Intelligent, serious, respectful question to everyone (part 2)?

Question

Good morning, I am an agnostic, not trying to change anyones religion, follow up to this question:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Atltv_xbLJZcp8nSKZnseR_sy6IX?qid=20060817092051AAlv7Qv

Do you, regardless of your religion, or your sexuality of any of that, believe it is your duty as a human being, to fight injustice in whatever form it is?

When you do this, do you look for correllations of the people who you feel are being "unjust". For example, if we noticed that a certain demographic kept doing something, would we take note?

As an example, if we kept noticing people in white sheets kept leaving the scene of a lynching, would we try and find out the root cause to prevent future lynchings, or just arrest everyone we see leaving the scene of a lynching.

If for example, the root cause was hatred, justified by a book, lets say, book of yellow marker, would you feel justified attacking that interpretation of that book of yellow marker?

That isn't to say that the book of yellow marker itself is bad, just that a specific interpretation of the book of yellow marker is used by a demographic of people, to put on white sheets, and go and lynch their fellow man. That isn't to say that you would be justified in burning all the books of yellow marker, but would be justified going in public and saying the interpretation of the book of yellow marker to justify lynching is an incorrect interpretation, and that those people should be ashamed of yourself.

Answer 1

I believe that is part of our duty, yes. I have to admit that my brain hurts a little from your question though...think of me what you will, Jim, I apologize. I think I see your point, and it is a very good one.

Answer 2

I think in the situation as you have given you have to take both options not one or the other. As lynching is illegal and deadly if you come across one then yes it is right to let the proper authorities know so arrests can be made. The victim in that kind of situation has no power to do so and if I were in that situation I'd like someone to do the same for me.

You have to look at the societal factors which can be causing such lynchings to take place as lynching anyone of any gender, sexuality, age, race or ethnic background is a heinous act one which society at large does not condone.

The book even if written with a hateful lean is not the problem.. human interpretation is. You can't ban books, if you start that you will become such an restricted society that personal freedom will not exist. In the end.. the human makes the final decision as to how their behavior is going to be.

Answer 3

I am really sorry but your question is very long and makes for difficult reading so forgive me if I haven't understood it correctly when I give you my answer.

I think it is everyones job to keep the world a better place. If we see someone doing something wrong we should, as a decent human race, report it to the proper authorities. I don't believe in becoming a vigilante, that just gives others the chance to use it as a weapon rather than a real cause. If you want to fight crime, become a policeman and do it the proper way. The same way that if we see someone hurt or in distress we should call an ambulance, not just make things worse by trying to correct something you don't know anything about.

Unfortunately we can't get rid of hate. It is such a strong emotion and comes in many forms. We can however reduce it by being nicer, kinder and more understanding of others feelings and beliefs.

I am not a religious person. I don't particularly believe in God but I do live my life as a decent person. I don't kill, hurt, steal, loathe or anything like that. I treat everyone the same, in the same way I expect to be treated myself. I think it has to do with your upbringing rather than any religion.
I have a very open mind and welcome different views and opinions. Having a difference of opinion makes us all the individuals we are.

Answer 4

You are so very clever. To arrest the people involved in the lynching would only make them appear to be martyrs and further their cause. To get at the root of the problem would be a better option. So let's say that it is their interpretation of the book of yellow marker that is the cause, you would have the near impossible task of re-educating and convincing them that their interpretation was wrong. I would feel very justified in trying to do that, however I would also have to be prepared to handle the reaction and my own frustration. Sometimes we just have to let them continue to believe their warped and harmful interpretation and prevent the behavior that comes with it.

Answer 5

I do not feel that I am in a position to decide what is just and what isn't. For example, there is a huge debate regarding abortion. Many say it's wrong, many say it's acceptable, and many say it's acceptable in certain situations. Personally, I'm pro-choice, but many would disagree with my views and say that harming embryos and fetuses is equal to murder. They would consider abortions throughout the world to be the same as a genocide. The pro-life people would try to fight what they believe to be an injustice. Meanwhile, I would think that their "fighting" denies women the right to make decisions regarding to their bodies, so I'd "fight" the injustice of the pro-life people. My point is that we don't always know who's just.

