tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post1966145078880367476..comments2024-03-14T11:50:14.761-04:00Comments on DarwinCatholic: Basically Good People: The Great Modern HeresyDarwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-5308511118097129572013-10-14T15:36:37.254-04:002013-10-14T15:36:37.254-04:00I used to teach high school, and when I caught stu...I used to teach high school, and when I caught students in the act of cheating, they would inevitably respond, "I am sorry. I know I cheated, but you have to believe me. I am not a cheater." We then had to have a lesson in vocabulary.<br /><br />The issue, as so aptly pointed out by Darwin, is that people falsely separate who they are from how they act. The fail to realize that (1) our actions form who we are, and (2) out actions reflect who we are. This, it seems to me, is the main thesis behind Wojtyla's "The Acting Person." Once we separate who we are from our actions, anything become justifiable.<br /><br />Wel done, Darwin.Roma locuta esthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05195180790808891227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-7764463573779702832013-10-10T03:33:24.737-04:002013-10-10T03:33:24.737-04:00+JMJ+
This reminds me of the cliched hatred of A...+JMJ+ <br /><br />This reminds me of the cliched hatred of Adolph Hitler which I frequently run into on Cracked.com. There's no doubt that he caused widespread misery and devastation, but people who have the sketchiest understanding of history seem content to turn him into a scapegoat for the world. Mentioning the Nazis in a post will guarantee a version of the "two minute hate" ritual in the combox. (Maybe that's precisely what the editors want.) It's not enough that we all agree that he was wrong; he must also be branded as evil while we howl. Our very own Emmanuel Goldstein. <br /><br />In more general terms, the problem with thinking of evil as something external to us is that it makes it difficult for us to see our own actions as evil when they objectively are. And it makes innocuous or neutral actions seem evil when they aren't. People don't react very well, for instance, when I say that one reason I'm studying German is so that I can read Albert Speer's books in their original versions someday. Enbrethilielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03414765854670926854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-54007977403895262442013-10-09T12:27:02.503-04:002013-10-09T12:27:02.503-04:00Funny - lately, I've been toying with formulat...Funny - lately, I've been toying with formulating just this idea into syllogisms, to express just how crazy the reasoning is: <br /><br />If unborn children are people, killing them would be murder;<br />My pro-abortion friends and I aren't murderers;<br />Therefore, unborn children are not people.<br /><br />Not completely tidy, but it captures the issue. Joseph Moorehttp://yardsaleofthemind.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-73269539111640685142013-10-09T10:42:27.142-04:002013-10-09T10:42:27.142-04:00This goes hand in hand with the great catechetical...This goes hand in hand with the great catechetical point of our age: Be nice because it's nice to be nice.<br /><br />I don't know if it is human nature or just a modern affliction, but we do not like to acknowledge that the people around us (or ourselves) are capable of doing bad things. <br /><br />I have noticed with amusement that people commenting on his blog tell my husband that he is such a great father. Now, to be clear, I think he is a great father. But these people have no idea if he is or not because they only know him through his writings on a garden blog. <br /><br />The funny thing is that he doesn't really write about the children very often. They occasionally make cameos and that's about it. But because his readers think they know him, they automatically assume he must be a great father. I mean, obviously they wouldn't have positive feelings towards someone who was capable of being a bad father, therefore he must be a good father.<br /><br />I'm getting a little long-winded, but I hope you understand the phenomenon I'm trying to explain.Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12507330852895229468noreply@blogger.com