How Many Bad People?

[Journeyman]

15% my estimate

 

[blueedwards]

along with child molesters, child beaters, child kidnappers, cannibals, serial killers, sex slave owners, etc....thats how you know they are bad....

what about people who:

cheat on their taxes
cheat on their wives
act in their own best interest to the detriment of others
ignore their family to climb the corporate ladder
trade based on inside information
drive in excess of the speed limit
take credit at work for a job they did not do
use their power to make someone else look bad
make fun of people or talk behind their back

are those people good?

everyone thinks they're "good" because they are comparing themselves to someone who is "worse".

 

[sherman]

15% my estimate

these 15 to 20% estimates shock me...so out of every 5 people i meet, one is crazy? man, if it's higher than just .00001%, we are in trouble...

 

[Journeyman]

Earlier today I'm biking minding my own business, listening to music headphones on....these two cars pass by me and head down to the park I'm riding to...when the 2nd car passes this b!tch in the passenger seat yells something out at me, so when i get to the parking lot of the park the 2 couples are geting out, and again the young woman yells something at me....So I ride right by them and say "excuse me"? the two females in the group yell something back at me, and tell me to keep riding, i did nthing to these people....this is just how it is, people are a$$holes , there is no respect given anywhere anymore....

Another time I'm biking and this group of young punks threw a full beer can at me going about 50MPH as they rode by me , thank God it didn't hit me....

 

[VaultedTreehouse]

what about people who:

cheat on their taxes
cheat on their wives
act in their own best interest to the detriment of others
ignore their family to climb the corporate ladder
trade based on inside information
drive in excess of the speed limit
take credit at work for a job they did not do
use their power to make someone else look bad
make fun of people or talk behind their back

are those people good?

everyone thinks they're "good" because they are comparing themselves to someone who is "worse".

Good points blue. I would say 10% are truly bad people. Most are average. Some are good.

 

[sherman]

what about people who:

cheat on their taxes
cheat on their wives
act in their own best interest to the detriment of others
ignore their family to climb the corporate ladder
trade based on inside information
drive in excess of the speed limit
take credit at work for a job they did not do
use their power to make someone else look bad
make fun of people or talk behind their back

are those people good?

everyone thinks they're "good" because they are comparing themselves to someone who is "worse".

people don't lose sleep because of people like that...

 

[blueedwards]

people don't lose sleep because of people like that...

depends...think your wife would lose sleep if you were cheating on her?

 

[sherman]

depends...think your wife would lose sleep if you were cheating on her?

yes, but i'd hardly compare the two.....

 

[Noreaga+]

what about people who:

cheat on their taxes
cheat on their wives
act in their own best interest to the detriment of others
ignore their family to climb the corporate ladder
trade based on inside information
drive in excess of the speed limit
take credit at work for a job they did not do
use their power to make someone else look bad
make fun of people or talk behind their back

are those people good?

everyone thinks they're "good" because they are comparing themselves to someone who is "worse".

blue I take part in 5 of those, quite often.

 

[sherman]

i'm guilty of three....

 

[blueedwards]

i'm guilty too. just trying to make a point...

 

[Illini]

Interesting thoughts. I think the issue of whether someone is good or bad really depends on what's in their heart. Whether or not someone speeds or not gives no indication of that. Cheating on your wife does. Cheating on your taxes does, too. Do you have to be perfect to be good? I don't think so.

 

[blueedwards]

my point is, who sets the standard?

can i define what is good and what is not? can you? is it one of those "relative absolutes" that this culture loves to use?

this jerry hobbs guy who stabbed his daughter in the eyes probably thinks, deep down, he is good. he probably compares himself to jeffery dahmer and thinks "i never ate anybody". sure, he did a bad thing but, it was during a fit of rage after his daughter disobeyed him. he was somewhat justified in his mind.

who decides whether he is good or not good? what standard is used and is that standard absolute or does it change depending on the culture and the time?

you say that breaking the speed limit laws (which i do just about everyday, btw) shows no indication of a bad heart. are you sure? someone who does this, knowingly violates a law. if he were pulled over, he would fully expect to pay a fine. he would be guilty of defying a law. is that an indication of a "good" heart?

