Replying to Avatar MichaelJ

I think obedience is an underrated virtue today.

Of course, we ought not be obedient to wrongful authority. Perhaps the line that children must be taught to walk is to recognize right from wrong authority.

In general, though, it is good to subject ourselves even to others' wishes, so long as they do not conflict with reason or with other responsibilities, rather than to insist upon our own way.

Again, though, this all must be nuanced given the circumstances in which we live.
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ChipTuner 1y ago

With all things in life I believe in balance. I suppose I could agree with that. I think there is a time for obedience and a time for violent defiance, the importance is a clear distinction when one or the other is necessary. Another part as nostr:npub1ajv7m32k0cpgzha32qszsh304qusjvwwmavus0ttktzldms4xzusuftppj suggested is the abuse during covid times. I wonder if this is more of a confidence issue than anything, in my circles we were not very obedient but probably could have done more. I think it might be more about a long term position that affords you the ability to rebel without fear of losing everything you have.

Honestly I blame most of that on debt/inflation, but that's a different talk

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MichaelJ 1y ago 💬 1

We should not be blindly obedient, to be sure (unless perhaps you've taken a bow to that extent, but that's a different matter). However, it is good for us and good for our neighbors if we are generally obedient to legitimate authority.

In my estimation, during covid governments overreached their legitimate authority, and disobedience to those governments was actually required out of obedience to higher ideals. Even then, though, prudence was required. It serves no one to be obstinate all the time, so we have to pick our battles.

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ChipTuner 1y ago

>It serves no one to be obstinate all the time, so we have to pick our battles.

Agreed, it's resource intensive and often not constructive.