Star Trek's undercurrent of nihilism

[TheGodBen]

liberty and justice every chance you get.

Define liberty and justice. You will find these terms are fluid and mean different things to different peoples and different cultures. Very few individuals, groups, governments, etc... outrightly claim, feel or believe they are EVIL. Most times you will find from the past, as well as the present, that liberties restricted are done so in the guise of being "in your best interest." What one person considers justice is perceived as tyranny and oppression by others.

Liberty is the freedom of the individual from the state. Justice is the defence of a person's rights and well being. A man can claim to be fighting for those things while actually destroying them but his claims to be fighting for them those not make it so.

I could claim to be a Christian and get people to believe me. The fact that I am really an atheist doesn't make Christianity itself any less real as an ideal.

 

[Shawnster]

^One man's justice is another man's tyranny. Look at the LA riots from 1992. The people rose up and committed acts of violence because they perceived justice was not served in the acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King.

People across the United States (and world) differ on their opinion of Capital Punishment. Some view it as just and others unjust.

At what point do laws encroach on personal liberty? People would say a required national fingerprint/DNA database would be a trampling on individual rights and freedoms, yet no one is making many loud protests over the State's requirement that all drivers be licensed with a photo ID. Isn't that taking away or restricting an individual's freedom to operate a motor vehicle? Or consider smoking - Ohio has banned smoking in public places. Smokers feel this is a violation of their personal liberty yet defenders of this particular law feel differently.