Page 18 - The Alliance of the Good

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THE ALLIANCE OF THE GOOD

day lives. In business life, in fear of being fired from his job
for a mistake he has made, a person may well put the blame
on someone else. Alternatively, a person who as a principle
never accepts bribes or does anything unlawful, may find it

reasonable to take a bribe for something urgent, for instance,
when he has to pay his son's hospital bills.
If a non-God fearing person claims to be the most reliable
and virtuous person in the world, it would definitely not
prove to be convincing. Such a person may truly avoid
committing theft or lying but he may lack good morals. You
may not find an amicable, sincere and compassionate
attitude in him, for instance. He may humiliate people in
words or with his jokes, and the way he talks to people may
have a disturbing tone. Similarly, a non-gambling person
may indulge in a game when he is in an environment where
gambling is popular. It would be unreasonable to consider a
non-God-fearing man a truly righteous person, since he has
an inherently weak-will that is prone to temptation because
of a lack of fear of God.
There are also those who relentlessly commit acts of

immorality, disturb, degrade or defraud people, use abusive
language, do not value people, think only of themselves, act
aggressively and maliciously, and yet help the poor now and
then. In such cases, we certainly cannot consider these people
to be "good". The essential attributes of a good person are
righteousness, honesty, justice, and sincerity. However we
should also keep in mind that a good person who is sincere
can also make mistakes and have certain failings, but what
makes him different is his endeavour to purify himself of
these flaws, and to exhibit moral perfection as best as he can.