Today's Blogsticker: Good

Good is not the absence of evil; good is a positive, active force that, if you are not striving for and achieving, cannot be used to describe you or your actions

Not a standard bumpersticker, but something a friend and gifted philosopher taught me, something that seems particularly important today, as someone took offence that I described another as having a good heart, and she felt that I was saying she did not. That wasn't what I was saying, but I also don't think she sees things in terms of the above distinction. I do. I have spent years of my life both trying to overcome tendencies for apathy and to become a positive force for good, with mixed results. And unfortunately, intent is not enough; actions are. I'm sure a lot of fine Germans during World War II didn't intend to become accomplices to genocide, but it was those who actively tried to save Jews, who hid them, fought in resistance, or tried to assassinate Hitler and his officers [no matter for what reason intended], who actually did good in the end. Without that kind of courage, you're just part of the evil, no matter how much we'd like to rationalise otherwise.