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Morality 2 - Heaven or Hell on Earth
11 years ago
This is probably going to be my last post for a long time.
How do we decide what is right and wrong? How do we determine what is good and bad? Why does it matter?
These questions are vital because man was "gifted" with a moral intuition that drives his need to know the difference for right and wrong. But altogether, morality itself presents conflict between man.
The "prime difficulty," as presented by one of my school textbooks and by a few philosophers I met in person, is that everyone's sense of right and wrong, good and bad, are different, and they conflict. If they were all the same, there would not be debate, not be fighting, not be crime. The amount of worth we give to rules ultimately provides the dividing line between men. It is why there are political parties, it is why there is violence.
Ultimately, the "freedom" provided to us by the fruits a long time ago are what's going to be the death of us.
This grayscale spectrum between men is why some men advocate for peace and why some men are the reason for the death of upward of sixty million people. The "good" person is only "good" while someone thinks he is good. It is merely a matter of opinion. Our culture has been able to instill a pretty decent moral intuition into its young who grow up here, but looking at the incredible amounts of murder, we can tell that people still will have different systems. It is also, why, when examined closely, no one has the right to call someone else wrong or right. And speaking of rights, they are merely opinion as well.
There are people who think of us as animals. There are people who think of us as gods. As things are, neither have to true to treat anyone like either an animal or a god. The worth between people is merely dependent upon what people want and what they feel.
It is the fruit of relativism, frankly. It is man trying to achieve perfection while denying it is possible.
This is why I advocate for Christianity so hard.
Christianity itself provides a sempiternal system of right and good.
When I was much younger, as this story goes as told by my dad, I asked him "Why are there people in suffering if people could fix it?" or something to that effect. Why is there any bad at all? At the time of that question, I was an atheist and had no understanding of what good and wrong meant in the grand scale, I was merely concerned with being a good person to myself.
The conflict was brought up in my mind for a long time... Why should I buy a video game when there are people out there suffering and starving? $60 could feed a village if it's in the right hands.
Frankly, I ended up doing mission trips with my church to help those I could.
...But in the weight of this darkness I felt small. It is because I am. I am literally a small human being unable to fix the world by himself.
And... in this world... in order to help those people I have to convince others that their time is better spent with helping others. Do any of you see how heartbreaking that is? People are dying because of our selfishness, greed, and gluttony.
What is right and wrong needs to be separate from our opinion. It is not just my opinion, it is necessity.
The question becomes "How can I do the most good for God" instead of "How can I do what I feel is most right as I am feeling it now?" God demands that we minimize negative utility and do what we can to maximize the positive utility (love) while keeping our intentions clean and minds clear.
That is not easy, that will never be easy. It will make us a "good" person in the eyes of God, while it is our belief in Him that will determine our place.
I mentioned, in a conversation last night, that the reason for denominations/separations was because people were bringing their opinions into their Church and not the other way around. Instead of holding to the ultimate divider of good and bad, the Bible, they bicker over what part of the Bible best suits them and ignore the rest or pretend that the rest doesn't matter. People don't understand the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, and the Bible's reasons for sin. It doesn't matter, to some, about the justification behind any of it.
But I am driven to write this with a somber mind and a smashed heart. The reason I do what I do is because I think I can maximize the good utility as best I can later in life, not because it provides the most good at the moment. I could explain in detail, but I do not feel the want to.
All I want and need to do is to love people, but in the last year or so I have bastardized myself to the point that I no longer can grasp the concepts of love. I have been so heartbroken and damaged by the world that it is leaking in and I can barely feel the desire to do good or bad anymore.
If I broke down, submitted to relativism, I would become a shade of who I am. The "Curo" you see now would cease to exist, simply because this knowledge of right and wrong and good and bad will be lost and I would be wildly in support of whatever feels good.
Frankly, pain, drugs, vain affection, and sex are all that feel good to me. I would become one of the worst wrecks you would probably ever see.
But I can't ditch this. It is my duty as a Christian to love others and I can't simply give in to my desires and hurt the ones I love.
