What If Your Alignment Could Be Classified?
What if you could get someone to honestly classify your alignment as in Chaotic Good, Lawful Evil, etc. What would your alignment be and why?
Probably I might be neutral good but I bet my mother might say I'm chaotic evil seriously though I think most people are neutral good.
I have to agree with OrkSlobber. Originally I was going to say chaotic good but then I can't say that I won't keep the law, I do but I just don't like all the rules and policies of anything. I see myself as a good person but any of this can be debatable.
I think alignment is biased. It reflect the tenants and statutes of morality from the society you were raised in or are living in.
Would we consider the actions of the Puritans during the Salem Witch Trials, good or evil, lawful or chaotic?
What about the Muslim culture, where a common practice was to cut the hand off of a thief caught and accused of stealing? How do you position yourself, if you are the offended, or the offender?
The so called 'Lines of Neutrality' only exist until an action or reaction pushes you more towards good or evil, law or chaos, or an entire shift diagonally from lawful good to chaotic evil, chaotic good to lawful evil.
Situations and your position in those situations would dictate that your action/reaction would move you in and out of various alignments. Your view of the situation and your actions in that situation, could be viewed completely opposite by someone else.
My fall back example, goes to a topic of 'Murder Hobos'. My definition of these people, is 'anyone who has a blatant disregard for any and all life, deeming everything inferior to themselves, and therefore their rightful property to do whatever they will with it.' These are your types that approach everything with the kill and conquest mentality, who never bother to understand a situation, who murder and plunder because they can. How do you place them in the alignment chart? Wouldn't their past actions dictate that they are more likely to continue with these types of actions? So we look at murder in our society as a bad thing, therefore granting them the evil tag. Destruction of society and its members would warrant the chaotic tag. However, what if the society these individuals were from, out right supported these kinds of activities, would they then be lawful and good, because they are abiding by the tenants and statutes of their respective society?
I return to my original statement. Alignment is biased and defined by the society you choose to follow and its moral codes.
Malcom, you bring up some interesting examples but neglected to tell us what your alignment would be even if you don't think its a good way of classifying the kind of person who the alignment reflects.
I think moral alignment is is fluid, in that any given person can display radically different behavior depending on circumstances. I've read somewhere that one is literally a different person when placed in a different setting. (Like when one is at home, say, as opposed to being at work, or on the commute between.)
I can believe what [KenGreen?] says applies on the surface but isn't the true nature of the person, just how good an actor they are. You could appear to be good but really an evil person inside. Or appear to keep the laws very well, even enforce them but really you are neutral about it and if no one looks you bend them for yourself. You didn't say what alignment you chose for yourself either.