On the topic of good and evil

Many have puzzled about the origin of evil; I observe that there is evil, and that there is a way to escape it, with this I begin and end.
– John Newton

I am mildly amused at people NERD RAGING over Suzaku’s apparent moralfaggotry, but not going overboard over Lelouche’s actions.

Which is a ruddy shame, because the both of them are doing morally wrong things, or to put it simply, they are letting the ends justify the means.

Let’s put it in a way that even the pretentious, the trolls and even the mockers can understand.

Let’s say you need money fast. You know there are people who would pay good money if you killed a certain someone. Would you then kill that certain someone to get the money?

If your answer to that hypothetical situation is yes, then congratulations. You’ve just let the ends justify the means. Highly simplistic, yes, but it gets the point across.

Wanna tie this to animé? I’ll use Gurren Lagann.

My memory is rather fuzzy on this, but apparently, a lot of people can’t see that there is evil in Gurren Lagann. Lord Genome, Rossiu, the Anti-spirals, heck, even Kamina and Simon are evil. Yeah, I’m a bit too harsh on the characters, but remember, they did evil before they did good. Lord Genome used fear to rule over Earth and treated humans like playthings. Rossiu lied. The Anti-spirals used fear, uncertainty and doubt and pretty much shat on the whole free will thing. Kamina rebelled against authority. Simon was a coward.

In Lord Genome’s and the Anti-spirals’ (and to a small extent, Rossiu’s) cases, they mistakenly thought that they had to be the evil in order to achieve their goals. What they did helped no one, and as we could see, only caused a ton of sorrow and almost destroyed the earth (in Rossiu’s case.) Kamina was impatient and couldn’t wait for the right time. Simon refused to face up to reality. They all let the ends justified the means.

But I’m being too harsh to the cast. They all realized that they were wrong and finally did the right thing in the end.

What I’m trying to say is this:

If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink. For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.
-Proverbs 25:21-22

If you want to defeat evil, you have to do good. Knowing that you are evil is nothing but sheer braggery and is the sign of a haughty spirit.

He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.
-Proverbs 17:15

And you definitely cannot let the ends justify the means.

Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
-Proverbs 20:11

For evil is known by it’s actions. And the road to disappointment is usually paved with good intentions.

Then again, I’m probably preaching to the wrong crowd. After all, if we can justify stealing AND sowing discord, I’m sure we can justify evil. I mean, we just justified Suzaku’s and Lelouche’s actions (too lazy to link to various posts.), I’m sure we can even justify things that are not just morally reprehensible, but illegal as well. Like murder. And trampling on the freedom of will. Oh wait. WE DO! ON A DAILY BASIS!

PS: War is the consequence of a great number of factors (suffice to say, man’s twisted ambition to control his life is one of them), and as such, death is to be expected. War is reprehensible, but remember, it is the result, not the cause. We are appalled at war because we are appalled at ourselves for letting matters get to such dire straits. What more morally reprehensible is that the people in power always justify the results of their incompetence to cover their asses. Oh liberty, what injustices we do in your name. (aka next person who says something about not justifying war will me modded, ignored, and flamed. You have been warned.)