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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jonesy" data-source="post: 4940315" data-attributes="member: 10324">To tell the truth? Which truth? If a mother steals food for her children from another mother whose children also need the food, is she: A) a thief who preys upon the weak, or B) a good person forced to extreme measures? Whose truth? The other mother can truthfully testify that she is a thief. Her children can truthfully testify that she is a good person. She can herself truthfully testify that her intentions were good. The law can side with her (she had to help her own children, it would have been unlawful to allow them to starve), or against her (she stole food from children who are now starving). Whose law? If the criminal law states that thieves lose an arm, and the constitutional law states that her children have a right not to starve, do you chop off the mothers arm or not? Lawful isn't a clear term, and neither is truth. Perspective matters, always.Keep their word? Do you seriously believe that only lawful people can keep their word?Respect authority? What if the authority in question is a crazy mad king who orders you to murder a family just because? And which respect are we talking about here? "I respect your decisions, but will not honor them as they go against the law."? "I respect your decisions, and will honor them as they are the law."? "I respect you as a person, but will not do as you say."? "I respect your power to make decisions, and will do as you say."?Honor tradition? Which tradition? If the tradition in your family is to steal horses and the tradition in your land is to remove the tongues of horse thieves? Do you steal the horse and then remove your own tongue? And what if they are both against the law?Judge those who fall short of their duties? How is that not ambiguous in the extreme? How can you decide what the measure of someones duty is? Which duty? The duty of being a good human? The mother has the duty not to steal, and the duty to steal for her children. The duty of being a law abiding citizen? Do you let your children starve and fail your duty to protect them? Do you steal and fail your duty to follow the letter of that particular law?Innocent of what? Which type of innocence? If your children steal food for themselves without knowledge of the law, and the law lacks a term for innocence by ignorance, are they or aren't they?Altruistic? So I'm a good person if I increase the well being of a poor man who kills people, by sacrificing my own well being? What if I donate money to a "get eye surgery for the blind pedophile" campaign?Respect life? Whose life? All of it, or just "good life"? Respect how? What does that even mean?Concern for the dignity of sentient beings? I am not going to touch that one at all as it gets into the whole pro-life/pro-choice mess. We won't solve that here, if anywhere.If one can't definitively define what is lawful good, how could one ever hope to define chaotic neutral?</blockquote>

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