As for noticing patterns, the best thing to do would be to find the root of the problem. If I noticed that members of the KKK were lynching minorites, the best thing to do, in my opinion, would be to try to educate their children to teach them tolerance. (You can't mold the minds of adults.) The lynchers, however, should be penalized for comitting murder.

It is O.K., in my opinion, to try to influence the way people interpret things. Take the Bible for instance. If everyone were to share their input on what certain parts mean, we would find an explanation acceptable to lots of people. (Ex.: Creation could've happened in longer than a week if not taken literally. Coincides with evolution without disproving creation story.)

Answer 6

I see where you are going with this and, once again, you have an excellent point.

It is not that the book is bad or tells people to do bad things, it is how those specific people chose to interpret that specific book. They chose to interpret it to suit their own racist beliefs, while that may not have been what the book was intended for. Therefore, their actions were not justified because of this book. Their actions were not justified at all - they just used the book to hide behind. They used it to blame their wrongful actions on.

Excellent comparison.

Answer 7

Sortof, I guess. I'm not a super-hero, but injustice angers me. This book of yellow marker (aka bible) is bad in and of itself, if those reading it are useing it as a history book or a set of instructions from a god. And they are doing that. It is verbose and boring at best as literature only. But, that is not what people use it for. Even the moral lessons contradict eachother, and promote intolerance, violence and general stupidity. They should be put in a museum as artifacts of our primative culture and warning labels should be put on them telling would be readers not to take the writings literally. Aparently, it's needed.

Answer 8

i'm sorry - yet you're the two too youthful to be making this determination.you would be the uncommon exception - yet statistics teach marriages at this age have little or no probability of fulfillment. in case you the two bypass to varsity, date different persons, etc. and nevertheless sense a similar way 2 or 3 years from now then you rather would desire to pursue your thoughts. the way you sense at 18 and how you sense at 21 are particularly diverse. !8 is amazingly purely too youthful to marry. My niece did this exact same subject. all and sundry knew they have been destined to be jointly and the two households have been very close and supportive. Now she is 30 with 2 infants and he has come to a call he desires to experience different women persons and "life" as a results of fact he on no account have been given to try this before he married, they at the instant are in the strategies-set of a painful divorce for them and the youngsters after 12 years of marriage. Sorry that may not what you had to hearken to - yet you will desire to hearken to those with experience.

Answer 9

Injustice is Repugnant to most People.
If System's and Theory's (Detective Work) wouldn't be used for Evil, we could catch more of the Criminal Element.
A National Identity Card is not Wrong in itself, now is it?
But Look how much Evil it COULD be used for if Initiated.
There are Enemy's of America---posing as American's trying to Bring us Down (remember the Commie's--with-out a Shot) getting us to make Law's that will Eventually Bring Down America.
Alot of our own People do it too, out of Greed. (Love of money).
Man might not ever reach Perfection on this EARTH at this time, but we can try to do Good.
Hope this helps.

Answer 10

Yes, I do try to find the root cause of such injustice. That is one of the reasons I am here. Many people have misconceptions about Wicca, I try to dispell the misconceptions so that Wiccans can be respected like every other religion or philosophy.

Answer 11

It's hard to separate one from one's religious beliefs when those beliefs are at the core of one's world view, but here goes...

Religious beliefs aside, I don't believe I would feel responsible to fight injustice in any form other than that which attacked me and mine (though banding together with others might afford me and mine greater personal protection). Under such a world view, "collateral damage" of my actions wouldn't matter only if such would affect me and mine. Therefore, I would look for correlations of those who're unjust towards me and mine, but I would only do so to keep an eye on them, not to take action towards them. I would not want to attract their attention towards me and mine if they might potentially have a propensity towards injustice towards me and mine.

I don't think that was quite what you were looking for, but I thought it might be an interesting angle for you. Good luck with your question.