Why do people do unethical things knowing pretty well that
By multisubj
@multisubj (451)
India
March 22, 2007 1:10am CST
the God(dess) they believe and pray may NOT approve their actions?
The believers are taught that God is omnipresent; omniscient; there will be a judgement day etc.
Then why do they do unethical things consciously, repeatedly, remorselessly and even under no compelling circumstances?
Several months I spent on exploring this apparently (prima facie) topic. Finally, I think I am able to trace an answer:
They suspend their belief temporarily.
After the act is completed, they resume their belief and start praying again.
How do you view this explanation?
The spur for giving this explanation, I got from the English writer, poet and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge. When we read Romantic Poetry in English of Coleridge-Keats-Byron-Wordsworth period, we come across use of imagination and supernatural. Coleridge seemed to suggest that to appreciate the Romantic poetry using supernatural things and events, a rational person has to temporarily suspend his reason and disbelief, enjoy the poetry and be back to reason after enjoying.
Do you mind commenting on this wild analogy, I made on the basis of Coleridge's ideas?
1 response
@Stringbean (1272)
• United States
22 Mar 07
I think that people do things that they know are wrong because they think they can make up for it or repent later. If they knew that they would die while they were doing the unethical deed, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't take a chance of dying with it on their conscience. People know they are going to die, but they really don't think it will be in the near future.
