Things that make you go hmmm

Only if they are harming others. If they’re just bad people being harmless, I don’t think so, because I don’t have schadenfreude.

I like your response, but my opinion is that if someone is not harming anything, then they are not "bad". It all boils down to what is better for the greater good.

I don't feel enjoyment when bad people get what's coming to them, but often relief and a sense of justice for their victims. And I don't feel this is a bad thing.

I concur.

I like to think of bad things happening to bad people as the moral law of the universe asserting itself.

It doesn't always happen -- bad deeds go unpunished, ignored, excused, swept under the rug, with disturbing frequency -- and the opposite happens all too often -- good people are persecuted, targeted, singled-out, made to suffer.

So whenever punishment is aligned with immorality, those of us who care about justice should rejoice.

Ultimately, we're all better off when the baddies get their comeuppance.

Everyone is basically bad, no one is good

Toooooo deeeeepppp I’m drowningggggggg *needs saving from how deep the question is*

I do my best to be a good person. By human standards, I consider myself a good person. however, in terms of my religion, I have a long way to improve. I believe enjoying someone's suffering is bad, and knowingly doing it and not making an effort to not do it does make you a bad person.

With respect, I don’t think religion plays any part at all. Whether you’re honest for the sake of being honest or you’re honest because you fear retribution from Invisible Cloud Dad, the end result is the same. Penn Gillette had a great line, something along the lines of: “Give me an honest atheist over a God-fearing Christian any day of the week.”

But back to the meat of your response, does this apply to rejoicing in the deaths of a bin Laden or Saddam Hussein or someone of that ilk? And if it does, what’s the cut off?

I think everyone here most likely, both at their core and away from the interwebs, are good people. I know I’m a pretty good dude. But I don’t apologize for or regret celebrating the hopefully-painful deaths of really bad people who did really bad stuff for a really long time.

I’ll give you another, more personal example. Probably ten or twelve years ago, I had a guy I worked with try to get me fired, either because he wanted my position or he was just a weasel or some combination of factors. A real shitheel. It backfired on him and, fortunately, our boss knew me better than what I was being falsely accused of and nothing happened. He continued to work underneath me until I made him so miserable he requested a transfer to another crew. It also bears mentioning, I was not the first person he tried to do this to.

Years later, after I had moved on to a different company in a different state, word got back to me that he got hit by a car on the job and was either crippled or permanently disfigured for the rest of his life. I laughed. I laughed and didn’t feel a shred of regret or shame for it, because this POS could’ve gotten me fired, ruined my reputation, and sent me into a financial death spiral. Even thinking back on it now, it makes me smile.

I don’t believe this makes me a bad person. I never set out to hurt him. I never exacted retribution on him. I do, however, truly believe the cosmos reached out and flicked his karmic ear.

As for your thing on religion, Christianity isn't about being good so you don't get punished. It's about having a change of heart so that you love everyone and want to do good. And good-hearted atheists aren't damned simply because they haven't found god. God judges you based on who you are and are trying to become, not on what you do out of fear.

As for your co-worker, yes, he was a bad dude, but rejoicing in someone else's suffering is still bad. He may have later on tried to change for the better and help people. You never know what's in someone's heart. I am not saying you should go be his buddy or something, but

Whoops posted early

But humans judging others harshly will only make your judgement harsher in the end. Everybody has flaws. We need to look past them at times and feel bad for someone being crippled or suffering.

i am not a good person i just use my intellect to manipulate others

I mean "bad people" is that with your own biases? Or are these "bad people" evil people that should be condemned?

To an extent, I think everyone has a bias toward who is “bad people”.

I don’t consider myself a good person anyway.

At least you're honest.

i get satisfaction when there is mild karma for a mild incident. but i wont be happy/sad when a murderer get executed. if someone gets a life sentance, i feel slightly bad, even if they did something horrible, but if i think about it, i feel even worse for the victims. if its a serial killer/terrorist, i have no sympathy. i wanted osama dead for example. i dont think it makes you a bad person though.

osama bin laden not obama if you read that wrong

I think this is the best question we've had in TTT in a long time. It is quite the paradox. However, I don't think it makes you a bad person if you enjoy it when someone "bad" dies. My reasoning is as follows: someone who is "bad" is, in theory, causing harm to other living things. To snuff out a "bad" person usually results in the absence of the harm they were causing prior to their death. This absence of harm is undeniably a good thing. But, then again, you have to cause harm to eliminate the harm the "bad" person was inflicting upon others. I guess then you need to get out your scale, so you can compare the harm you cause to this "bad" person to the harm that will be eliminated by killing that "bad" person. It comes down to what is better for the greater good.

Yes, but what if you view everyone as a bad person except yourself.

And therein lies the paradox (of sorts). It’s all about perspective. Is it personal? Is it societal? Cosmic?

You can play it safe and go societal, but it’s more interesting to go personal because you might learn something about yourself.

Wouldn't that possibly lead down the road of suicide?

Someone once said something about an unexamined life not being worth living, etc., etc. Some healthy introspection shouldn’t be detrimental...unless you have some intense revelations that cause that.

Because in sorts, don't most people commit suicide because they believe that society would be better off without them?

This is going down a rather intense road but I’ll take the ride.

I am by no means a mental health expert of any kind so, for the purposes of not wanting to adversely affect someone who may be struggling and reading this, I’ll say this: all life has value.

Getting back to the personal introspection of someone who isn’t in that frame of mind, the question, and it’s phrasing, is meant to be a bit of a trap. And by “trap,” I mean your gut reaction could be the most revealing aspect of your personality. You have to wonder why you answer the way you answer because groups of people may have the same answer but for completely different reasons.

I'm not suicidal.

I think.

I believe self-reflection is good for you if you're in great mental health.