Ask Lemmy

Honestly, I think the whole concept of purity is ridiculous.

We are all 100% pure human.

This is all assuming a human could be pure from the very beginning. I'd say no.

However, I do think you can learn from your mistakes and redeem yourself, to yourself.

"The Good Place" suggested that what you have done is less important than what you are currently doing to improve as a person.

You may never erase the your moral failings from the past, but as long as you are still trying to be better, that's what matters.

Purity is a human construct. Purity doesn't exist.

What you can do... What you can effect... Is to always improve, always learn, and always grow.

Press forward in goodness and wholeness. Let that be purity enough.

What you want to be is “good”. Purity is a weird concept mostly used by people who want to get rid of other people.

Yes, you can be good after being bad. It’s a hard struggle though, because you have to alter the parts of yourself that generated the bad behavior.

There is no pureness of heart so-to-speak. The whole point is we're creatures with gradient circumstances. Life just has too many moving parts for the idea of perfection many of us have, as any watcher of the show Wander Over Yonder will tell you.

If you think you're pure, you definitely aren't.

Purity is the choice of a disciplined, mature, knowing mind and heart. It is not a thing the young can do. Even so, you are the inheritor of your past actions. Even if you choose purity and blamelessness, some will never forgive your past actions. Trust that the wise will see your pure heart.

To be imperfect is to be human.

Purity is a bullshit concept. You can't be good without understanding what that is. Doing bad things is one way to figure that out, and yeah you can be good after doing harm, particularly if you face the harm you've done and work to fix it and not repeat it.

To err is human. As long as you are capable of genuine remorse, you're as "pure" as possible.

I am going to need you to define what it means to you to be "pure of heart".

There is a decent chance that you will find an answer to your question by doing this.

I don't believe there is such a thing as pure of heart. Naivety and ignorance sure, but no such thing as pure of heart.

And it is about religion as my religion rejects the Christian moral concept of purity.

Everyone is an asshole. It's about how big of an asshole you are or can be.

You're irredeemably an asshole once you've assaulted someone, have had a very lengthy criminal history, raped someone, sexually abused someone, abused children, abused any positions of power, murdered someone and any other heinous criminal activity I've not listed.

There's just simply a point of no going back.

I was never pure of heart.

Yes, often people need to learn through pain how to be a good person. It can be someone who bullied others in school and later realized how much pain they caused and feel severely ashamed by it.

I don't know about the concept of pure, I don't think in those terms myself. But we should aspire to make a positive difference in this world. Every time you meet a person, you affect how he or she feels.

you can be pure of heart and be an absolutely evil wretched being, so long as you're purely evil and wretched. Really commit to it.

I believe so. Purity of heart is cultivating authentic "goodness." That is, doing the "right thing" for the sake of the thing, not for reward or recognition, although that may be a by-product. Not necessarily "right" by social standards, while also recognizing that what is right for you may not be, for someone else. I noticed you said later you hold a Christian perspective. Jesus said the well don't need doctors. He was a champion of the poor, outcast, and women. He forgave what temple authority wouldn't. He interceded for his murderers. I would also refer you to the 51 Psalm.