Why It Is Right To Do Good To Others

The thread is essentially about why it is right to do good to others. It isn't about actually deeming what specific actions are good or what individual actions are right, but generally why it is right to do good to others (individuals}.What is good changes through the ages, so it doesn't matter what is deemed good right now.I think JavaMan was on the right path in Message 23. Doing "good" to someone else is generally considered a positive action and not a harmful action.In the OP Stile gives his definition of what it means to do good to others. So explain what your hypothetical Amazon situation below has to do with individuals? As an individual, I'm not going to be cutting down every tree in the Amazon, so the hypothetical situation is useless in this discussion.In the dictionary meaning of good (noun) we see the meaning: advancement of prosperity or well-being which follows with the OP definition. There are other meanings to the noun form, but his definition is valid.So what is your argument? Is it right to do good to others or not?

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"Peshat is what I say and derash is what you say." --Nehama Leibowitz

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.and so you open the door letting the bomber and his bomb hidden in the box into the building

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you seem to keep missing the point .. we are not equipped to tell what is a good act, we can only do what we "think" is right at the time.

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Doesn't matter. The act of opening a door for someone is generally considered good because it is helpful. It doesn't matter if the person going through the door has bad intentions.There are things in our society that are generally accepted as good actions. Opening the door for others, giving up one's seat to the elderly or pregnant, saving someone's life, etc. It doesn't matter if the people we help have bad intentions later or were worth the effort.I think it is considered right to do good actions because the thought is that positive actions can have a positive effect on others as well as ourselves.In the unlikely chance that the person one opens the door for may have a box with a bomb in it, there is also the chance that the positive action of opening the door could possibly change the person's negative intent.

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"Peshat is what I say and derash is what you say." --Nehama Leibowitz

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Yes. I'm also interested in any other definitions of what it means to do good to others. Would you have another? I'm very interested in gaining new insights on this area, it may help me to become a better person.

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Per Merriam-Webster the advancement of prosperity or well-being (the good of the community) (it's for your own good) is a more general meaning of the noun form of good. There is also - something useful or beneficial.I don't feel that your definition: Good is increasing the positive inner-feelings of another being is really a definition of good. An action that increases the positive inner-feelings of another being would be considered good, but I don't see it as a definition of good.Even though we now have a noun form of the word, good is a descriptive word not a thing.

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"Peshat is what I say and derash is what you say." --Nehama Leibowitz

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Is it possible this notion of good and bad is merely a tool to control the masses?

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Not the issue of this topic. Getting past all the misdirection it is about why it is right to do good to others. IOW, why does society or an individual consider it right to do good to others?Doing "good" to someone else is generally considered a positive action and not a harmful action.Since humans tend to feel that violence begets violence, they also tend to feel that positive actions beget positive responses. I feel that is why humans consider it right to do "good" to others.

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"Peshat is what I say and derash is what you say." --Nehama Leibowitz

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It could be better said, "If there is no God with punishment for not being good, "Why bother"?

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This thread isn't about being good. It is about why it is right to do good to others. Even in Luke (6:33) it acknowledges that sinners do good to those who do good to them.So why do societies accept that it is right to do good to others?Would you say that societies that don't believe in a god that punishes don't allow their people to do good to one another?

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"Peshat is what I say and derash is what you say." --Nehama Leibowitz

Unfortunately that really doesn't answer my question. Let me rephrase it. Do you know of any society that deems it wrong to do good (that which the society accepts as good) to one another? If not, then why is it deemed right?

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I try to do good because the Bible teaches me that I should be good. Love thy neighbor as thyself. The government has made some laws that entice me to be good.

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It also doesn't matter why we each decide to do good, but more to why society allows us to do good.Why is it considered right to do good to others?

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"Peshat is what I say and derash is what you say." --Nehama Leibowitz

I don't know that I would consider them a society. They are more a belief system.Well going along with #7 are The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth. And given this statement from Satanism 101, I'd say they probably follow the same general concept of what are good actions as the general population (U.S.). In fact, my mother's preacher gave a class on satanism and said they don't believe in Satan and don't want bad/misbehaving people in their ranks.I don't see that they would consider it wrong to do what they deem to be good actions.As I said in Message 53: Since humans tend to feel that violence begets violence, they also tend to feel that positive actions beget positive responses. I feel that is why humans consider it right to do "good" to others.I think Grizz also made a good point in Message 54.

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"Peshat is what I say and derash is what you say." --Nehama Leibowitz

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How can one know if one is doing good or being good if one does not know what good is? How can one know if one is doing bad or being bad if one does not know what bad is?

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Good is a descriptive word and we know what the definition of good is. As I've said before, what is or isn't good changes with time, so it doesn't matter in this discussion what specific actions are considered good or the motives behind them.The point is why does society consider it acceptable to do good to others?The religious person says it is right because god deems it as right.
Why does the secular person accept that doing good to others is right?I think humans have found that violence begets violence and that positive actions beget positive responses. I feel that is why humans consider it right to do "good" to others. Some religions attribute this knowledge to God.

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Is it a case of put your money where your mouth is here?

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Not sure what you are referring to. You'll have to clarify.

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"Peshat is what I say and derash is what you say." --Nehama Leibowitz