/lit/ - Literature

>>16429218
That sounds extremely comfy... did you have a birdbath? It's adorable when birds go in the water and splash around. They actually seem cleaner than many other animals, who do all sorts of nasty things, like dogs when they roll in poop.

When I was younger, we rescued a bird. It didn't live long, and I wanted to bury it outside, but when my dad saw me and asked me what I was doing he told me I was a retard, and that I should get back inside, and that our neighbors would laugh if they saw me, lmao. I get his intentions, but he could've handled it a little bit better, with less shouting...

Lately I've been wanting to go out and befriend the local pigeons, and listen to their cooing. I know it's silly, and everyone thinks they're filthy and dumb and flying rats, and they shit on cars and people and whatnot. But I've had several dreams about feeding, and even petting one, all out of the blue. I starting reading about them on the internet, and about how there's a lot of misconceptions about them, and the more I read, the more I become fascinated with them.

It's weird how we've been living together for millennia, they saved numerous lives during the world wars (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_pigeon, they were even awarded medals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickin_Medal)) and now we just think of them as pests. It's unfair to ditch our birdbros all of a sudden.

>>16429222
>I am not actually virtuous. I just fear God. That bothers me. I was wondering if anyone else had a different way of looking at it that might help me?
I'm not too religious, so please take what I say with a grain of salt. I think you sort of answered your own question: you "just fear" God. But do you always need the threat of his presence, to "just fear" him, in order to do the right thing? I suppose that it's not necessarily bad to say that you would, as long as your fear of him will serve you as "training wheels" for your morality.

Ultimately, humans have free will, and are creatures of habit. I'm sure God would know about human nature, given that he's created us and all. As such, you can choose to sin/not be virtuous: and God knows that can happen. You can choose to continue to not be virtuous, and make a habit of it: and God knows that can happen too. But I think that ultimately, what God expects of you, is for you to stop being not virtuous.

If you need to be afraid of him to change, so be it. It may not be the ideal way, and neither of you is going to particularly enjoy it, but it's one way. What's important is that you don't give up your free will, and that you remember that you always have the choice to be moral. Ultimately, you should learn and *internalize* that being virtuous is the right thing to do, and do it out of the goodness of your heart. But now you could say, "am I still not doing these things mechanically, no longer out of fear, but because I've conditioned myself to be virtuous?" (cont.)