I think it was in "Huck Finn", but I'm not sure now. I remember it to this day because it struck me as so right. I welcome your thoughts on how it applies to morality and spirituality/religion.
A little background. I think it's when Huck is helping Jim escape to the north and is worried about the illegality of his actions he thinks,
"Sometimes a man just has to forget his principles and do what he knows is right."
2007-10-07 02:32:18 · 12 answers · asked by Joao 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
He was taught to put blacks in second place as slaves, but he could feel that those principles were not right. Like some people are taught to obey the preacher, but when you know he is wrong, you ignore him.
2007-10-07 02:40:02 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Its been many years since I real this book but my memory is that the central struggle is Huck helping the slave Jim. In his society, culture, and even the religious consensus of the time Jim is fairly the property of another and wrong to run away. Huck would be wrong to help a slave do so. I believe this quote is part of Huck's decision to cast aside what his culture dictates is the right thing and help Jim because that is what he reasons himself is right.
2007-10-07 09:40:46 · answer #2 · answered by Zen Pirate 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think Leviathan has hit on the irony that Clements was getting at.
What we know to be right can be at odds with what prevailing society holds as right. The saints of God battled with this all the time.
Our principles are the things that are supposed to tell us what is right and wrong. But our principles are often formed by less-than-perfect creations, like society. I'd bet it is safe to say that most of our near-to-the-heart principles of the 21st century in the US are societal and not scriptural, such as the pervasive prejudice against gay people.
But "a man," to use Huck's phrase, has an inner sense of moral and immoral, and if it isn't dulled by his society, he can be caught in the dilemma that Huck had: what society says is moral vs. what his own heart KNOWS to be moral.
It takes enormous courage to go against a leviathan (no offense, man) like society and follow what you know in your heart to be the right thing to do.
2007-10-07 09:39:28 · answer #3 · answered by Acorn 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You have your principles.....and then there is a higher prespective at times which is kinda like the Supreme Court and can over ride certain situations. In this case it appears to me the illegality was by mans terms not God's. So even though he broke the rules which may have applied to his principles (breaking the law)....from a spiritual view it was the right thing to do even if it was wrong. In that respect yes, you do what you have to do.
2007-10-07 10:23:23 · answer #4 · answered by Sage 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I actually think this has to do with the disparity that exists between what we are taught to believe by others and what we learn when we deal with things by the core of the teachings.
Don't forget that Huck did not know how to read, so his knowledge was based on what he had heard others saying... the laws and the like...
He was referring to the laws as "his principles" with respect to being lawbiding.
when people step back from their own faces long enough to look at what they have been taught by ministers who teach from the bible, then they will have a strong understanding of right and wrong. "Love one another" -- one of the two greatest commandments as depicted by Jesus, the Christ.
2007-10-07 09:40:44 · answer #5 · answered by Vman 2040 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A man's principles is what he thinks is right and life can come along and show you that what you thought was correct, really is not and you have to change the way you think.
2007-10-07 09:36:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Considering Twain was pretty atheistic, and was also well aware of the biblical defenses of slavery common in the South, I suspect his comment was that using authority as your guideline to right and wrong is a flawed approach, you need to use your brain instead of following "commandments."
2007-10-07 09:38:06 · answer #7 · answered by Brent Y 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
A principle may be base on what one may think not a believe.
2007-10-07 13:26:46 · answer #8 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Recall the source.
The author was Mark Twain.
He was a very bitter man who hated religion.
You may wish to read a bit of his life before accepting his thoughts.
2007-10-07 09:38:09 · answer #9 · answered by Uncle Thesis 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋
I thought it was our principles that told us what was 'right'.
2007-10-07 09:35:30 · answer #10 · answered by Leviathan 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