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[loveyourenemy.livejournal.com]

Monster
--noun

1. 1. an animal or plant of abnormal form or structure
   2. one who deviates from normal or acceptable behavior or character

a threatening force

1. an animal of strange or terrifying shape
2. one unusually large for its kind

something monstrous, especially: a person of unnatural or extreme ugliness, deformity, wickedness, or cruelty

Once I would have said that I had never met anyone who could be called a monster. That nobody who was still able to think and feel could truly be a monster.

I'm not sure of that any more. But if people can be monsters, then what makes a person a monster? Is it their power? Or is it their will? If a person has the power to cause destruction, even if they don't want to, is that person a monster?

I want to think that a person's power doesn't make them a monster so long as they don't wish to use it to do harm. But it's possible to harm others without meaning to. Even if you're only trying to do something good, it's hard to know what will happen. I think, probably, not many monsters know that they are monsters.

If you try to help someone, and it ends up hurting many other people later on, what is the right answer?

If you think that, by killing someone now, you could keep many other people from being hurt in the future, what is the right answer?

This is something I have been wondering about lately.

[ooc: and I now apologize if "monster" no longer looks like a word.]

Comments

[loveyourenemy.livejournal.com]

That's what I'd like to believe too, but the more I think about it the more complicated it seems.

Then, do you think that someone can have good intentions that are still wrong?

[purmoncul.livejournal.com]

What do you mean by wrong? I mean there's wrong "I don't agree with them" and then there's wrong "I was raised to believe that anyone who believes what they believe is evil".

[loveyourenemy.livejournal.com]

I mean a person who does things which cause other people to be hurt, because they really believe they're doing the right thing - but they're wrong. Someone who doesn't understand that what they're doing won't help anyone.

[purmoncul.livejournal.com]

I guess then they're really misguided.

Or they believe they're doing the right thing because they believe something that's wrong. If they can't see that it's wrong, then...that's sad and someone should sit them down for a good talk. If they won't see that it's wrong, then you have to wonder why.

Usually at that point it's an ego thing. They have to believe this thing that is clearly wrong is right because otherwise they have to admit that they've been lied to or that they've been stupid. There are people who are really really bad at admitting stuff like that.

[loveyourenemy.livejournal.com]

Yes... yes, that's certainly true.

I suppose, in cases like that, there's nothing to do but keep trying to get through to them.

[purmoncul.livejournal.com]

Or treasure your precious time away from them. The people I know who are like that are really proud of their delusions. Like they sit around praising each other for being a bigger tit today than they were yesterday, and when you try to point it out, they look at you like you're the mad one.

The really terrible part is that if they do that enough, some people start to believe it.

People'll believe anything, just to believe something.

[loveyourenemy.livejournal.com]

I don't think that I know anyone like that. I suppose I should be glad.