What's your alignment?

[Angrboda]

It occurs to me that I could have answered this completely differently.


This may paint me in an unfavorable light, for one reason or another, but as we used to say in gaming, "No guts, no glory."

One of my religions, Taoism, is heavily canted towards what is known as the ethics of virtue. (Supposedly Aristotle was a proponent of virtue based ethics, but I haven't read him.) The basic principle of virtue based ethics is that rules (deontological) and outcomes (consequentialism) are not the most important goal of ethics; virtue is. I believe in virtue ethics. As such, I concentrate on cultivating virtue in myself and others. That's my politics. Cultivate virtue first; cultivate the world second. Work as hard as you can at being a good, ethical, virtuous person, and helping others do the same, and the world will be changed.


The highest good is like water.
Water give life to the ten thousand things and does not strive.
It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.
In dwelling, be close to the land.
In meditation, go deep in the heart.
In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.
In speech, be true.
In ruling, be just.
In daily life, be competent.
In action, be aware of the time and the season.

No fight: No blame.

The sage stays behind, thus she is ahead.
She is detached, thus at one with all.
Through selfless action, she attains fulfillment.