The Bard may have been a great writer, but this is pure bullshit.
The real argument is where the line gets drawn. Adolf Hitler? Hell no. Mother Theresa? Yes. Beyond examples like that, it gets harder. For societies to function, there has to be some sort of agreed upon values.
Homosexuality and zoo sex is "wrong" because it isn't procreative. If you aren't procreating, you aren't increasing somebody's power base. That's a troublesome thing that needs to be stamped out by any person or body seeking power. There's a lot more to this that shouldn't be discussed in this forum.
In our society, "self-respect" is anything but. Very few people can look into themselves and be content with what they see all on their own. Rather, we are looking for validation from the rest of the world. Unfortunately, the rest of the world is fucked-up and a poor gauge.
Don't hurt anybody. Be a good person. That done, give yourself a break. You're doing more than most.
Wow. "Pure bullshit"? You're kind of illustrating the point Shakespeare made. Your thinking has made it so, based on preemptive constructs. And like the historic examples you've listed, it has so much to do with perspective. And then throw the monkey wrench into the works: agreed upon values change. Not just personally. Social values change.
I love your examples. And I can add a few more to them. Adolf Hitler was a hero to millions -- who at the time "thought" him a great leader, going to restore pride in being German on the heels of global disgrace. He has many, many admirable qualities that are dismissed. He killed a lot of people?
What was Truman, then? He didn't just drop one atomic bomb that obliterated thousands upon thousands of civilians instantly and left many thousands more to die after long suffering -- he did it twice.
What was Pres. Obama? He ordered and took credit for the assassination of Osama bin Laden. Didn't want him captured. Didn't want him tried. Took pride in being the president in office when three .556 rounds fired quickly from an M16 split the dude's head in half in his bedroom in front of his family. That's okay, though, because bin Bad Guy orchestrated the attack on America -- which was cheered by countless millions who despise America's arrogance, as if Americans deserve what they were accidentally born into when so much of the rest of the world is suffering and in pain by comparison. Did bin Laden die a murderous terrorist or a martyr? He was both.
Mother Teresa? Do some reading of the controversies and criticisms of her, including forced conversions, tendency to help people die rather than get them proper medical treatment.
When I was growing up, General Custer was a hero. Before I finished high school, he was a despicable war monger who oversaw the slaughter of whole villages of women and children, and "deserved" to die a "rich man," as Vine Deloria wrote in "Custer Died for Your Sins" -- wearing an Arrow shirt.
It's all about how the story is spun. There is no such thing as "pure bullshit," not even from a bull. It's all a mix that, depending on the values you yourself personally have, whether you developed them or they are part of your upbringing, create your judgment of whether something is good or bad.
There is rarely black or white, just lighter or darker shades of gray, when it comes to moral judgment. Even the Pope, whom Catholics are taught teaches with infallibility, has *never* declared any "moral teaching" infallible. Only doctrine. Never moral judgment. He will never make an "ex cathedra" declaration that Hitler is in hell. In fact, we were often told in catechisms that Hitler may well be in Heaven. It was a frequent example.
Even the Pope can't judge an individual with infallibility! -- And who are you, again?
Nothing is either good or bad but thinking make it so. Final answer.
No, never felt that. Just caution for privacy, that's all.
