Who are you ultimately loyal to?

I asked this question to gauge people's responses in the hopes of better understanding their responses and where they come from when they post here. From my experiences and general thinking, the loyalty pyramid goes six levels:

- At the top is yourself. If it comes down to it, you would seek to save yourself and yourself only. After all, it's your life that you are living. Nobody else is as important.

- One step down is your family, and possibly, friends. These are the people that you are closest to in life. You would stick by them no matter what even if it meant making a colossal sacrifice, since you can all help each other out.

- Next down is your community. This one is rather inclusive, but it means a lot of different things. Your neighborhood, town, and state/province are at this level. Some historical context: American Civil War general Robert E. Lee placed the interests of his state, Virginia, over that of his country, the United States of America, and joined the Confederacy.

- One more down is your country. This one is rather simple. You stick with it through thick and thin, and will support it in a war no matter what because it is your country, no matter how much you disagree with its policies. You consider treason to be the height of human sin.

- Second-to-last is people in general. You will do what you can to make the world a better place for everybody, including disagreeing with your country/some other important body. After all, we're in this together.

- Finally, there's God. If you believe in Him, then He is probably the most important figure in your life and He is waiting for you when this is all over. It doesn't matter what you do on Earth so long as you please the Big Guy in the sky, because a better life awaits when you're gone.

~~~~~~~

As far as where I stand, well, I'm honestly not sure yet. I guess it's kind of hypocritical to make you choose and hold off, but I'm interested and I hope that this can start some good discussion.

I put myself as primary, the population as secondary. While I'm not exactly Han Solo, everyone has an instinct for self-preservation and I think anyone who doesn't put themself down as primary is either being a bit dishonest or a truly exceptional human being. I also like to think myself takes in my personal moral code.

As for secondary, I don't believe that someone is more important than someone else purely by virtue of the fact that they're related to me/know me, so I went for the population as a whole.

Numero Uno: myself-what can I say, I am the only person I trust.

Numero two: family/friends-must be noted that this is a ways down from one, and also must be pointed out that my list of friends is rather exclusive(although more from me being an introver as opposed to arrogance).

I voted God as #1. I see a loyalty to God as loyalty to the greater good, right over wrong, others instead of myself.

I voted for myself as #2. If I can be true to myself, which entails a loyalty to the greater good as part of that inner loyalty, than I am both a stronger person and a better part of the whole.

A win-win situation. ~:yin-yang:

Myself as Number 1. I am really the only person I am answerable to, and that is important for me to remember sometimes. I suppose if I wasn't an Atheist, I would put God here.

The Global Population as a whole would be second for me.

When I saw the title of this thread, I wanted to say God, which was weird as I am an atheist. I guess what I was meaning by God is a moral standard. But that wasn't an option in the poll.

The whole population is an attractive, as I really don't care who has the same passport as me or who hangs around the same city. The utilitarian standard - do what is best for the general population - is perhaps the single guiding moral principle. However, the idea of being loyal to a population is a bit odd. If the whole world wanted something but it was wrong, they could all get lost, IMO.

Then I started to think what loyalty meant. It certainly doesn't fit neatly into utilitarian ethics. The dictionary says "true or faithful to (to duty, love or obligation)". Given that meaning, it is pretty clear that for me that is my family.

The whole population can come second.

As a rule, I put my friends & family above all else. If my loved ones need me, I usually don't hesitate to drop whatever I'm doing to be there for them. Which isn't to say I don't take time for myself; I'm my own best friend (and worst enemy). ~;)

Everything else is a distant second for me: community, nation, etc. Not that I don't care about those things, but I've always believed in trying to take care of my own little corner of the universe before anything else.

Primary- Me
Secondary-Friends

I'm not a very religious person so I'm not very loyal to god. The purpose of the government is to help me, my friends and the community so I have to be loyal to at least one of those three first in order to be loyal to my country. The people I care about in the community are my friends and family so there is no point in being loyal to it. Now that I actually think about it, I am actually more loyal to my friends then I am to myself but either way those are the two that I am most loyal to.

Atheist, so loyalty to (a) god is out of the question. I'm not patriotic, so neither is loyalty to country. The community would be a close third, with friends/family at second place. Live for nobody else but yourself; you'll be happier that way with a lot more money.

Primary-My friends/family and myself

Secondary: My country and the population as a whole

Primary - friends and family
Secondary - God

Family and friends are very important to me, I don't know how I would survive without them. I am also very religious always praying, going to church, doing good deeds, but if I could do something to help my friends and family, that requires defying god, then yes I would choose them over God.