 

[Illini]

All I can do is go by my conscience. I don't normally speed, but sometimes I do. I guess when I do, I think about what would happen if I got caught. The officer would say, "you know, you were really driving too fast." I would say "I know, I'm sorry." I would pay the fine, and the cop would not think I'm a bad guy, and neither would I. More of a mistake, I guess, than something that would make me a bad person. I have no idea how to make sense of these total misfits that walk the earth alongside us. I know that I am not capable of murder. The fact that they are....how are they? I don't know. They have something that I don't have. If I wanted to become a murderer, I would not be able to. So those that can and do, how are they able to do it? I just have no idea. On the one hand, I say just execute them, as they are total garbage. On the other hand, I would like to interview them and seek to understand how they got to that point. I was watching a show on serial killers, and the experts that were interviewed said that sociopaths have no conscience, and are not really even human. It's depressing to think that our society has that evil in it. I have no answers, only confusion. But do I think of myself as a bad person? No, I don't.

 

[blueedwards]

you are saying that murder is worse than speeding. i agree. but, if you say that you can speed and still be "good"...well, you have to define what "good" is first to make that call.

some would say you could cheat on your taxes and still be "good" because the government cheats us all the time so, it all evens out. some would say you can cheat on your wife because, if she is a terrible cook...well, she doesn't live up to her end of the bargain either. some would say that talking about someone behind their back is fine...if they deserve it.

see my point?

everyone thinks they are "good". they will compare and rationalize away bad behaviors to convince themselves of it.

try to get through a day without rationalizing something...it ain't easy.

 

[Illini]

Blue, I know that you are talking from a Christian point of view. Reading between the lines, I know what you are really saying is that God defines what is good, and that there is no such thing as good, except for God. That all of us are evil. I know that you would say that you, yourself, are evil and deserve hell. I've said those things before, because I was in the church culture, and that was what people said....the cliches of Christianity. But when you break it down, do you really believe those cliches? Do you really believe that it would be fair and just for God to send you to a burning fire of hell for eternity? That it is actually the correct place for you to spend eternity, and that it's a miracle that you won't have to go there? Seems like a stretch to me, and doesn't exactly agree with my conscience.

 

[blueedwards]

Blue, I know that you are talking from a Christian point of view. Reading between the lines, I know what you are really saying is that God defines what is good, and that there is no such thing as good, except for God. That all of us are evil. I know that you would say that you, yourself, are evil and deserve hell. I've said those things before, because I was in the church culture, and that was what people said....the cliches of Christianity. But when you break it down, do you really believe those cliches? Do you really believe that it would be fair and just for God to send you to a burning fire of hell for eternity? That it is actually the correct place for you to spend eternity, and that it's a miracle that you won't have to go there? Seems like a stretch to me, and doesn't exactly agree with my conscience.

i understand what you are saying but, you need to remove emotion from the picture and look at it logically. here is what i mean:

you said "...would it be fair and just for God to..."

think about that statement for a minute...you, a created being, are attempting to evaluate whether God, the creator, is acting fairly and justly. does that make any sense at all? especially since God created the concept of fairness and justice. He put it in your conscience, which is how you know that murder is bad.

if God has a definition of what "good" is and you have a different definition...which is the one that matters?

 

[Illini]

Very good points. However, isn't the concept of hell still very difficult for your conscience to accept? I mean, who am I to argue with God? But, at the same time, maybe God has put that in my conscience, because he really isn't exactly the way that Christians describe him to be. That's all I'm saying is that it sounds over the top.

 

[blueedwards]

Very good points. However, isn't the concept of hell still very difficult for your conscience to accept? I mean, who am I to argue with God? But, at the same time, maybe God has put that in my conscience, because he really isn't exactly the way that Christians describe him to be. That's all I'm saying is that it sounds over the top.

just throw that on the pile of things difficult to conceptualize and/or accept. ever try thinking about eternity for a while? try it tonight, you will go nuts.

i have a finite brain that cant fathom everything...doesn't mean those things aren't true though.

 

[Illini]

Eternity is an interesting concept, and yes, it does drive you nuts to think about it. I find it easy and obvious to believe in God. Figuring out exactly who God is, however, is a very difficult task. But it is one that I am working on. I do find that I probably believe in an afterlife, just because this life is so incomplete, full of suffering, and so unfulfilling. Life is pretty much a job, and if this is all there is, what is the point?