That's understandable. Your identity is a culmination of your choices, and those can change moment to moment even in isolation from complex environmental influences.
[ she's just kind of dumb enough to still believe in good vs bad despite fully seeing the nuance. ]
And yet, even those told to believe in flawed righteous causes are capable of realizing when their enemy is false. [ like shadowheart did. ]
[she understands she's thinking of her, of shar, but in a way, she's not.]
I don't know. I think the world is fragile, and when you try to do right in one way, perhaps you break something else.
In my travels, I met a woman from something called the Society of Brilliance. They... advocate for races of people who are often maligned in our world, or thought vicious or evil, accept many of them among their number as scholars. I have met one or two others from the Society, and thought very well of them.
But this woman... [she frowns.] She asked us to steal an egg from a githyanki creche - she offered to pay us to do so. The githyanki are a warrior people from the Astral Sea, they're seen as ruthless invaders, cold and barbaric. I cannot say my own experiences with the githyanki have been positive. [she has one friend who is githyanki, and that particular friend is the one she clashes with most often, but also the githyanki queen wants them super dead.]
The woman's goal was to bring the egg to the Society. They would hatch the egg and raise it there, and in so doing, would prove that a githyanki child could be raised to be good, and that their cruel and vicious nature was nothing inherent to their race, but a matter of their environment.
The egg she wanted us to steal... I doubt that child looked forward to a fine and wonderful life in the creche, if it would be hatched there at all. [and actually they kind of killed everybody in there so definitely not.] And yet, there is something very hideous about such an experiment, is there not?
She wanted to prove that nurture was more powerful than nature. Studies show that both play a strong role in child development, but that nature is more impactful overall. [ or at least this is implied to be the case (in studies) in her canon. ]
But removing someone from their people by force isn't a kindness. Stealing a child isn't kindness. And even if nature is stronger than nurture, you can't predict who is going to overcome their nature. Or when.
Her desire to improve the way people view githyanki as a whole would hurt individual githyanki. Not only that, but it passed a clear judgment on their culture from the start.
I understand what you mean about the world. It is complicated. Innocent actions can do harm. Not just those motivated by misguided righteousness, but even ones made with completely pure intentions. We just... can't always know what the exact impact of our actions will be.
I don't think that the line between good and bad is in one spot. I don't think that it's a straight line either. I'm not even sure I would call it a line at all, I suppose, but there is a time and place for a judgment call to be made about who can be trusted to stay in Heaven.
I certainly don't mean to imply you're anything like that.
[she was a horrible lady and they very rightly just pickpocketed all her money and fled. like good people who know heaven's light would do.]
But sometimes I feel a bit like that egg, maybe. I don't know if I want my life to prove a point. I just want to live it, and if I happen to decide I want to be nice and embarrassing things like that, that's my business.
[so that's sort of the feeling at the core of her reservations, but...]
On the other hand, it's not as though if you have a system that operates on judging the morality of people that you can take their own word for it.
[ she just kind of. thinks out loud about anything she's discussing with someone. ]
... Whether they're good or bad choices, they should be your own to make. Not dictated by someone else's goals, forced on you at birth. Or, in a way, forced on you after death. If all a person could be was a pile of expectations, they would hardly be their own person at all.
[ and a little nod at that last part. ]
It's complex. Even societies without official forms of leadership still develop their own social rules and expectations of each other. I don't know that having official moderation is necessarily the perfect solution. But I don't think that it's a bad thing, either.
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no subject
I don't know. People can change. For the better, sometimes. But it's possible to change for the worse, even in paradise.
no subject
[which is a problem for getting on board with all of this, but...]
Certainly many people who believe themselves to be acting righteously see enemies among those who believe the same of themselves.
no subject
[ she's just kind of dumb enough to still believe in good vs bad despite fully seeing the nuance. ]
And yet, even those told to believe in flawed righteous causes are capable of realizing when their enemy is false. [ like shadowheart did. ]
no subject
I don't know. I think the world is fragile, and when you try to do right in one way, perhaps you break something else.
In my travels, I met a woman from something called the Society of Brilliance. They... advocate for races of people who are often maligned in our world, or thought vicious or evil, accept many of them among their number as scholars. I have met one or two others from the Society, and thought very well of them.
But this woman... [she frowns.] She asked us to steal an egg from a githyanki creche - she offered to pay us to do so. The githyanki are a warrior people from the Astral Sea, they're seen as ruthless invaders, cold and barbaric. I cannot say my own experiences with the githyanki have been positive. [she has one friend who is githyanki, and that particular friend is the one she clashes with most often, but also the githyanki queen wants them super dead.]
The woman's goal was to bring the egg to the Society. They would hatch the egg and raise it there, and in so doing, would prove that a githyanki child could be raised to be good, and that their cruel and vicious nature was nothing inherent to their race, but a matter of their environment.
The egg she wanted us to steal... I doubt that child looked forward to a fine and wonderful life in the creche, if it would be hatched there at all. [and actually they kind of killed everybody in there so definitely not.] And yet, there is something very hideous about such an experiment, is there not?
no subject
But removing someone from their people by force isn't a kindness. Stealing a child isn't kindness. And even if nature is stronger than nurture, you can't predict who is going to overcome their nature. Or when.
Her desire to improve the way people view githyanki as a whole would hurt individual githyanki. Not only that, but it passed a clear judgment on their culture from the start.
I understand what you mean about the world. It is complicated. Innocent actions can do harm. Not just those motivated by misguided righteousness, but even ones made with completely pure intentions. We just... can't always know what the exact impact of our actions will be.
I don't think that the line between good and bad is in one spot. I don't think that it's a straight line either. I'm not even sure I would call it a line at all, I suppose, but there is a time and place for a judgment call to be made about who can be trusted to stay in Heaven.
no subject
[she was a horrible lady and they very rightly just pickpocketed all her money and fled. like good people who know heaven's light would do.]
But sometimes I feel a bit like that egg, maybe. I don't know if I want my life to prove a point. I just want to live it, and if I happen to decide I want to be nice and embarrassing things like that, that's my business.
[so that's sort of the feeling at the core of her reservations, but...]
On the other hand, it's not as though if you have a system that operates on judging the morality of people that you can take their own word for it.
no subject
[ she just kind of. thinks out loud about anything she's discussing with someone. ]
... Whether they're good or bad choices, they should be your own to make. Not dictated by someone else's goals, forced on you at birth. Or, in a way, forced on you after death. If all a person could be was a pile of expectations, they would hardly be their own person at all.
[ and a little nod at that last part. ]
It's complex. Even societies without official forms of leadership still develop their own social rules and expectations of each other. I don't know that having official moderation is necessarily the perfect solution. But I don't think that it's a bad thing, either.