I broke the rules. Sorry ~;p

I put both God and family as #1, because I don't think I could choose one over the other, and I'd like to think that I don't have to. Myself I put as second, because that's at least where I'd like to put myself, even if in reality I invest comparatively more effort on myself than I think I should.

Ajax

Well, I voted unsure, simply because I cannot really tell.
I'd like to be able to tell but then I can think of so many situations where my priorities would be elsewhere.
Ultimately loyal sounds a bit weird to me since I can hardly imagine a situation where I could be loyal to any of the entities mentioned in the poll. Usually you decide between being loyal to one or the other and I can say that I would most likely make the decision once I am in the situation.

For example if someone tortured me for my belief in God, I'd have to decide bewteen me(my life) and God and I honestly can't say how I'd decide since I probably cannot imagine the pain inflicted on me, my current overall mood, etc. Maybe it sounds weird to some, but I have no ultimate loyalty, I am loyal to whatever I think is worth being loyal to at the moment.

And family is not always the same for me, I see my "own" family(which I don't have yet), as in my wife and kids a bit different from my family in the sense of my parents and sister. :shrug:

Another example would be choosing between community and family, well, when would I have to choose either? Say, the community sues my family over something stupid, in that case I's support my family but if my dad committed murder, I'd support the community.

In general I'm a rather neutral person and very hesitant to support any group 100%. My loyalty is usually decided on a per-person basis and my own thoughts concerning whether I think that person is "worthy" of my loyalty.
And persons who rank high don't really need to worry about my loyalty.

Social status like being a teacher or my boss also gives a loyalty boost unless that person's actions lead me to believe otherwise.

I hope I could explain my choice.:bow:

I would say...

First - my wife
Second - My kids
Third - Me
Fourth - The rest of my family.
Fifth - My company
Sixth - My country

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Beirut

I voted God as #1. I see a loyalty to God as loyalty to the greater good, right over wrong, others instead of myself.

I voted for myself as #2. If I can be true to myself, which entails a loyalty to the greater good as part of that inner loyalty, than I am both a stronger person and a better part of the whole.

A win-win situation. ~:yin-yang:

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Same as Beirut. :yes:

Myself as 1.

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Originally Posted by econ21

When I saw the title of this thread, I wanted to say God, which was weird as I am an atheist. I guess what I was meaning by God is a moral standard. But that wasn't an option in the poll.

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Same except I'm agnostic.

As my father taught me, life is about responsibility, and answering FOR yourself, not to yourself.

First, God. With all He has done for me, who am I to put Him in the backseat.

Second, family (I don't agree with lumping friends/family together. Yes, you can choose some very, very close friends to become family, part of your pack if you will, but then they would be family).

Self should always be last on the list.

I'm loyal to this lovely community of human beings first, even if not so sociable as I could be, I love it and I can do anything to save it, even if it means my death (not another person's death though). And then my family and friends, though both are part of the community, in the case that they're opposed (like in a criminal case) I'll always remain loyal to the first. I like to think that I'm a man of principles, to me living a life without sustaining your own principles is living a pointless life, so I respect always my values in this and other matters.

Beirut's an inspiration...

1.) God
2.) My Family
3.) My Kyo-Sah (Tae Kwon Do trainer)
4.) My Friends
5.) Everyone else pretty much

1)God, mainly because of the reasons of GH. God is very important to me.
2)My country. Everything about me has been changed and reinforced by my country.
3)Family. These are the only people who are with you for your whole life, through thick and thin.

1. Me, if i die then i really don't give a crap what happens to the rest of you. and since i do not yet have a wife or kids i'm not truly willing to sacrifice my life to defend anything other than 2. My country which is the defender of me and my family. It Provides for our well-being and is true to the morals it was founded on (for the most part, thanks a lot George:mean:). and this mother of a land that has been so good to me is worth defending and only slightly more than the 3. Population in general, who are my brothers in humanity as stupid, cruel, brave, cold, loving, or religious as they may be:gathering: .

I'd have to say family first, then God. An unpopular choice, but I'm sticking to it. The way I see it, it I was in Abraham's place, I'd tell the angel to stuff it. So family first.

Primary: God and Family

Secondary: Community and Country.

CR

Primary: The world.

No need for a secondary...

EDIT: On second thought, screw that. I'm only loyal to the leftist world. The rest can burn for all I care.

You do realise if you continually kill the 50% on the right there will be a point that you are in the right and to be cleansed...