How do we decide what is right and wrong? How do we determine what is good and bad? Why does it matter?
These questions are vital because man was "gifted" with a moral intuition that drives his need to know the difference for right and wrong. But altogether, morality itself presents conflict between man.
The "prime difficulty," as presented by one of my school textbooks and by a few philosophers I met in person, is that everyone's sense of right and wrong, good and bad, are different, and they conflict. If they were all the same, there would not be debate, not be fighting, not be crime. The amount of worth we give to rules ultimately provides the dividing line between men. It is why there are political parties, it is why there is violence.
Ultimately, the "freedom" provided to us by the fruits a long time ago are what's going to be the death of us.
This grayscale spectrum between men is why some men advocate for peace and why some men are the reason for the death of upward of sixty million people. The "good" person is only "good" while someone thinks he is good. It is merely a matter of opinion. Our culture has been able to instill a pretty decent moral intuition into its young who grow up here, but looking at the incredible amounts of murder, we can tell that people still will have different systems. It is also, why, when examined closely, no one has the right to call someone else wrong or right. And speaking of rights, they are merely opinion as well.
There are people who think of us as animals. There are people who think of us as gods. As things are, neither have to true to treat anyone like either an animal or a god. The worth between people is merely dependent upon what people want and what they feel.
It is the fruit of relativism, frankly. It is man trying to achieve perfection while denying it is possible.
This is why I advocate for Christianity so hard.
Christianity itself provides a sempiternal system of right and good.
When I was much younger, as this story goes as told by my dad, I asked him "Why are there people in suffering if people could fix it?" or something to that effect. Why is there any bad at all? At the time of that question, I was an atheist and had no understanding of what good and wrong meant in the grand scale, I was merely concerned with being a good person to myself.
The conflict was brought up in my mind for a long time... Why should I buy a video game when there are people out there suffering and starving? $60 could feed a village if it's in the right hands.
Frankly, I ended up doing mission trips with my church to help those I could.
...But in the weight of this darkness I felt small. It is because I am. I am literally a small human being unable to fix the world by himself.
And... in this world... in order to help those people I have to convince others that their time is better spent with helping others. Do any of you see how heartbreaking that is? People are dying because of our selfishness, greed, and gluttony.
What is right and wrong needs to be separate from our opinion. It is not just my opinion, it is necessity.
The question becomes "How can I do the most good for God" instead of "How can I do what I feel is most right as I am feeling it now?" God demands that we minimize negative utility and do what we can to maximize the positive utility (love) while keeping our intentions clean and minds clear.
That is not easy, that will never be easy. It will make us a "good" person in the eyes of God, while it is our belief in Him that will determine our place.
I mentioned, in a conversation last night, that the reason for denominations/separations was because people were bringing their opinions into their Church and not the other way around. Instead of holding to the ultimate divider of good and bad, the Bible, they bicker over what part of the Bible best suits them and ignore the rest or pretend that the rest doesn't matter. People don't understand the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, and the Bible's reasons for sin. It doesn't matter, to some, about the justification behind any of it.
But I am driven to write this with a somber mind and a smashed heart. The reason I do what I do is because I think I can maximize the good utility as best I can later in life, not because it provides the most good at the moment. I could explain in detail, but I do not feel the want to.
All I want and need to do is to love people, but in the last year or so I have bastardized myself to the point that I no longer can grasp the concepts of love. I have been so heartbroken and damaged by the world that it is leaking in and I can barely feel the desire to do good or bad anymore.
If I broke down, submitted to relativism, I would become a shade of who I am. The "Curo" you see now would cease to exist, simply because this knowledge of right and wrong and good and bad will be lost and I would be wildly in support of whatever feels good.
Frankly, pain, drugs, vain affection, and sex are all that feel good to me. I would become one of the worst wrecks you would probably ever see.
But I can't ditch this. It is my duty as a Christian to love others and I can't simply give in to my desires and hurt the ones I love.
