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Originally Posted by jorgelito
Pan did this once too in a thread meant to explore breaking partisanship.
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I loved that thread.
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Originally Posted by jorgelito
Just because the human condition seems primed for war and destruction, and history would tell us so, doesn't necessarily mean we have to be bound by it.
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Jorgeito gets it.
I appreciate you articulating it better than I.
My friends keep getting hurt. I keep hearing about atrocities committed by simple people who wouldn't normally hurt a fly. I want to do something about it and I honestly believe that most people want to do good.
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Originally Posted by Cynthetiq
I know plenty about the seven deadly sins. I wrote what I wrote the way I wanted the reader to read it. I didn't say anything about "And God said," or "The pope said..." Funny how you also tossed in the original gangster of reading Easy Reader who only read what was Chyroned onto the screen and nothing more and nothing less.
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Okay, speaking to the human condition:
We all have in us the ability to take a life in cold blood. This is one of those things you learn in psych 101. It's a really sad fact, but it's something to bear in mind because it's really important in understanding the way the human mind works. Here's the thing: not everyone does take a life. As a matter of fact, on the whole very few people take a life. It's about consciously making the decision whether or not to take a life. This may come as a surprise, but if I can help it I will never take a life. I don't think I have the right to take the life of anyone but myself. I know it's difficult to imagine that kind of decision being made on a massive scale, but doing so gives me hope.
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Originally Posted by Cynthetiq
The only way to have "peace" is to remove the part that is the X factor in the equation. That is to remove the human condition. If you can remove that, then you can achieve "peace" but I also think that the seven deadly sins are things that keep us alive and kicking. They are the things that make us human beings and without them we are without souls but just automatons.
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I'm not talking about removing conflict, I'm talking about removing war. I suspect that conflict may always be with humanity. War, on the other hand, is the biggest and worst form of conflict (besides maybe genocide, which can result from war). Yes, there may be no way to ever end fights, but to escalate to war.... don't you think that may be a different story?
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Originally Posted by Cynthetiq
We all need some pride otherwise, why do worthy things? Will does things that give him great pride like protesting wars, writing letters to government officials, etc, but not too much pride that he's big headed about them. Greed to some degree is good as is lust. It is the degree at which these affect us as individuals. The amount that I can tolerate is not the same as what will can tolerate and what either of us could be way below what you are able to tolerate.
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They are a part of the human psyche, sort of, but it's how we respond to these things that count. As you said, pride can be a great motivator or reward for good.