Primary: Family/Friends
Secondary: Country[*]

[*] by this i include those who consider themselves British and happily so. This is inclusive regardless of ethnicity, religion, or length of naturalisation. This excludes spotty oiks who think they have no bond or tie to their country (you have no loyalty to my in-group then i will retain no loyalty to you, regardless of what your passport says).

1- Me....you got to look out for number 1 first
2- Family and a small group of friends are a close second.

First and foremost, me. Everything I do is motivated by some selfish need, even when I do something unselfish.

Secondly, friends and family. I know them, I'm emotionally invested in them, and that's why I care about them more than other people (with the exception of myself).

Thirdly, global population. I care for people's plight in say Africa, and I do donate what I can when I can. Still, if my brother (well, one of them, really) would die I'd still care more about him.

Fourthly, country. Not really loyal here. Why should I be? It's the country that should be loyal to the citizen, not the other way around.

Fiftly, community. Same as with the country, it should be loyal to me, not the other way around.

As for god, hah! I don't believe in one. Can't be loyal to something that doesn't exist.

Let's try not to say comments that can start a debate. In the upcoming future I'm going to start getting busy and I won't be able to be active and loyal to it.

Tough one:
God doesn't exist, so I can't be loyal to him
People as a whole, dunno, there are enough people I would never want to be loyal to.
Country, since I'm Dutch being loyal to your country is the same as being mad
Community, nah, you can't call it loyalty, more being proud to come from my part of the country
Friends/Family, yeah I'm loyal to them ... most of the time
Myself, well it's hard to be not loyal to myself

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stig

Country, since I'm Dutch being loyal to your country is the same as being mad

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:laugh4: I don't know how you came up with that, but it's genius!

Well look at Holland, what can I be loyal to?
There's nothing which is worth it

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Originally Posted by Zain

Let's try not to say comments that can start a debate.

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You're aiming at my part about god, no? In that case, I merely meant that since I'm firmly convinced that there is no god, I can't be loyal to one. If someone does believe in a god or more, they can most certainly be loyal to what that/those god/gods is and stand for, because they believe that/those god/gods does exist.

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Originally Posted by The Vicious Monkey

As for god, hah! I don't believe in one. Can't be loyal to something that doesn't exist.

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Just wanted to mention the most important part in bold.

They believe in something you say doesn't exist. That can make people mad.

Not me though, it's 7 in the morning and I'm too tired to get mad just yet... :sleepy:

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Originally Posted by Zain

They believe in something you say doesn't exist. That can make people mad.

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Ah, but then again I believe in the Great Spaghetti Monster, which they say doesn't exist. Which can make me mad.


My order of loyalty is pretty much the order in which the options are presented. With the sole exceptions of God and Gah. Actually, no, to Gah I am somewhat loyal also.

I agree with Husar. There is no way to tell what I'd be more loyal to. Some of the scenarios that sprang to mind were, if a family member/friend was in trouble with the police and came to me for help, would I turn them in or help them? Would my friends/family come over my duty to the community/country. Obviously it would depend on the situation and so I can't say. And since we're considering the God option to also be good morals another example I thought of was a real life one.

A complete ass who is with my auntie has alienated her from the rest of our family, convinced her to throw my grandparents out of their home (which they were renting from her) and has been causing all sorts of trouble within our family which was actually relatively harmonious before he came along. One day on the way up north to go camping we stopped at their place near Auckland because my parents felt obliged to say hello to my Aunt since she was family and wasn't actually that bad a person.

The fat slob was sitting in his reclining chair from which he didn't move and after a while ended up yelling at my parents over the fact we were going to stop on the way to get dinner at one of the small townships. He bellowed "You won't find anyone around here who does that! Once you're on the main highway you STAY on it!" And then insulted my parents about how stupid they were for wanting to stop there, and for choosing Burger King over McDonalds. My two younger brothers sat on the couch next to me watching this bum abuse our parents and I was getting so mad I was getting ready to smack him in the face as I thought of everything else he's been responsible for. I managed to restrain myself and we left with our parents back to the car rather hurriedly. On the return trip my parents went back again to speak with my Aunt about something but I refused to go back in there because I knew I'd probably end up hitting him if I saw his face again.

Now to me that seems either to be putting morals (not hitting him and trying to be polite) over standing up for my family. The more I think about it the more I start to regret not at least yelling at him. Instead I just remained silent the entire time.

So anyway that's why I just voted Gah, because different situations call for different priorities. You never truly know how you'll react when faced with a situation.
