You keep going on and on about a lynch mob and an angry mob. It seems to me that if anybody got hurt by all this, it was Tam.
Anyway, I always taught my kids that when they did something wrong, they should blame the whole thing on their brother, and claim to be innocent. JK
- we recognize again that the law of 'self-responsiblity' ever holds, as long as one can make choices and actions. It would appear that sometimes we see good people suffer and the wicked prosper,...remember Solomon mulled over this in his writings often, but still concluded that those who respected God and his laws (this includes the universal laws that govern individual and cosmic processes) was the whole duty of man.
Hi GD,
As I shared,..it depends on the motives of those involved and situational-context of the event itself, before we evaluate what factors are at work to determine who was at fault or had anything to do to with influencing or provoking a crime being committed, besides who is 'responsible' for anything.
Nowhere have I ever claimed that a person is NOT accountable, for the principle of 'self-responsibility' ever holds. "The law is not mocked, for whatever a person sows, that also he reaps" (the karmic law of compensation ever works itself out wherever any movement or action takes place, - the flow of sequence/consequence; action/reaction; cause/effect; etc.)
All men are responsible for their own sins....definitinely,....and must make reparation for their own sins, by repentance and reformation. Each must atone for their own sins. (no way out of this, even if an avatar, sage or messiah gives a dispensation of grace, or takes on some karma onto himself,...still....you must do the work). None can escape this, if they transgress the law, or act in any way whatsoever, since actions beget consequence. 'karma' means 'action'. - the law is universal. The law of karma is a fundamental principle within Theosophy, among other universal laws.
Aha!
We see horrible accidents and crimes being committed against seemingly innocent persons, or persons or situations that seem that the victims may have "brought it upon themselves",...but here one must be careful to make judgments or lay blame, with partial or incomplete knowledge of the factors that went into making an event take place. While the law of karma is ever at work behind the scenes,....some events we cant explain or refer back to a time when a person did sins in the past to somehow deserved their current suffering, so we must be humble, wise and careful about what determinations we 'assume' at any given time.
So many factors are 'conditional' in these situations. While each event may have apparent reasons or causes, much may be beyond our knowledge, so we must leave it to 'God' and let 'grace' balance the scores.
:thumb:
I agree with much of the above. The law of cause/effect is vast, universal and far reaching. Such a principle which includes the entire spectrum of what is under the category of 'karmic law' (action/consequence) extends beyond what ripples we can see from our limited context of action/reaction...since previous actions could be unfolding their consequences in our present experience which escapes our conscious recognition or memory, but still unfolding their fruit in the present, while our choices and actions in the "now" are precipitating and molding our future experience of events and inter-actions. However, in the inter-flux of life, we are also conditioned or affected by the actions of others as well, so this inter-play is ever inter-blending, so its makes for an interesting tapestry. Such is life eh?
I may start a thread on 'karma' in due time, since the term is somewhat misconceptualized in the west, as far as the eastern religious understanding of it entails, as its a very fundamental and complex principle, with many aspects, kinds and dimensions, yet this law of cause/effect undergirds and mediates the whole of the cosmic process and the conditions and destinies of all sentient beings. Theosophical literature alone contains vast commentaries on the subject, as well as eastern and western schools, so comprehending a synthesis of all schools we draw closer to understanding the law, in its various movements.
I think we who have answered the OP, have treated the basics here sufficiently, unless other factors for determining 'deservedness' could be explored. I think the word 'deserve' however has its own presumed or 'assumed' air about it, as if any one person could say who deserves what, based on his own definitions of this or that, biasing his own conclusions. In any case, in the light of some divine tribunal or heavenly court, I see every detail and nuance of a case being weighed and judged with perfect wisdom, by Love, mediating to satisfy the demands of both justice and mercy. It must be so, whenever any soul is being 'adjudicated' on any grounds, - hence I fully trust 'God' and the powers(laws) that Be, that there is perfect justice in the cosmos, and that ultimately the divine love and will TRIUMPH. - the karmic law works with the law of progress, since actions are conditioners which work to perfect us by 'experience', since this mortal realm in space-time is the school where we 'learn' via pain, suffering, trial/error, adversity, experience. Its a process of 'earning' by 'learning'
lain:
When you start a series of threads on rape and then a thread on deservedness and ask if people should be held responsible for their actions don't be surprised when someone makes a point to say that rape is never a responsibility someone should face.
Some deserve a swift kick in the patootie (Prov. 3:11, 12). :idunno:
