Murphyslaw159

Good and evil I am told
Are as hard to define as Hot and Cold
What may burn some, others find frozen
One culture's devil, might be another's Chosen.

What is sinister and what is kind?
I'm told that one needs the other to define
And yet I am told that there is so much more
A gray expanse we are forced to explore.

A gray area that is hard to explain
A break in Duality, a bringer of pain
A step out side of comforting simplicity
Something we fear, yet know intrinsically.

"Good is Good," a child would say
"Bad is Bad, its easy, okay?"
To this truth, an adult would scoff
Knowing more, he'd write it off.

But what if, as an argument, it is more than weak
What if it is simply incomplete?
What if it needs only more thought and definition
Could such a statement win the philosophical competition?

What is Evil is easy to explain
It is simply causing undue pain.
It is when you let your want of a thing
Mean more to you then someone's well being.

Conversely, Good always come's with a price
To give and not mean to receive, a willing sacrifice
An action taken where all you expect
Is a thanks, a hug, or maybe a peck.

"But no!" the wise adult would cry
"What if a man is about to die?
If he steals some bread to stay alive
Does that make him evil in your eye?"

No because, although he was a thief
And indeed, caused undue grief
From need it came, to stay alive
Not want that made him take the rye.

No greed or lust or wrath or pride
Just a need to fulfill or die
And so no Evil was caused from that act
No twirled mustache, no devil's pact.

"And so!" the wise adult would cry
"Is he a saint for choosing not to die?
For you seem to say that the act was Good
And yet still someone was robbed it is understood."

Never once was it said that the act was kind
A man was robbed, keep that in mind
But neither was it an act of good
Surely that is understood.

"So then the act is morally gray!"
No, for no morality was involved that day
From morality the man was absolved
For the concept of choice was not involved.

If he had a choice to make
Of should he earn or simply take
Then the choice to take would become something more
Then simply avoiding death's grim door.

He then hurt someone to fulfill a want
A sin committed for a croissant
It's the simple line between want and need
That make's causing harm an evil deed.

And what's the line for doing good?
It could be as simple as giving food
Not asking for anything in return
make's an act a good deed earned.

If one were to ask to be fairly repaid
Perhaps later on in the same day
Then the act becomes neither benevolent nor mean
It will be just an act, nothing more to glean.

For the child's simple wisdom is missing but one piece
Although it is a rather big section to say the least

Good is Good.

Evil is Evil.

And an Action needn't be either.

A person is not being Evil when they cause pain
It is when they can choose not to, but do so all the same.

************************
Forgive my absence my dear friends
More time with you I intend to spend
More ambition and effort I will put forth
To become a man of more worth

With words and paint we will create
Things which many will applaud and debate
We can build castles and countries, you and I
We can dig deep and we can fly

We will smile, we will laugh, we may bleed, we may cry
But together never shall we say die
The world is ours to take and make better
All I ask is you forgive me for running out of rhymes.  

The philosophy of the sword in Japanese culture is that one should treat it as an extension of the self. Not just as a tool but as another full and complete part of your body, mind, and spirit.  Through the crucible of this philosophy (and many like it that can be found), practitioners have been able to develop styles of weapon use that range from the visually astounding to the terrifyingly effective over the generations.

A video on the Escapist magazine's website (this one specifically www.escapistmagazine.com/video…) talks about the differences in the ideologies between American and Japanese culture in relation to guns.  However, though they touch on it a little, what they seem to gloss over is the fact they are talking mostly about the image the two cultures have on WEAPONS in general, not just firearms.

And after watching the video, a thought occurred, "Has there ever been a serious attempt to apply the philosophy of a weapon being an extension of the self to firearms?"

I'm not talking about ideas of what it MIGHT be like, like the Clerics from Equilibrium, or the entire concept of "Gun-Fu." I'm wondering if there have been any ACTUAL attempts to combine these modern weapons with this ancient philosophy, and if so, what are the ACTUAL results?

If a serious attempt has been done, does anyone know were I could look to see the results?  And if it hasn't been attempted, what do you think would be accomplished if it was? What Hollywood has given us? Something entirely different?


-TKB

Dramatic Title for not so dramatic news.

So, Assassins Wanted has basicaly been abandoned by me and , but to make up for it we are not only entering one, but TWO OCTs *pauses for effect*

First is The Book of Stories here ==> tbos-oct.deviantart.com/ … put on by the ever increasingly talented

Second is Anachronism here ==> anachronismoct.deviantart.com/ in which the two of us will be teaming up for hilarious epicness (we hope)

Please check them out!

I guess after several years its about time I write one of these Journal thingies.

SOOOOOoooo, my running with the PMOCT has come to a close and I'm happy to have lost to the wonderful artist WHO HAD BETTER WIN THE DAMN TOURNAMENT!

I'm happy that out of 80+ applicants I had gotten into the top 16, especially with it being the first OCT I have ever entered and with never finding the time to put up a polished version of the round entries

And yes Skysong, I do intend to get them up... sometime...

Anyways, I have found a new OCT to throw my spare time at (now that I actually HAVE spare time)!  Its called Assassins Wanted, a team based OCT were you need 1-2 friends to enter with you (at least one being a comic artist) and its promising to be very different and interesting.

That being said, I am in need of 1-2 friends to enter with me and at least one of you needs to be decent at drawing comics! (I'm not demanding or anything )

And before you throw bricks at me don't worry, I'm still planning to write at least a few SEs for PMOCT.

-TKB (a.k.a. The Ben)