:shrug:

Primary - Friends/Family. A bit of a toss up between that and myself, but when I think about it, taking loyalty at its definition, there's no way that I'd be disloyal to either my friends, or my family, so that's going to go at primary. Certainly you need to be loyal to yourself, but that's very much a given, and the true test of loyalty is what you'd do for others.

Secondary - Country. A bit of an odd choice, I admit, as I'm not at all nationalistic. But going through the same test of faith, I wouldn't betray my country, so I think it's fair to say that my loyalty remains to it.

A quick run through of the others:
Community - community for me is very much the close one (friends/family) and the greater national one. There really is no cohesive local community for me in this regard, certainly not one that trumps friendship or nationalism.

Population - well, the good of humanity may be a lofty goal; but it's unrealistic, imho, and thus not worthy of loyalty.

God - athiest.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zain

They believe in something you say doesn't exist. That can make people mad.

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If they do get mad about that, it's their problem. If they're so intolerant that they can't accept that not everyone believes the same as them, it's their problem. People here has been saying that god exists, why can't I say he doesn't? Mind you, I wasn't commenting what anyone else had said, I just stated my opinion that god doesn't exist, and therefor I can't be loyal to him. Which I'm completely entitled to.

Primary: myself. Whatever else, if I can't be loyal to myself then who can I possibly be loyal to?
Secondary: family/friends. To be honest, it's also primary in a way: if I'm to be loyal to myself there's no way I couldn't be loyal to family and friends, that would go against my nature.

So, all in all, I guess I mean to say that being loyal to myself is a win/win for everyone. Worst kind of deception is self-deception.

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Originally Posted by The Vicious Monkey

If they do get mad about that, it's their problem. If they're so intolerant that they can't accept that not everyone believes the same as them, it's their problem. People here has been saying that god exists, why can't I say he doesn't? Mind you, I wasn't commenting what anyone else had said, I just stated my opinion that god doesn't exist, and therefor I can't be loyal to him. Which I'm completely entitled to.

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My point was just to say don't deliberately try to rile up Christians. You didn't. It was primarily for future posts.

Loyalty? Gah - I would betray myself too if I only got the chance!

To explain what I voted for, I'd like to quote a song by the Sex Pistols:

"I've seen you in the mirror
When the story began
And I fell in love with you
[---]
I got no emotions for anybody else
You'd better understand I'm in love with my self
My self, my beautiful self

A no feelings a no feelings
A no feelings
For anybody else"

God: Doesn't exist. No feelings there.
Population as a whole: I don't like people.
Country: Countries are imaginative and only create bigotry and chauvinism. No, thank you.
Community: I don't like people, and they're only worse once you get to know them.
Family/friends: My friends are good people, since they're basically the same as me. They wouldn't risk their life for me though, so I wouldn't risk mine for their's.
Yourself: I like being me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Innocentius

To explain what I voted for, I'd like to quote a song by the Sex Pistols:

"I've seen you in the mirror
When the story began
And I fell in love with you
[---]
I got no emotions for anybody else
You'd better understand I'm in love with my self
My self, my beautiful self

A no feelings a no feelings
A no feelings
For anybody else"

God: Doesn't exist. No feelings there.
Population as a whole: I don't like people.
Country: Countries are imaginative and only create bigotry and chauvinism. No, thank you.
Community: I don't like people, and they're only worse once you get to know them.
Family/friends: My friends are good people, since they're basically the same as me. They wouldn't risk their life for me though, so I wouldn't risk mine for their's.
Yourself: I like being me.

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I argee with you on every point expect for God, because I do believe in him.


But yea, I hate people, so, and so yea. :yes:

I chose

(but not in order I chose to disregard this)

God
family(including me)

personal definition

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Originally Posted by The Vicious Monkey

If they do get mad about that, it's their problem. If they're so intolerant that they can't accept that not everyone believes the same as them, it's their problem.

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I don't think that's the problem. It was when you stated, as if your belief was unquestionable, that God doesn't exist, when some people started to take issue. If you had said that you believe God doesn't exist, that would be something different. Whether it was simply your phrasing, or if you actually meant it, you may have come across as the more intolerant one in this scenario.

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Originally Posted by Evil_Maniac From Mars

I don't think that's the problem. It was when you stated, as if your belief was unquestionable, that God doesn't exist, when some people started to take issue. If you had said that you believe God doesn't exist, that would be something different. Whether it was simply your phrasing, or if you actually meant it, you may have come across as the more intolerant one in this scenario.

