Morality and Ethics (and me!)
Virtue and Depravity, Right and Wrong, Good and Evil
Morality: conformity to ideals of right human conduct (virtue, character, decency, goodness, honesty, integrity, probity, rectitude, righteousness, (up)rightness, virtuous(ness)
Ethics: principles of conduct governing a group (or Individual)
Guiding philosophy, (theory, system, set), good and bad, duty and obligation
For me, virtue is letting everybody be who they want (freedom, but without impinging on the rights of others). Maybe “rights” don’t exist objectively, but it’s a convenient way of saying what Jefferson did, “you have the freedom to swing your fist, but that freedom ends at the tip of my nose.” Or, in other words, other people exist, and we all want the same things (basically). The golden rule(s), do unto others as you would have them do to you, as well as, don’t do unto others what you don’t want them do to you. There’s the caveat, of course, that people have different tastes and want different things. But being suicidal doesn’t give you the right to go on a killing spree. And loving everyone shouldn’t make you feel entitled to universal respect in return. The law limits freedom, but in a way that allows everyone to exercise his or her limited freedoms to the greatest extent possible. If you want to kill, join the military. If you want to beat people up, get in a ring. If you want to rape, get into bdsm and find a woman that wants to be dominated. If you want to be depraved for the sake of worshipping satan or something, be willing to serve time, and be raped in prison, and/or beat up, and maybe die. Hell, basically. And if you want to torture, the CIA and military and, of course, people who are into sadism, could all be your bag. There’s a way to meet the need for every kink, and all dark impulses can be satisfied legally, if only in video games.
What is good? The good life. Not suffering, and bliss. The absence of dissatisfaction and the positive presence of pleasure. Money, love, leisure, and things like good food, vacation, good books and movies and music, looking good and feeling good (e.g. endorphins, oxytocin), and being in a good frame of mind (peace, safety, good weather, meditation, yoga, etc.).
A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to god and my country to obey the scout law to keep myself physically strong mentally awake and morally straight. Be prepared. Do a good turn daily. Be a man for others. Love thy neighbor. Love all serve all.
Honesty? Only God is good. God is a man of war. War is the art of deception. Sometimes lies are necessary. They’re a good way to get at the truth. And it’s not illegal to tell lies (except under oath), despite what your mother may have told you. Maybe you decided in your youth, on a policy of truth. I don’t think presidents should do nothing but spew lies all day at the American people. But I do think cops should use any methods at their disposal to legally get to the truth about crime and culprits. And during war, the enemy should be confused and deceived.
Depravity and evil (and DAE!), raw about right and wrong, GE we bring good things to life, Depraved virtue and Darth vader and VD (Venereal disease)…
Depravity is sin at the extreme evil end of the spectrum. Wickedness at another level. Things like abduction, and false imprisonment, and savage beatings, and enslavement, and violent rape, and torture, and thrill-killing murders, and cannibalism. Cruelty of any kind is deeply immoral, in my book. I’m a hypocrite, but I believe meat is murder. The enjoyment I get from eating meat outweighs any moral qualms I might have about animal suffering. But I’m not about to start eating babies. Starting wars is depraved and mass murder or serial-killing is not acceptable, by any means. We’ve all wanted to. At least, I’ve been there. But live and let live. We all have to live with each other.
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