Here’s a story of mixed morals to debate… It is something that I am doing with a group of friends, and I thought the TM’s input would be interesting, and possibly valuable.
Rank the characters in the story from best to worst (with reasons).
Gp
I’m sure to take a beating for my response, but here goes anyway. I rank all the characters as equal.
(NB: for each note, you may substitute any equally arbitrary comment that makes the same point, namely, that we cannot experience the consciousness of other people.)
Rosemary
She, whose abusive husband recently died, was brutally beaten throughout most of her childhood. When she saw Greg, she saw all the men who had abused and rejected her. Her laughter and joy were not nefarious responses, but primitive ones that arose from her inability to parse complex moral issues, owing to years of morality contextualized as violence.
Gregory
His recent fiancee had left him after a similar escapade to this one. She had given herself over to a man for the sake of being with him. Over time, Gregory learned that they had continued their affair, and that she was seeing him surreptitously throughout their engagement. Gregory had vowed never to let this happen to him again.
Sinbad
He and Rosemary had had sex forty times before now. This was to be just another one.
Ivan
He had been burned repeatedly from involving himself in the private affairs of others. In fact, his own son had been slain for revenge by an angry man whose mother Ivan had consented to ferry across the very same river. The man blamed him when the boat hit a rock and sank, drowning the old woman.
Fred
He was mentally retarded from birth.
Not bad, Libertarian, but where would you rank the crocodiles? 