...or really the lack of it to be honest.
Goodbye World of Warcraft for the foreseeable future.
Hello writing, self loathing, job hunting and grad school applications!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Defining Guilt
"Let wickedness escape as it may at the bar, it never fails of doing justice upon itself; for every guilty person is his own hangman."
-Seneca
Before being able to tackle such a large and wide range of questions we first have to figure out just what we are talking about. Guilt, like the words grace, hope, charity, love, mercy and etc. are words that are Christian in nature (but quite obviously reaching much further back in history than the past two centuries) but have lost much of their real meaning because of overuse and over saturation in conversation.
People feel guilty for smoking, for eating chocolate, for driving SUV's, for eating red meat, for liking 90's pop music and the list goes on.
Conversely speaking, people openly do not feel guilt over raping, over killing others, over abortions, for lying and causing innocent people to go to jail, for torturing and abuse directed towards animals and so on.
There is a deliberate contrast to that list.
The first list contains things people do to themselves which can be bad but are not necessarily 'evil'. Whereas the second list is composed of things which can be (and in my opinion) are things which people should either feel guilt over or at least require a second thought, a looking into the soul over before, during and after.
The question that is being posed is "Why?"
Why bother stopping to think of my actions?
What makes an action 'good' or 'bad' or a reason someone should feel this horrible and crushing dread sensation?
Let's find a working definition of the word.
Dictionary.com says that :
guilt
/gɪlt/[gilt]
–noun
1. the fact or state of having committed an offense, crime, violation, or wrong, esp. against moral or penal law; culpability: He admitted his guilt.
2. a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined.
3. conduct involving the commission of such crimes, wrongs, etc.: to live a life of guilt.
Guilt is a noun, it is a thing, a state of mind and possibly a state of being as well.
I. The first offered definition of guilt is a state of unquestionable being. An action that violate an either spoken or unspoken law or moral code and the offender is seen as being unquestionably guilty. In other words there somehow and in someway exists this intrinsic part of our being that shouts out when something happens that violates this code.
If a child is about to eat an apple an a bigger child walks up, punches the kid in the face and steals the apple; the first kid KNOWS something has been violated somewhere. He hurts, he is in pain and no longer has his apple. Whether the second child realizes it or not he has broken two very wide held laws that are against thievery and abuse against another human.
This definition does NOT require a person to know of their guilt. All that is requires is that stand accused of this crime in others minds and that a standard has been broken.
II. The second definition is about this abstract, mental anguish of the mind and soul where a person FEELS that they have violated that unspoken moral code. This guilt is the consequence of a person realizing or feeling that they have broken a law or rule and because of either their pain or the pain they have caused there is this interruption.
An example would be if someone was speeding along on the road, flying down it in a sports car pushing a hundred miles per hour and then they run over tire spikes. Needless to say the car looses it's four tires and comes to a literal crashing stop. In a way, when a human realizes they have done something and feels remorse, that same screeching halt occurs. For some it is a light tap on the breaks and for others it is a spectacular explosive car crash worthy of Hollywood cinema.
It varies by person, personal belief and the empathy that one posses towards others.
III. The third and final definition is that of a lifestyle of guilt. To knowingly cause harm and then continue on with life. Sociopaths, professional criminals and the super spiritual are sure to apply for this.
This goes beyond simply feeling and knowing remorse, it requires willful breaking of this law and continually doing so.
The interesting wording of this definition is not that a person accidentally or somehow is ignorant of the law, the person realizes they are violating an ethic standard but at the same time they continue. This pushes well beyond simple understanding and requires a deep delving into the mind, the psyche, the soul, the base reasoning and understanding of that person to even begin to the attempt to grasp at understanding of their behavior.
There are no easy examples of this because each person, each case is a unique example of this state. Seemingly few people willfully subject themselves to abuse but it almost feels as if this understanding of guilt is rampant among those who believe. The guilty are only suppose to run when they think they are being pursued but with the epic marathon being ran one would think most of the population are personally guilty for a genocide worth of sin.
Why do some people feel unable to breath after making a small lie whereas others can easily kill a dozen people based upon their racial heritage and then sleep at night?
There are quite obviously no easy answers in range of grasp.
The very Christian (and a personal belief) of a literal human fall from grace, of us willfully walking from love, peace and grace; and then leaping into the lordship of self servitude is a rather unhappy thought but with enough sincerity one can begin to see the truth of this.
I cannot speak for others really but only make broad assumptions based upon my personal experince. Either everyone else in the world is somewhat like me or drastically different.
