Comments on: the object matters

By: Deanna

Deanna — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:58:40 +0000

Good observation, Fresca. Now I want to look up a-moral. It could sure be the descriptive term for these megalomaniacs. Can someone be (or come to be) without morals? It sounds plausible. Then again, the idea could be used by some to justify not having to consider where they’re coming from or to wish them mercy. I don’t know… Thanks again for your thoughts.

By: Fresca

Fresca — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:58:58 +0000

Hey, Deanna:
This morality and discernment stuff can get tangled very quickly–Or I get easily tripped up in it, anyway!

I know the morality of dictators isn’t your main point, but it intrigues me:
having looked at a bunch of these dictators, they all start to seem the same, and I start to wonder if they really have any foundational morality…

I mean, they tend to be a-moral, and what seems to be foundational for them is simply getting and holding on to power, and any moral vision that helps them do that is OK with them…
Very curious examples of humanity.

Anyway, they always seem to end up using people as means to their ends, and that is certainly a Top Bad Thing in my book!

By: Deanna

Deanna — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:15:35 +0000

Awesome, Fresca. What I was thinking about Book and Mal is very similar, I think, to what you said, and we’ll see how it comes out when I add more to this in a couple days. I love Book; he’s the Firefly character I ended up as when I took the online quiz. “You’re deeply spiritual with a mysterious past,” it said, or something like that. :o)

The Olympics of Thoughtfulness is a great concept! Maybe not so flashy for TV, but I would watch.

And I need to maybe discern between “truths” we believe in the mixture of responses we have to life from instinct and experience and so on and the “truth” that becomes foundational inside a person. I think Hitler came to believe things about morality that were false, such as some people being inferior to others, and this was foundational. Then he struck a path that worked, using his opinions and skills in manipulation and power plays. I will think on it more.

Yes, Deb, there’s a lot to the ideas of tolerance and being more right. This is helpful to my thinking about thinking this through from (in my case, definitely) a flawed worldview.

Glad you like the quotes – I’m always meaning to put up more, sooner.

By: deb

deb — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:15:37 +0000

love your thinking out loud here.
I like to think that I am tolerant of how or what or why people are different from me. Yet I chose my own way based on a belief that I am more right I guess.
And yes, do we just believe in whatever makes us feel good? Or happy. ?

and I love the quotes on your home page, you changed them ,or I finally read them.

By: Fresca

Fresca — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:23:54 +0000

I think Book told Mal to have faith in anything because he knew Mal, and that his faith was a helpful one, but Mal kept denying he had it–it’s not a one-size-fits-all guideline;
but yeah, when film directors stick such statements in their movies they seem that way: Just believe!
Not wise advice. Believe what?

I am a big believer in discernment–learning and practicing to *discern* what to believe and how to practice activating and supporting that belief.
This is a practice that needs exercise and effort as much as athletics does, though I don’t see that being promoted much in our culture.

The Olympics of Thoughtfulness! There’s an idea!

I’m not sure it’s a question of what’s “true” and what’s not:
Hitler believed that people will follow a strongman into hating a select group, if he makes them feel safe and righteous… and that’s true enough.

Good questions, Deanna!