But how good are we really??

[The Grand Nudger]

I have killed a shit load of people, mostly those were trying to kill me, or would have tried if I'd have given them the least chance. But if you ask the people who know me IRL they'd say I was  a good person. They say it often enough to me.

I get the same.  People thank me for what I've done without asking what I did...and if i ever tell them...they come up with reasons -for- me.  I don't know about you, but the strangest thing for me is realizing that by most other peoples standards (at least the people in my social circle) I'm a boy scout, a walking saint.  The kid nextdoor.  I watch them agonize over their own moral status while giving me a pass to do..it seems..pretty much anything.

I don't think I'll ever forgive myself (but at the same time ther's a part of me that doesn't give a single fuck)....but every year, I get a holiday and a bunch of flag waiving and people say horrible shit that they probably think I agree with about what I did, about who I am and who I'll always be...and on the inside I;m positively dying but I don't have the heart to take it from them.

[drfuzzy]

As Astreja said - I have had my share of revenge fantasies.  And I have made plans to take revenge that I simply did not act on.  I cannot say that's because I was behaving as a "good" person, or that my conscience took over.  It was a combination of fear of getting caught with simple . . . lack of energy to follow through.
    I studied for 30 years at a karate school.  We were quite literally taught how to kill another human beings - hundreds of ways.  We also had group discussion sessions to talk about what would happen IF . . .      Working with that type of violence and fear and self-protection also taught most of us to look at the possible consequences of our actions.  I had a teacher who went to Thailand to study Muy Thai and get in the ring and fight.  I saw a thoughtful, gentle, caring, controlled man turn into something very scary for those 5 rounds.  I asked him, afterward, how it felt.  What made him get in that ring. (No, I'm not talking about competition or strategy.  I'm talking about - wanting to physically maim another human being.)  He said that it was very instructive to "let the monster out occasionally - and then put him back in his cage".   To look at a piece that exists in all of us - the animal that is capable of killing under certain circumstances.  Parents understand this.  All you have to do is ask them what they would do if they caught a stranger harming their child.  The gentlest, most logical, most pacifistic Mom you know will respond "I would kill the sonofabitch."  That's literal.

So I find answering the question "am I a good person" - a little challenging.  I try to treat people with respect.  I try to listen,  I try to cause no harm.  The universal "golden rule" seems to be in play most of the time.  

But I have also seen the nasty side of humanity.  I have been a "victim".  Which means that I have also honestly said, once or twice, that I understand why some people take guns into a crowded venue and start shooting.  That feeling of being mistreated and that everyone you see is going to stab you in the back - - that one's a bitch to get past.  But I also get completely distraught if I cause others pain.  I hit a squirrel with my car last week and cried off and on most of the day because of it.  So you have a total wussy marshmallow who has actually considered shooting up a crowd.  Is this a sign of insanity?         

Am I a caring person?  Yes.  Am I a good listener?  Yes.  Am I empathetic?  Most of the time.  I think empathy is essential for humanity.  I tend to think "bad person" is usually someone selfish, who thinks of other people as just things to be used.  Am I a good person?  I'm a human being with my own crappy history who is trying to be a good person.

[Catholic_Lady]

So, how many times have you resisted doing something you thought was immoral even though you really wanted to do it and had the opportunity to do it?

Can't count how many times. How often? The majority of the time but can't claim I'm perfect.

Really? That's pretty good. I find that when I want to do something and have the opportunity to do it, I most likely will, even if i think it is immoral.

[Nay_Sayer]

On a scale from 1-10; 11

[vorlon13]

Not-killing, not-raping, and not-cheating seem like awfully low bars to clear to claim the mantle of goodness.

What is good to me, lies not in simply refraining from evil, but instead lies in the positive things we do, in particular for others (and not just our families).

Well, let's not over generalize on the not killing aspect. Any believer failing to off an Amalekite is, by definition, not good.

God would be within His rights to blot out any remembrance of anyone offering succor or alms to an Amalekite, let alone allowing one to live.

[Minimalist]

If "good" is self-determined then why isn't "morality" self-determined?

We probably agree that incest is bad AND immoral.  Yet in Ancient Egypt we have an entire culture which expected the pharaoh to marry his sister to maintain the purity of the royal blood line.  They seemed to think that incest was highly moral.  Almost a sacred duty.

[The Valkyrie]

Can't count how many times. How often? The majority of the time but can't claim I'm perfect.

Really? That's pretty good. I find that when I want to do something and have the opportunity to do it, I most likely will, even if i think it is immoral.

That surprises me.

Personally, if I acted on some of the urges I've had over the years I'd likely be doing life in prison.

[brewer]

Can't count how many times. How often? The majority of the time but can't claim I'm perfect.

Really? That's pretty good. I find that when I want to do something and have the opportunity to do it, I most likely will, even if i think it is immoral.

My guess is that you and I have a different threshold for immoral.

[vorlon13]

Really? That's pretty good. I find that when I want to do something and have the opportunity to do it, I most likely will, even if i think it is immoral.

That surprises me.

Personally, if I acted on some of the urges I've had over the years I'd likely be doing life in prison.

there would be a lake of molten lava still cooling outside of Chicago had I the ability to invoke it in the first place . . .

[The Grand Nudger]

So..uh, if you ever do manage that, there are some people I'd like to toss in it.  No apologies. Don't ask questions. I'll pay for access.