World Religions

I couldn’t help but notice during Fridays class that  we started to point out that Hitler was not evil, just delusional. I thought that was funny, since when you think about it, you can say that about anybody. Every “evil” figure in history was striving for what they thought was best. Maybe they thought self-preservation was best, like Stalin, or maybe they were self-indulgent, like Captain Ahab. All those people could be marked off as crazy, so what is evil really? I personally believe that evil is being aware that your actions are wrong and help no one but yourself, but do it anyway without guilt or hesitation. Everyone else is just crazy, or misinformed.

I was overjoyed to note that the so-called heroes of Judaism were remarkably human. I was glad to note that the characters were flawed, whether it was David’s promiscuity, or Moses’ overly humble nature. For once, in these stories, God was the only Super human., unlike the myths of other religions. This was not like the incredible strength of Hercules in Greek/Roman myths, or the miracles of Jesus Christ. Yes, Moses did have crazy moments like the Red Sea, but overall, his character was more rounded and flawed than the temprament of Jesus.

I found some of the situations that came out of Utilitarianism were very interesting. For example, how for the majority to be wrong, the class had to go back and accept absolute morals they had already rejected. It was also interesting to see how consequence based morals worked. They worked differently than I thought they would. Even though I knew they had a gigantic flaw, it did not seem like a bad moral system. If the world actually had a set path, like destiny, I think this would be the perfect way to assess moral situations. However, seeing how there is no destiny (as far as we know). I still think Deontological ethics are the way to go.