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He worded what I couldn't. Thanks man.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Evil_Maniac From Mars

I don't think that's the problem. It was when you stated, as if your belief was unquestionable, that God doesn't exist, when some people started to take issue. If you had said that you believe God doesn't exist, that would be something different. Whether it was simply your phrasing, or if you actually meant it, you may have come across as the more intolerant one in this scenario.

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Well, I do believe that it's unquestionable; however, if you wish to believe it, I'm fine with that. I respect your right to believe what you want, and won't stop you from doing it. So if anything, it was simply my phrasing that may have come off as intolerant, though I didn't mean to.

In any case, what I really meant to say was that I don't believe..., but quite honestly I was simply too lazy to do that. I didn't expect that it would get this reaction, but if I had known, I would've bloody well written those three damned words! I've spent a million dollars avoiding a ten dollar fine.

I'd say it's just as valid to state that there is not question that god does NOT exist, as it is to state that he does. And just as offensive.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Vicious Monkey

Well, I do believe that it's unquestionable; however, if you wish to believe it, I'm fine with that. I respect your right to believe what you want, and won't stop you from doing it. So if anything, it was simply my phrasing that may have come off as intolerant, though I didn't mean to.

In any case, what I really meant to say was that I don't believe..., but quite honestly I was simply too lazy to do that. I didn't expect that it would get this reaction, but if I had known, I would've bloody well written those three damned words! I've spent a million dollars avoiding a ten dollar fine.

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You're a good man The Vicious Monkey, not many people will reconcile their "mistakes" on threads like these.

My whole lesson on all of this is, be Extremely careful what you say about religion and gods on the internet, because it's a Very touchy subject.

:bow:

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Originally Posted by HoreTore

I'd say it's just as valid to state that there is not question that god does NOT exist, as it is to state that he does. And just as offensive.

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It's more offensive for a God believer to hear that his Savior and Lord doesn't exist compared to a non-believer to hear about an idea he doesn't believe in exists.

I apologize, I'm typing one handed and can't express my ideas as clearly as I'd like to at this moment.

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Originally Posted by Zain

It's more offensive for a God believer to hear that his Savior and Lord doesn't exist compared to a non-believer to hear about an idea he doesn't believe in exists.

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Pfft. If he wants his right to say that god does exist, I reserve the right to claim that he does not.

If he's touchy about it, I can't see how that can be my problem.

Also, wouldn't he be equally offended by another religious person of a different faith says that his god exists, as that effectively means that the other god does not exist?

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Originally Posted by HoreTore

Pfft. If he wants his right to say that god does exist, I reserve the right to claim that he does not.

If he's touchy about it, I can't see how that can be my problem.

Also, wouldn't he be equally offended by another religious person of a different faith says that his god exists, as that effectively means that the other god does not exist?

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Yes, that's the way biblical believers think. They're God is the one and only.

It doesn't matter to me what anyone really thinks about who's "most" offended, because it doesn't matter. I got my point across to The Vicious Monkey, and that's good enough for me.

Could we return to the subject of the thread and not divert into a purely religious discussion?

Thank you kindly.

:bow:

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Originally Posted by Zain

I'm typing one handed

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~:rolleyes:

Yes, that's a great idea. Back on topic.

Myself foremost. Though I don't put myself far before my friends and family; I certainly wouldn't do anything to benefit myself if it were detrimental to their well being.

Population as a whole, secondly. If I can do something for "the greater good", I'll certainly try. Though such opportunities seldom arrise for powerless recluses like m'self.

Since I am God, this poll is kinda hard to choose one option from... :embarassed:

1. God
2. Self
3. Country
4. Family, Friends

1) Family/Friends - But specifically my wife. I would do anything to keep her from harm.
2) Self

I love my community, country, and the world as a whole, but they are all far from infallible. I will not support any of them when they do things I disagree with. As for God, I don't believe in a diety in any typically religious sense. The 'God' I believe in has nothing to be loyal to. For me, that's like saying "I'm loyal to gravity."

I wouldn't always put myself first. It ofcourse depens on the situation. If I'm in a dessert for example with another guy. I have a bottle of water, the oher guy doesn't. IF I know that we both could make it wih a bottle of water each, but die if we'd share. I'd keep the bottle to myself. However if the chance would be low that I'd survive, but much higher for the other guy if he had to bottle. I'd give it to him.

Also the same with me vs. my country/freinds. If my country or freind got attacked, I'd take a beating/give my life, to defend it or him/her. If my country/freind asked me ti attack someone however, I would never be ready to give my life or take the beating.

