What IS good, and how do we determine it?

[Catholic_Lady]

What I said was the murder is inherently immoral. Murder is already defined as a wrongful killing.

My apologies.  Over a thread this long, the memory of an aging man slips.

So what you're saying is that sometimes killing a human being is not wrong?

Hey, no problem at all. And yes, that is correct.

I believe killing is only moral in self defense. I'm sorry if you find this sad.

Yet, you've defined "self-defense" as defending a third party, even a third party unknown to the defending killer, meaning that your definition of moral killing, as opposed to murder, is rather elastic. Were  the German soldiers defending Berlin in 1945 behaving morally?  They knew the war was lost, they knew that Jews had been gassed by the millions, and they fought because they were afraid of what the Russians might do to their wives and daughters.  Yet their fighting prolonged the war, prolonged Hitler's life, and killed men themselves.

Were those killings moral?

You are correct, the morality of killing is dependent on several factors. That is why I don't think killing is inherently wrong. But the general rule is to always try to preserve life wherever you can and leave killing as a last resort, if that makes sense.

And that is a very good question. I don't want to give my opinion on that particular war simply because I am absolutely horrible with history and I don't want to form my opinion on something like this without knowing all the ins and outs. Sometimes in grey areas like that, you have to comb through the really fine details, of which I do not have.

So the answer to your question depends on the circumstances.

And that, my dear, is the essence of moral relativity.

Some things depend on the circumstances, others are inherently immoral regardless of circumstances. This one in particular depends on the circumstances. But let me make it clear that I believe it still does have a definitive answer as to weather or not it is moral.

^All this per my beliefs, of course.

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 LOL, to the best of their abilities.., now following doctrine is subjective as well?

Catholicism is about guilt.  It is in the interests of the priests to keep the hoops too high for the dogs to navigate.

By that I meant that no one is perfect, so no one is going to do everything the right way all the time. We just have to continue to try our best.

Having been an active Catholic my whole life, I can tell you that Catholicism is not about guilt.