-Seneca
Before being able to tackle such a large and wide range of questions we first have to figure out just what we are talking about. Guilt, like the words grace, hope, charity, love, mercy and etc. are words that are Christian in nature (but quite obviously reaching much further back in history than the past two centuries) but have lost much of their real meaning because of overuse and over saturation in conversation.
People feel guilty for smoking, for eating chocolate, for driving SUV's, for eating red meat, for liking 90's pop music and the list goes on.
Conversely speaking, people openly do not feel guilt over raping, over killing others, over abortions, for lying and causing innocent people to go to jail, for torturing and abuse directed towards animals and so on.
There is a deliberate contrast to that list.
The first list contains things people do to themselves which can be bad but are not necessarily 'evil'. Whereas the second list is composed of things which can be (and in my opinion) are things which people should either feel guilt over or at least require a second thought, a looking into the soul over before, during and after.
The question that is being posed is "Why?"
Why bother stopping to think of my actions?
What makes an action 'good' or 'bad' or a reason someone should feel this horrible and crushing dread sensation?
Let's find a working definition of the word.
Dictionary.com says that :
guilt
/gɪlt/[gilt]
–noun
1. the fact or state of having committed an offense, crime, violation, or wrong, esp. against moral or penal law; culpability: He admitted his guilt.
2. a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined.
3. conduct involving the commission of such crimes, wrongs, etc.: to live a life of guilt.
Guilt is a noun, it is a thing, a state of mind and possibly a state of being as well.
I. The first offered definition of guilt is a state of unquestionable being. An action that violate an either spoken or unspoken law or moral code and the offender is seen as being unquestionably guilty. In other words there somehow and in someway exists this intrinsic part of our being that shouts out when something happens that violates this code.
If a child is about to eat an apple an a bigger child walks up, punches the kid in the face and steals the apple; the first kid KNOWS something has been violated somewhere. He hurts, he is in pain and no longer has his apple. Whether the second child realizes it or not he has broken two very wide held laws that are against thievery and abuse against another human.
This definition does NOT require a person to know of their guilt. All that is requires is that stand accused of this crime in others minds and that a standard has been broken.
II. The second definition is about this abstract, mental anguish of the mind and soul where a person FEELS that they have violated that unspoken moral code. This guilt is the consequence of a person realizing or feeling that they have broken a law or rule and because of either their pain or the pain they have caused there is this interruption.
An example would be if someone was speeding along on the road, flying down it in a sports car pushing a hundred miles per hour and then they run over tire spikes. Needless to say the car looses it's four tires and comes to a literal crashing stop. In a way, when a human realizes they have done something and feels remorse, that same screeching halt occurs. For some it is a light tap on the breaks and for others it is a spectacular explosive car crash worthy of Hollywood cinema.
It varies by person, personal belief and the empathy that one posses towards others.
III. The third and final definition is that of a lifestyle of guilt. To knowingly cause harm and then continue on with life. Sociopaths, professional criminals and the super spiritual are sure to apply for this.
This goes beyond simply feeling and knowing remorse, it requires willful breaking of this law and continually doing so.
The interesting wording of this definition is not that a person accidentally or somehow is ignorant of the law, the person realizes they are violating an ethic standard but at the same time they continue. This pushes well beyond simple understanding and requires a deep delving into the mind, the psyche, the soul, the base reasoning and understanding of that person to even begin to the attempt to grasp at understanding of their behavior.
There are no easy examples of this because each person, each case is a unique example of this state. Seemingly few people willfully subject themselves to abuse but it almost feels as if this understanding of guilt is rampant among those who believe. The guilty are only suppose to run when they think they are being pursued but with the epic marathon being ran one would think most of the population are personally guilty for a genocide worth of sin.
Why do some people feel unable to breath after making a small lie whereas others can easily kill a dozen people based upon their racial heritage and then sleep at night?
There are quite obviously no easy answers in range of grasp.
The very Christian (and a personal belief) of a literal human fall from grace, of us willfully walking from love, peace and grace; and then leaping into the lordship of self servitude is a rather unhappy thought but with enough sincerity one can begin to see the truth of this.
I cannot speak for others really but only make broad assumptions based upon my personal experince. Either everyone else in the world is somewhat like me or drastically different.
Speaking of pain...
"Life is pain, Highness! Anyone who says differently is selling something."
-Westley as The Dread Pirate Robertson, "The Princess Bride"
...I think maybe I quote that too much... >_>
-Westley as The Dread Pirate Robertson, "The Princess Bride"
...I think maybe I quote that too much... >_>
Hmm...
I guess I'll work on those questions in the morning.
In the mean time I wish I felt less...distant and sad and feeling...weird and awkward in my mind...and could just...sleep.
In the mean time I wish I felt less...distant and sad and feeling...weird and awkward in my mind...and could just...sleep.
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