Would you risk your life for something you don't believe in?

[Tasrai]

[COLOR=teal][SIZE=1][FONT=arial]Elfpirate you really had me thinking that you hated me, because I said I would fight and possibly die for a cause for something I didn't believe in. I just wanted to clear it up with you that I would never fight for a cuase I thought was wrong and went against my beliefs. And I never said I would kill anyone over something I didn't beleive in or thought was wrong also.
In battle you aren't really thinking of that anyway, you are just trying to survive, killing the other person before they kill you. I mean it is human instinct to live and I sure as heck would fight to keep alive.

Skurasuka, I understood what you were trying to get across don't worry. Your cause isn't lost with me. I am kind of like you, I usually like to understand both sides. I just think with the question you asked, I would die for a cause I didn't believe in.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[elfpirate]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS]I honestly don't hate [i]anyone[/i] on OB, so...relax a bit-lol.

I see the whole "lesser of two evils" argument, but you have to understand that when you choose the lesser of two evils, you are changing your mind a bit to the point in which it becomes doing something you believe in.

As far as the 4-H example, you believe that you are doing the right thing for the sake of the kids--which makes it an act of doing what you believe in.

I never claimed it to be black and white. Nothing ever is.
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[gwynva]

[QUOTE=sakurasuka][COLOR=DarkSlateGray][SIZE=1][CENTER][FONT=Tahoma]True. But everyone who joins the army makes a concious decision to be willing to give thier lives.
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What about the countries where being a soldier is obligatory?? You have to go, it is not a matter of choice, if you escape it is a crime against your country. When you go there is a chance of fighting "guerilla"s, many die this way. And it is always mentioned to be an honorable to way to pass away.
When it comes to me, the question does not have a straigtforward answer, as the answer depends on the conditions. Of course i would question the event etc, and would do anything to survive, but depending on the conditions i cannot exactly say anything. Such as i may not believe in the ideals of my friend, but seeing s/he is in danger i could die to save him/her. Or i could be morally against cloning stuff, but when it becomes my child's life at stake i could do anything to keep him/her alive. So it is not just for death, principles etc. Basically we value life over anything, and our life is at the top of the list. But then there are things that will make our lives meaningless when lost, such as family, country, nature... To live and to preserve i believe mankind can do anything and everything.

[sakurasuka]

[CENTER][COLOR=Blue][SIZE=1][FONT=Tahoma]gwynva- Erm... I suppose I was kinda caught in America for a second, there. I didn't mean to offend. This conversation doesn't really apply to that situation though, does it? Well... I guess that was kinda of bull-headed of me to say that, not taking to latter into consideration. I apologize.

To elf on the 4-H thing- I did say it was a horrible example, didn't I?

My point with that was simply (As Retri stated) that many would be willing to do something they didn't neccesarily believe in to reach an eventual goal. What if the goal wasn't worth fighting for, but by not fighting it might be worse?[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER]

[elfpirate]

[QUOTE=sakurasuka][center][color=Blue][size=1][font=Tahoma]
To elf on the 4-H thing- I did say it was a horrible example, didn't I?

My point with that was simply (As Retri stated) that many would be willing to do something they didn't neccesarily believe in to reach an eventual goal. What if the goal wasn't worth fighting for, but by not fighting it might be worse?[/font][/size][/color][/center]
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[b][font=Comic Sans MS]Actually, it wasn't a bad example--it illustrated both of our points well enough, I think.

If the goal isn't worth fighting for, but the outcome that would come about if you [i]didn't[/i] fight was worse, then the goal[i] becomes[/i] something worth fighting for, n'est pas?

Heh-- there are grey areas to just about everything. My entire point was that I would not fight for something I did not believe in. That doesn't mean that I would not fight unless everything were exactly in conjunction with my ideals.
I mean, our beliefs are not black-and-white. The world would be a lot simpler if they were, but it's just not the case.

For example: I believe pretty strongly that killing is wrong, but I also believe that it's a necessity sometimes and I also believe that some people deserve to die. (Sorry, Gandalf--lol)
Does that mean that I'm wishy-washy on the subject? No, I don't think so. I think our beliefs are entirely circumstancial, not absolute.

Therefore, I can state with certainty that I would not fight for something that I did not believe in. There would have to be some sort of intrinsic cognitive justification for it.
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[ZUZU3276]

To Die For Something You Do Not Believe In, Hmmmm....that Sounds Illogocal, Because In Order To Die For Something That Would Most Likely Mean That You Have Some Faith Or Shall I Say Some Belief, In Whatever It Is, To Die For It.

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[quote name='ZUZU3276']To Die For Something You Do Not Believe In, Hmmmm....that Sounds Illogocal, Because In Order To Die For Something That Would Most Likely Mean That You Have Some Faith Or Shall I Say Some Belief, In Whatever It Is, To Die For It.[/quote]

[color=darkviolet]Or you needed money for college and joined the military. BEcause you thought that 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year sounded good.

I still wouldn't be willing to die for something I didn't believe in, but if it was part of the job description and I didn't have an option, I guess I'd have to. But I'd come back from the Summerland faster than you can say Lughnasdah (I hope)-or haunt the crap out of who ever killed me [/color]