Re: virus: Karma

John ''I Take Large Steps'' Williams (prefect@tricon.net)
Thu, 17 Jul 1997 21:47:21 -0400


At 12:15 PM 7/17/97 -0600, McF wrote:

>What is the difference between Karma and Justice?

Depends on who's doing the justice. Justice is commonly thought of as being
imposed by an individual with authority based on a set of rules, while
Karma appears to be "the way things work." IE: there's no wigged guy
dropping the Karma gavel and sentencing folks to seven years of evil
experiences.

Christianity has traditionally been Justice focused, which is one complaint
I commonly here about the Judeao-Christian God: if God is a God of Justice,
then why do good things happen to bad people and vicey versy?

Likewise, many people rear their kids on a justice-based system: come here
because I said so. Not: come here because you're about to be flattened by a
truck. See, the first is Justice -- you did not do what I said, ergo you
will face artificially created consequences created to demonstrate my
authority over you. The second is more karmic (but mundane, perhaps) as it
seems to follow natural rules rather than externally created and enforced
authority.

Karma, however, is not usually applied to naturally occuring consequence:
it's more of a mystical concept; but I find it useful to equate the two on
a basic level. :-)

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John Williams ICQ Address: 1213689 prefect@tricon.net
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"See my loafers? Former gophers!"
Various Artists: Raising the Tide of Mediocrity for Two Years
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