What defines us?

What defines us, what makes us who and what we are? What makes us good or bad? Is it our actions, our thoughts? Is someone who kills others better or worse than someone who only thinks about it? The courts make a distinction between premeditated murder and homicide. It’s somehow worse if you thought about it before hand. What if you plan it out but never follow through? In the eyes of the law you are a better person if you don’t take action, but do you feel better? What about say pornography and fantasizing? In most places that’s either frowned upon or a crime, and it most definitely is if it involves children. But it’s more of a thought crime than one of action. The person isn’t committing the act’s they fantasize. Is that any better?

We all wish someone would die from time to time, usually as a fleeting thought. I feel safe in saying few people would condemn you for that, so where is the line in our minds that once crossed moves you into the territory of being a “Bad Person”?

We consider soldiers to be good people, yet they kill people. What makes them different than a murderer? Is it because it’s for a cause, or because they don’t like doing it? Are you a bad person if you do “Bad things” but don’t want to, or don’t like it? Are you a good person if you do good things but think, “Bad thoughts”? What is the line, the convergence of thought and action that defines who we are? If you can do all the right things for all the wrong reasons, can you also do all the wrong things, for all the right reasons, and if so where would that leave you?