standard.
The standard is life. Life is the measure.
A good portion of harm that is done to others is done in the name of goodness, and not just self-defense, either.
Quite often what defines goodness is the satisfaction of desire, and as you likely know, desire is the cause ignorance, and ignorance is the cause of suffering.
A warped, twisted person seeking satisfaction by harming others may not have the detachment to know that their desire to be satisfied by harming people, is warped, twisted, irrational, insane, etc. Or maybe the harmer is a sadist who knows his desire is warped, and harming gives him pleasure for the pain and anguish and suffering that it causes. (Not saying this is the it should be, but rather, this is the way it sometimes is.)
However, just because the harmer thinks that the action of harming is good because it satisfies his desire, does not make it good, for the harmer’s idea of good may be totally warped (especially if he himself is warped, twisted, etc). So if the harmer is some psycho who thinks that torturing and killing is good because it makes him feel good to destroy life, his definition of good is Wrong. It's wrong because life is the measure.
I agree with your insight that it is warped to say: "It’s a good day because I got to kill someone."
I think that a decent person forced into those challenging circumstances is more likely to say: "It’s a good day because my family still lives, and they live because I defended my family from imminent death.
I also agree with your insight that it is much better to not have to defend oneself. To live free and unafraid is the natural inclination. This is why so many people flock to the United States ... for the hope of that dream.
