Do not include men or women who are divine or believed by you to be divine (ex. Jesus, Mohammed, Mary, Buddha etc)

For the poll choose any and all that apply to the man or woman that you think is the most good.

With all respect, this is a ridiculous question. They are the millions of people that lived respectable and honourable lives and of which we never did and never will hear about, and for some not even the bones or ashes remain, only scattered atoms and molecules.

How is it any more ridiculous than "Who is the most evil man in history?" thread? :rolleyes:

I was going to include a poll but it didn't work.

What is good? What is bad? Such opinion varies with each person you ask.

This is too objective a question to answer.

How is it any more ridiculous than "Who is the most evil man in history?" thread? :rolleyes:


They're similar. But I could still say that it is easier to answer in the other thread, because people prefer to pay atention to "bad/evil" deeds, not "good" ones. It's the same with the media: over-coverage of catastrophes, even when they're yet to come and no one knows how catastrophic they might be, sell and bring audiences. That's the way we humans are: someone lives his life, trying to do good actions, with sacrifices no rewards, and no ones pays atention. Someone commits something bad/criminal/offensive/improper and everyone comments an has something to say about it.
I'm not religious myself, but all this is as clear as water in the gospels, eg, the casting stones at the prostitute (now someone can quote a King James Bible versicle to complete the post).

I might point out that nobody believes Mary, Muhammad, or Buddha to be divine. And *I* don't believe any of them to be divine, so presumably I'm allowed to nominate them...

Seriously, I think it's a bit harsh to exclude figures like these - whether you think they're divine or whatever, surely people such as Jesus or the Buddha would be pretty high up the list of candidates for "most good" person in history.

So I suppose I'll nominate someone to start a more substantial discussion going: Francis of Assisi.

Mother Teresa. many other unknow doctors, nurse, good sumerians, the good lady that once offered to pay for my transport when i dont have change. etc etc etc.

Plotinus: I agree with you, Francis of Assisi. Makes it hard to get a discussion going.

I'd say Adolf Hitler myself, he brought upon such change upon the world that no one can compare. He nearly 'created' the modern world. He was the most influential person in the 20th century. And he did it all with bravery and confidence.

I'd say Adolf Hitler myself, he brought upon such change upon the world that no one can compare. He nearly 'created' the modern world. He was the most influential person in the 20th century. And he did it all with bravery and confidence.

:lol: nice one

Also Hitler brought about the end of the age of Imperialism, freeing countless nations and peoples and ushering in a new age of freedom and self motivation for countries.

I might point out that nobody believes Mary, Muhammad, or Buddha to be divine.

Not true.

"Divine" means of or relating to God or whatever supreme reality just as "American" means of or relating to America. So for instance, I am American even though I am not America. Likewise Mary is divine even though she is not God. We can also call a particular cuisine American cuisine without meaning that the cuisine is itself America. Likewise, the bible can be called a divine book even though the book itself is not God. Religious rituals can be called divine rituals even though they are not themselves God and the Church can be called both human and divine, even though the Church is not a man and not a God.

Examples of this fact abound everywhere like here:

He, who at an early age had lost his own mother, loved his divine mother all the more.

http://www.vatican.va/gpII/documents/homily-card-ratzinger_20050408_en.html

It is only a peculiar linguistic prejudice that restricts the use of the word "divine" in the way you do. The American Heritage Dictionary in defintion 1b of "divine" says specifically that it can mean not only "of" but also "relating to" a deity -- just as in definition 1 of "American" it says specifically both "of" or "relating to" America.

And *I* don't believe any of them to be divine, so presumably I'm allowed to nominate them...

Fine with me :)

Seriously, I think it's a bit harsh to exclude figures like these - whether you think they're divine or whatever, surely people such as Jesus or the Buddha would be pretty high up the list of candidates for "most good" person in history.

You can pick Jesus if you aren't Christian. The thing is if Christians could pick Jesus then for most of them, there would be no contest -- everyone would say Jesus and the discussion would be boring. Also it could turn into just a religion debate. But if you want to do a George W Bush and pick Jesus anyway, then that's fine! (in a debate Bush was asked the question who the most influential "philosopher" was in his life and he answered Jesus Christ interpreting it to mean any person who was the most influential)

So I suppose I'll nominate someone to start a more substantial discussion going: Francis of Assisi.

Cool!

There could be more than one most good person too (just like there can be more than one most tall mountain if two mountains are equally tall)

I think there could be more than one most good man/woman too.

Well, by that definition of "divine", you'd rule out Francis of Assisi too, I suppose! Of course, you should never trust what dictionaries say...

Mother Teresa, Gandhi...

My personal favourite is my grandmother. I'm afraid you don't know her.

I agree with Nyvin :mischief:

Mother Teresa, Gandhi...

Agreed! :)

My mother. Shame you never heard of her.

Why not Norman Borlaug?

My mother. Shame you never heard of her.Oh, I've heard of her... :groucho::mischief::D

I might point out that nobody believes Mary, Muhammad, or Buddha to be divine. And *I* don't believe any of them to be divine, so presumably I'm allowed to nominate them...

Next time you decide to make a comment, Please know what your talking about first. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religions#All_religions_or_belief_systems_by_numbe r_of_adherents) Thanks.

Next time you decide to make a comment, Please know what your talking about first. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religions#All_religions_or_belief_systems_by_numbe r_of_adherents) Thanks.Mary is the mother of God, but she's not divine by herself. Muhammad is a prophet who has heard Allah speaking to him, but he's not divine by himself. As for Buddha, he's not a divination, simply someone meditating (don't know the english word to tell it). Properly speaking, there's no God in buddhism.

As such, I'm sure there are few marginals believing Mary, Buddha or Muhammad are divine, but not the mainstream religions where they are important characters.

Thanx. I think Buddhism just doesn't say anything about God. So, I think you could believe in Jesus, or be Atheist, and still be a good Buddhist! :worship:

Next time you decide to make a comment, Please know what your talking about first. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religions#All_religions_or_belief_systems_by_numbe r_of_adherents) Thanks.

I do know what I'm talking about (and I can punctuate properly, too), and I don't see how that page contradicts what I said anyway!

Mother Terasa

Buddhists believe in gods.

A Buddha is anyone who has fully awakened to the true nature of existence, liberated from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, has eradicated all negative qualities and developed all positive qualities, possibly including omniscience.

"Divine" means above and beyond this world, of a divine realm ... so there are Buddhists gods.

Gods are mentioned in Buddhist texts too:

Two gods, Brahma Sahampati and Indra, interceded, and asked that the Buddha teach the Dharma to the world, saying

However the "founder" of Buddhism did not himself claim to be god.

Remember god need not be the full-blown Christian or Jewish God. Think of the Roman and Greek gods.

@plotinus

I guess you could say Francis is partially divine (or fully divine if you believe fully).

In any case, feel free to break the rules in the opening post LOL

Anyone can now nominate ANYONE they want (and nominate 2nd place, 3rd place if they want)

Whoever is capable of feeling something pleasant for another human being that is worthy of those pleasant feelings and can return them, and on the other hand is not handicapped emotionally when he/she is not in contact with such people, is in my view considered as "nice".
Btw jesus is definately not one of those people, since he clearly was enraged by those he didnt like, and also felt superior to everyone else. Not to mention the random acts of murder by apostle peter, in the acts of the apostles :p