Something which I somehow find immoral and "evil" of myself is that, I'd also would put freinds/my country/my community above that of the total population. For example, I give money to sharity, to poor countries in Africa, Asia or Latin America. But if I'd find an easy, working, acceptable, realistic and workable solution to global poverty, I might not even share or excute it if it'd reduce my countries/community richeness to much. Which is, I think, evil and wrong because of many reasons...

Am I the only one who thinks this?

God? Well, I'm no actual believer. And I think you'd be a fool to put something you don't really believe in above yourself, your freinds,... For example, a jew sacrificing his life for Buddha's sake (I know Buddha isn'ts god, but you know what I mean), well seems rather bizarre to me...
However Ideals or Ideas I'd strongly belief in, I'd defend them and fight for them none the less. (You're lucky I don't think that attacking the USA would make a god happy. There wouldn't be many skyscrapers left ~;))

A bit the samurai way, I think.

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Originally Posted by AntiochusIII

Since I am God, this poll is kinda hard to choose one option from... :embarassed:

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:rolleyes:

I picked God and gah!
The first was easy, but second, I ran into problems, though I'm leaning towards family.
You know, if I could vote over again, it'd be God and Family.

My babies first. Easy Choice. I would perform seppoku on myself just to save their honor.

Then it gets a bit fuzzy, circumstantially second I say my wife. But if she wasn't around or immediately available. Me.

Other (not an option, so I didn't vote): I'm trying to be loyal to my principles. Anybody fitting in my window of principles can count on me, but as people can change you will never hear me swear loyalty to anyone else.

Beirut's and Duke John's posts ring true with me, IMHO.

Primary: God and Family/Friends. These are the two most important aspects of my life, however, if I were forced to choose between family and God, I would choose family, as I don't think I would ever be able to betray my mother or grandmother. However, I guess God does take precedence over friends.
Secondary: Country (or countries, in my case). I must confess that I do have a somewhat racial definition of loyalty to my country, as I follow an ethinically founded nationalism in that I am loyal to my country because I share a closer genetic link with my countrymen. Thus following the rationale of survival of one's genes, I suppose I would be prepared to lay down my life if it would benefit my country.

I'm with Innocentius and {BHC}KingWarman888 on this, as I will generally hate people much more than I will like them. Also, considering that I am an atheist, I can't put God anywhere. Therefore myself goes first, as nearly every action that pretty much anybody performs benefits the self in some way (even if it benefits others more), so it would be quite impossible in my view to put anything above it. I agree with BKS that only a truly exceptional human being would be able to not put themselves first.

I also disagree that being "selfish" is a bad thing. In some stereotypical cases, yes selfishness can be detrimental, but after spending many hours thinking about this very subject for a school project in the past year, I've come to the conclusion that selfish actions can and are very beneficial (even to others). For example, many people like giving money to charities because it makes them "feel good." These people are being selfish, but no one would say they are doing a bad thing, and there's no reason to. There's nothing wrong with helping yourself (unless it is seriously detrimental to others), as this is your life and it is the only one you're going to have. Sorry to thread hijack, I just thought this needed to be said.

My first concern would probably be my mom (she did sacrifice 12 years of her life to make sure I was raised properly) and as an Asian-the code of respecting one's elders is hardwired into my brain. I would gladly take a bullet, grenade, knife stabbing, or any other form of embarrasing/violent actions against her. I owe her that much since she is the only one that matters b/c without her I would not be the person I am today. Don't really care much for my dad, never saw him after being 10 months old and several other instances of meeting him due to child support demands. Need to get back on topic...Couldn't pick God, since I am part of the Chinese sect of the Mauryan Buddhism philosophy b/c it wouldn't really make much of a difference, dang karma, since I would either have to repay in this life (performing good deeds), repay in the Underworld (living for what may seem an eternity undergoing constant tortures), or repay in my next reincarnation (as an animal or a destitute human) iff I am a really bad person in this life.

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Originally Posted by Cowhead418

I also disagree that being "selfish" is a bad thing. In some stereotypical cases, yes selfishness can be detrimental, but after spending many hours thinking about this very subject for a school project in the past year, I've come to the conclusion that selfish actions can and are very beneficial (even to others). For example, many people like giving money to charities because it makes them "feel good." These people are being selfish, but no one would say they are doing a bad thing, and there's no reason to. There's nothing wrong with helping yourself (unless it is seriously detrimental to others), as this is your life and it is the only one you're going to have. Sorry to thread hijack, I just thought this needed to be said.

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Pretty much exactly the same as my thesis:yes: