Deseret News | Still good people around

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Readers' forum: Still good people around

Great point, Michele! | 6:04 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

There are lots & lots of good & decent people in our society. I find the same situation wherever I go, even among illegal immigrants.

It's instructive to contrast this with the common view that things are inevitably & unwaveringly getting worse, clearly on the road to some kind of apocalype.

In many ways, things have never been better (eg, polygamy is nearly extinguished, segregation is gone, many diseases are now bad memories, etc). The good old days frequently weren't all that good, a return to those times would be a step backward, in too many respects.

And like you experienced, fundamentally good & moral people make up the sizable majority in our society. Not everyone, to be sure, but mostly I share your observation!

Anonymous | 7:29 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

As much as neocons don't like it - liberal people are out there in full force.

Anonymous | 9:17 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

I'd be more than willing to bet this young man is NOT a liberal. I know this because liberals expect everyone else to do good things, yet don't do it themselves. That is why several studies have proven conservatives donate much more of their resources to charity than liberals do.

Comments continue below

Hatuletoh | 9:35 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

I would hazard to say MOST people in the world are pretty good. They (perhaps "we", if you'll forgive the immodesty) just don't get in the paper too often. That's really hit home for me over the past couple of years ago as I've found myself in a some tight situaions far from home in Paris, New York City, and Cuzco, places infamous for the unhelpfulness of the locals. Complete strangers came forward unsolicited and saved my bacon. More than once. Almost chokes me up to think of it.

YIKES ... keep it down!! | 9:57 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Don't let Obama and his thugs here about this...the enemy's list is growing as we speak!!!

Neocons see do-gooders as bad | 10:08 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Sorry Anonymous 9:17, but your conservative guru Rush Limbaugh once called liberals "do-gooders."
When doing good works becomes demonized by certain political groups, trouble cannot be far behind.

Anonymous | 10:35 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Liberals see their God as a peaceful, loving God.
Conservatives see their God as an angry wrathful diety.

Rush Jr. | 11:13 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

But God is an angry, wrathful diety ... just read the Old Testament!

Anonymous | 11:56 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

I prefer the peaceful, loving God of the NEW Testament.
But the clock-stopping Right prefers the old.
It's much easier to be nasty than to be a "do-gooder" as Rush Limbaugh calls liberals.

Mc | 11:58 a.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Liberals see their god (if they have one) as a permissive parent with no rules or expectations. The little darlings must be given everything they want and must not be offended in any way. They must not be made to feel guilt for anything. They must be allowed to do everything that their natural urges dictate or they just might be depressed and feel unloved.

The god of Conservatives loves humanity so much that He gives them laws that will help them be happy. He knows that "wickedness never was happiness," and that being good really does bring joy. He allows us to suffer the consequences of sin so we can learn to choose a better way. I don't think of him as angry or wrathful. He is a kind wise heavenly parent who wants us to choose a life of service and righteousness, because he wants us to be happy.

If our children break earthly laws they must suffer the penalties of the law. It breaks our hearts, but the price must be paid. There is also a price to be paid if we reject God's laws and it breaks His heart, too.

@ Mc 11:58 a.m. | 1:22 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Wasn't going to take the time to post but had to comment on your excellent comment. You nailed it!

re: Mc @ 11:58 | 2:00 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

This poor, deluded neocon should take the time to take a look at Fascist Point #12 Obsession with Crime and Punishment

Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

Millions of Good People | 2:29 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

I would say that there are millions of good people in the United States. They might be in the majority (not sure of that).

I think there are a disproportionately high number of honest people in Utah, which is why I like it here for the most part.

It's too bad, though, that anyone should be amazed that someone didn't steal their wallet when they had the chance. I wish the expectation was more the other way.

Anonymous | 3:08 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

"Liberals have no god" is the same as the 3rd Reich shouting: "Jews are not human!"

Ratman | 3:20 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

re: Mc @ 11:58 posting at 2:00 PM,

What in the blazes did Mc say that is in any way worthy of your accusation that he/she is a "deluded neocon" and a "fascist?"

I'm sorry, my friend, but it is you that is deluded.

Anonymous | 3:59 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

As a liberal I KNOW there are still good people around.
BTW - Limbaugh's "insult" that we liberals are "do-gooders" is a compliment.

re: Ratman @3:20 | 4:43 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Mc @ 11:58 sounds EXACTLY like somebody straight from the 3rd Reich.
Those nasty people want punishment, punishment and MORE punishment. An Obsession with Crime and Punishment was one of the prime factors in Nazi Germany. We all know how their punitive ideology ended up. That punitive god of theirs can be the only reason as to why otherwise decent people turn into animals towards their fellow man during the right socio-economic time in history.

Anonymous | 4:43 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

As a conservative I KNOW there are still good people around,

despite the palpably HATEFUL talk you hear from LIBERAL tv and radio,

and their expectation for government (i.e. everyone else) to take care of them.

@308 pm | 5:53 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Of course liberals have a god, made in their own image and likeness.

They even belive in a Holy Trinity: Marx, Darwin and Freud.

KJB | 6:16 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

How did a perfectly nice letter about a Good Samaritan turn to a diatribe against "liberals"?

I realize that Glenn Beck hasn't given you permission to realize this, but there are good, hard-working, and moral people at both ends of the political spectrum. Some of the kindest, generous people I know are even (gasp!) atheists. Shocking, I know.

You can now go back to ranting about how the government needs to keep its' hands off your Medicare. You people are something else...

Anonymous | 6:23 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

Conservatism has taken us as close to fascism this country has ever seen.
Replete with uber-nationalism, scapegoating, illegal wars, sexism, obsession with crime and punishment, wire-tapping of its citizens, torture, disintigration of the Constitution, dissolution of habeus corpus, war-profiteering ...

@anon10:35 | 8:33 p.m. Nov. 6, 2009

He is both!

Ratman | 10:36 a.m. Nov. 7, 2009

re: Ratman @3:20,

No, you are not understanding what Mc said, and then resort to the liberal handbook of childish name calling when you think you're being offended.

All Mc was saying was that all actions & choices have consequences, and the almighty allows those consequences to occur as a teaching device. If that angers you, then you must think God is a fascist too.

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