chris98e wrote:Sure. A guy is carrying a gun for protection. He's walking down the street. A robber comes and tries to stick him up with his own gun. The first guy shoots with mugger. Was he wrong or right. I think he shouldn't have been carrying a gun to begin with. But it can be argued that he was right for shooting the mugger.
It is life, so it is a trade off, its always trade offs between what you get and what you lose.
You don't shoot him, so you trade your money or even your current life for the sake of your next life, if you have belief, or you trade your next life and your belief for your money, it all depends on you, what do you want.
You can call it right or wrong, call it black and white, or deny it. What ever you use, they are words, just put them in the right context and it will work.
Right and wrong are states of logic, so they can be applied wherever logic and thought can be applied. You can say reality isn't black or white, it is gray, and you still can say yeah it is right that reality is just gray and we should act grayly. There are absolute logic and fuzzy logic, but they doesn't contradict each other. If you have an opened mind, you can overcome these 'right' and 'wrong' words easily.
Back on topic, yes he was right for shooting the mugger to protect his wallet, but he was wrong for shooting the mugger and putting some of his days in jail, or some of his lives in hell. It is a list of rights and wrongs for you to choose and after all it depends on what you want, what you do and what you get from it.
Put it in a simpler manner, you can break a complex situation into plain pieces. His action contains an object: protecting his wallet and solution for that by shooting the robber. You can say protecting his money is right while killing (shooting) the robber is wrong (all for the sake of you). By this manner you can easily break gray into its compositions. Each part has it own meaning, don't mix them up then apply a label right or wrong. If your goal is good, keep it and you still can change to the right method to attain your goal. These are right view and right thought.
And Buddhism isn't total nonviolence, you can use force if it's necessary, just be careful and don't use it excessively or without right intentions.
I still think if you want to solve social dilemmas, you need politics and political solutions, it will be easier if you have the right tool
Just cheer, my friends and my foes, I'm so tired of this world.
Best wishes for you and best wishes for me, how the f*** could I attain Nibbana?