How do you deal with evil without being evil yourself?

[Arlen Blaede]

Orginally posted by Lord Eldred

I am sure glad I started this thread ;)

Lord Valkyr you are one of the people that I agree would give up their life to save 1000s you have proved it when you joined the armed forces. However, would you take one innocent life in a time of war if it meant saving thousands of others?

One thing I can say about this is, to be completely honest, I have no real clue as to how I would act. I would like to think that I could come up with another way, because I am one of those "glass is half full" kinda guys. There is always hope, and in this case I hold hope that I won't have to kill an innocent in order to save 1000s.

The other question is, which 1000 am I going to save, and are they worth it?

[Lord Valkyr]

Orginally posted by Arlen Blaede

Orginally posted by Lord Eldred

I am sure glad I started this thread ;)

Lord Valkyr you are one of the people that I agree would give up their life to save 1000s you have proved it when you joined the armed forces. However, would you take one innocent life in a time of war if it meant saving thousands of others?

One thing I can say about this is, to be completely honest, I have no real clue as to how I would act. I would like to think that I could come up with another way, because I am one of those "glass is half full" kinda guys. There is always hope, and in this case I hold hope that I won't have to kill an innocent in order to save 1000s.

The other question is, which 1000 am I going to save, and are they worth it?

If taking one innocent or several to save the lives of other marines or a 1000 people was the only option, depending on the situation yes I would kill to save the lives of others.

ex- Terrorist is using a small child as a shield while arming a bomb that will possibly kill hundreds or a thousand people I would do my best to find a gap to neutralize the terrorist without injuring the child. If no such option existed I would kill both. This is not something I could do lightly nor might it be something I could live with however it saved more lives. I guess an evil act for the greater good?

On the question of which 1000 people to save, thats a pretty tough one. If its a military withdrawal & we have only so much room for evacuated troops. I would follow the list of command personnel, wounded personnel, non-combat support & finally combat troops if any room was left over.
If I had to evacuate civilians I would go with women & children first I guess & work from there. In either case I would not be one of the 1000 saved if I had a choice about it.

I guess the true question of good & evil is more of how making those decisions make you feel. I believe a good character or person would kill but not enjoy it. I think he/she would attempt to disable or wound & try to force their opponent to surrender rather than kill them. Or even avoid combat by discussing or negotiating with their opponent first. An evil character or person would do the opposite, kill if they could because for lack of a better word it is pleasing to them.
followed by injury & as a last resort talking when the other options dont readily exist.

By my explanation I dont believe I would be evil even if forced to take an innocents life. I would have done it as the last resort & even though it saved many people the guilt of taking that life would haunt me for the rest of my days. If I was evil I would deliberately look for opportunities to kill or harm those who cant defend themselves.

[blitzmacher]

Which is more evil, to wantonly kill someone, or to allow others to suffer?

[Arlen Blaede]

Shades of gray in a sea of stormy clouds.

This is just as unsimple a comparison as the others. Gut reaction tells me that it's more evil to allow others to suffer.

For Example:
There are a couple of different situations where I might be "wantonly killing someone."
1) Just plain mean and I felt like it
2) I saw someone key my car and just killed 'em
3) Just found out my friend was raped and I killed the
perpetrator in a fit of rage

As for the other side where I might be allowing others to suffer, atleast as many situations exist:
4) I never met them before this moment and they don't
mean anything to me.
5) What's the point, "Life's a bitch and then you die. Their
gonna suffer anyway, so why should I get involved."
6) There are children starving in Africa but they're a whole
continent away so it's not my concern.
7) Someone is being tortured in front of you and you are
being restrained by a man with a gun to your head so
you do nothing.

From my judgement I would consider acts 1 and 2 to definitely be Evil. 3 is iffy and 4-7 contain hints of evilness, but who am I to judge it.