Re: Christian Morality

On Thu, 08 Dec 2005 23:13:37 +0200, Tom Higgins <tom.higgins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Tom Higgins had said.. 
We *always* desire good things. So, how do we ever manage to sin? By
manipulating our own judgment to heighten a partial good we desire in
something, and downplay the evil.

Paul Dean said.. 
I think it's perfectly possible to desire the absence of good.  Is it
possible to hate?


I'm saying that all our actions are either good, or a mixture of good
and evil, and that there is no such thing as an action which is only
evil -- because evil is the *partial* lack of good in something, and not
something that actually exists in its own right.

You may be right, but it doesn't sit well with me for some reason. Can you help me out with identifying the partial good(s) in the following examples?

1) Andrew hates his brother Brian because of a gradual disaffection and distrust which subconsciously began with Brian's eyes being too close together, while the increase in dislike was hung, for subconscious convenience, on certain mildly annoying habits (his laugh is too shrill, for example). Over the years, Andrew really can't stand the sight of Brian and it so happens that he has a secret opportunity to influence Brian's application for a job. Andrew sabotages the application simply because he hates Brian, even though he knows Brian would be quite good in the job and it would have no effect at all on Andrew.

2) Even though he has been sprinkled with the blood of Christ, Charles feels an irrational burden of guilt and shame. He hates himself i.e. he makes choices to damage himself. He spites his prospective lover, he is lackadaisical in his job because he doesn't feel he should advance, he secretly cuts himself to cause pain. There is a secret voice urging him to this self-hate and most of all he hates the fact that the voice is a part of himself.

3) David has a secret hobby - he drives the motorways waiting for boy racers on their motorbikes to speed pass him on an inner lane. Then at just the right time he goes down a lane, quite legally, in such a way that there's a fair chance the bike will crash and kill the rider but that he can continue driving on perhaps with only a scratch on his rear bumper. He does this because he enjoys the thrill of doing something he knows is completely wrong and then acting normal with his normal frisnds - it makes his heart race and it lifts a virtual middle finger to his annoyingly normal friends.

4) Erol spends all his days cadging drinks off other bums in the local drinking pit. He prefers being drunk so that he doesn't have to think about his life, which would involve too much effort and too many uncomfortable truths. Frank, a fellow wastrel, refuses to share the alcoholic proceeds of a fiver he was given by a passer-by and so Erol knifes him and takes the drink. He did it because he hates him - he wanted the drink instead so he could lose himself and his responsibilities for another hour. The knifing incident will later become another thing he's trying to smudge with his numbing lifestyle.

--
Paul
.

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