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<blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 7820256" data-attributes="member: 463">I think there's an important Paladin-relevant point there about not giving in to evil, not giving it the satisfaction of having you comply with what it wants you to do. There's even a consequentialist point there that defying evil makes evil less likely to do the same thing in future. It's not fair to expect Sophie to punch the Nazi on the nose when he tells her to choose between her children, but Sophie's not a Paladin.I was listening to a Youtube video on Thursday about Uday Hussain's body double. Uday ordered him to kill a man (the father of a newlywed woman Uday had raped, who then killed herself) - rather than comply, the body double attempted to kill himself, denying Uday the satisfaction of compliance. I think most people see these acts of defiance as morally praiseworthy in themselves, I know I do. Even though it wasn't going to save the father and might well have resulted in the body double dying too. And again, that was just an Iraqi army officer, not a Paladin.Some people are saying we should always comply with Evil - surrender to Evil - if that seems likely to have better consequences, eg keep us alive, keep a loved one alive. Even if you think that's the morally-correct answer, I don't think that's how a Code-adherent Paladin is supposed to act. IRL I say I'm a Utilitarian, but I play a Paladin to be a Paladin.If the old German guy in The Avengers can refuse to kneel to Loki, surely a Paladin can.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="S'mon, post: 7820256, member: 463"] I think there's an important Paladin-relevant point there about not giving in to evil, not giving it the satisfaction of having you comply with what it wants you to do. There's even a consequentialist point there that defying evil makes evil less likely to do the same thing in future. It's not fair to expect Sophie to punch the Nazi on the nose when he tells her to choose between her children, but Sophie's not a Paladin. I was listening to a Youtube video on Thursday about Uday Hussain's body double. Uday ordered him to kill a man (the father of a newlywed woman Uday had raped, who then killed herself) - rather than comply, the body double attempted to kill himself, denying Uday the satisfaction of compliance. I think most people see these acts of defiance as morally praiseworthy in themselves, I know I do. Even though it wasn't going to save the father and might well have resulted in the body double dying too. And again, that was just an Iraqi army officer, not a Paladin. Some people are saying we should always comply with Evil - surrender to Evil - if that seems likely to have better consequences, eg keep us alive, keep a loved one alive. Even if you think that's the morally-correct answer, I don't think that's how a Code-adherent Paladin is supposed to act. IRL I say I'm a Utilitarian, but I play a Paladin to be a Paladin. If the old German guy in The Avengers can refuse to kneel to Loki, surely a Paladin can. [/QUOTE]

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