With apologies to Edena, I hear your point, but I can't understand why anyone would have a problem with the rational discussion going on here. We've all been very good boys and girls so far.
For the record, I fully support Snoopy as an icon for Chaotic Good.
T.H. White's King Arthur makes an excellent Lawful Good icon, unfortunately, there have been so many variations on Arthur that he makes a bad choice for an icon. Galahad could serve. He's ALWAYS Lawful Good, but he's packed with ALL the stereotypes) Jean-Luc Picard may be the best untainted choice.
I know there's been disagreement on this, but Palpatine is, I think, the epitome of Lawful Evil, as was Darth Vader in the Empire Strikes Back.
I can't even imagine who could be icons for True Neutral and Chaotic Neutral. True Neutral because it's so rare, and Chaotic Neutral because it's so hard to define. Hercules, maybe? (The mythic one. The TV show Hercules seemed Chaotic Good from what I saw.)
Anyway, back to the forbidden discussion. I would ask that any moderators who take exception to this, just edit my post to remove the below, rather than closing the thread. I'll take the hint.
DonAdam said:
This isn't my interpretation. Rather, one worships God by showing charity towards one's neighbor.
EXACTLY! But that's not what many people do. They go into Church once a week, repeat endless variations of "Yay God!" and then go home and kick the neighbor's dog. The message has gotten lost somewhere. For actual, honest-to-goodness charity, I'd put the stoned, atheist, ultra-liberal college student way out in front of 90% of your steady churchgoers. And I hate to give them that much credit because those kids annoy me to no end, but it's true.
"Law does enter into it. The law (which, by Catholic theology, everybody has implicitly via the natural law) is necessary to know what, in fact, helps your neighbor."
No, all you need is common sense, empathy, and basic listening skills to tell you what helps your neighbor. I don't need the law to tell me murder is wrong. I don't need the law to tell me adultery is wrong. If I took a vow to love one person only, I don't need the State or the Church to keep an eye on me. And it's not hard to make the connection that helping someone else break their vows is also wrong.
"Not true. He SUMMED UP the 10 commandments with that statement."
...
"Orthodox theologians (and myself, and orthodox student of theology) would argue that God's truth is eternal, so what's right and wrong won't change with time.
However, I will agree with what I see to be the nugget of truth in this statement: it is adaptable to individual situations, which allows prudence to enter into the picture."
Agreed on the nature of truth. Right and wrong are eternal constants. And I was not referring so much to allowing prudence into the picture as removal of inherent biases that creep into both Scripture and Law. Gender bias, for example, STILL appears to be lurking about in theological law. And despite Jesus accepting all people as equal in the eyes of God, it took the Church a LONG time to get hot under the collar about slavery. Jesus summed up the intent of the law, without all the baggage that law picks up. Ditch the law, and focus on the MESSAGE behind it. That way gender bias, racial bias, and all the rest go right out the window.
Definitely a candidate for Chaotic Neutral.
