Hypothetical:Is the one that is badly influenced by another, responsible for acting badly?
That is an interesting question that can give moments of pondering or it can be off the cuff. Off the cuff, I see in the question responsibility needs to be assigned. So, as an analogy if not the actor, then the director for a bad scene?
Then, I consider free will. Now, I consider the age of reasoning and severity of acting badly while I think about competence. For instance, a child of four is influenced to steal a cookie by an older brother at age nine. Who is responsible for stealing the cookie? To me, they both have a responsibility and need to be reckoned with.
Pondering, I would explore the keywords responsibility and influence in the context of two individuals and a crime. In other words, is influence a weapon and can it be by choice with an intent? Then enters The Born movie series. He was conditioned (Influenced) to kill. Using that I think of the cases today where when a person is not held liable in a criminal court, but are in civil. For instance, with the cop shootings where both the policeperson and the city are sued (Responsibility) while considering training (Influence).
I think enters new keywords; liable, appropriate, and acceptable regard behavior. More pondering for later.
If they are children you need to consider age and what the situation is. They are both responsible for what they do, but the older should be setting an example for the younger. If they they are adults then they are always responsible for thier actions. Even older teens, I taught my children from a young age that following is a choice just like being the leader or instigator is choice. If we don't show them not to blame others for thief choices they dont learn to take responsibility for thief actions. This is really hard to teach when they get older. The example I used is people going to jail for a crime and they are part of the group. They have a weapon and someone gets hurt. They are just as responsible as the person who hurt the person and suffer the same consequences. We need more children to grow into adults that take responsibility for what they do. Our society is too full of people who blame others instead of looking in the mirror at themselves.
Interesting angles Tim and Terrilynne.
You made me think. I think the bottom line for me, is the one who does, and the one who is influenced badly, are both responsible.
To goad someone to do something not okay, there must be manipulation with justification.
I wonder if the initiator somehow has gotten the follower to take very small steps towards a harmful act, and then increases the small harmful actions. I wonder if somewhere in the realationship between the one who badly influences the other, is somehow seen as someone compassionate. Then the inititator changes his/her role to some kind of authouritative/dictator type of role. There has to be some kind of dehumanization or labelling involved, too.
I think I may have gone off on a tangent with this but this is where my mind went to after reading your responses...
They are both responsible, yes, but they will answer separately to the Higher Source. Again, looking back ten years later, One may see the value of the experience and the progress made. Nothing is without purpose, and even our hairs are numbered.
Yes. That is the beauty of Yoga. Personal responsibility or accountability is paramount! So let's say for instance you both appear at the seat of Heaven at the same time. God is going to ask you about you and the influencer about him/her.
It's happening in the first case, most likely because of past actions and reactions; causes and effects. We all come here with something, a package, if you like and that is what I was trying to say to Eric in one of his questions.
It is not the person, per se, but the accumulated experiences of the Soul, both past and present. This again, will have an effect on future bearing, according to the path we take; so the cycle will move forward or repeat itself. Much Love.
An interesting spiritual perspective. A reincarnational viewpoint can bring much peace and acceptance into one's life.
Yes, yes. Without it life does not make sense, with it, everything does. You are not the body; you are Spirit or Soul which is immortal, part and parcel of God and you're on your way back HOME. This is the teaching of all God-men.
Interesting question. When first viewing this question my impulse was to ask how do you define influence? Is it someone who is acting badly without purposely attempting to influence others & others seek to emulate them for some reason? Regardless of whether they are knowing influencing others they would still be responsible since they should at least know it's possible others could observe them & use them as an example. In this case the person using them as a model for their own behavior would also be responsible as they clearly see what they should know is bad behavior however that is defined (I'm assuming it would be something most people would believe is "bad" & not open to a lot of interpretation) & are choosing to act in a similar manner either to gain that person's attention or obtain whatever they are obtaining based on the consequences of their actions. Another interesting addition to this question is who else is responsible? If there are four people all observing the person acting out, one may truly desire to act the same way and seeing someone else do it disinhibits then, the second may not really want to do it but will, as it will gain them a reward, the third may not want to do it at all but feels like it's the only way to be accepted by others, & the forth may become upset at the behavior, speak out against it & do the opposite. So where did all of these ways of responding start? Everyone acts in a certain way based on an individual learning history, part of which involves knowing right from wrong as well as valuing right & rejecting wrong. So are others in the person's life who were involved in raising them or around a lot during critical developmental stages responsible? How about people who allow the bad behavior to occur regardless of needing to engage in wrongful behavior themselves to enable & protect the person engaging in the bad behavior? I also thought to ask is there reason the person being influenced should either know or not know someone is manipulating them if someone is doing this on purpose? I think there are instances that you can't know someone you believe you have reason to trust or at least don't have reason not to trust is manipulating you. At the same time I think we have a responsibility to consider whether the consequences of what we hear & what we do in terms may hurt someone. We also may influence others with our behavior as we were influenced. We are responsible for considering all angles of what we say and do.
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