Good Deeds

What is a good deed? I ask this because I was recently stumped by a good question. If a person tells the truth, are they performing a good deed? It's an interesting proposition... if you lie, you are doing something bad (usually), or committing a sin so to speak. However, what about the truth? We are beholden to tell the truth, but is there benefit to be gained from telling it? I would argue yes, but not in the way that one would expect.

The term good deed implies that one is doing something out of the ordinary (almost like saying one is going out of their way to do good). Like rescuing a cat from a tree, or helping an elderly person who is having difficulty to cross the road. Doing something trivial that one should be doing anyways does not merit the status of being a "good deed," in common parlance. I think this is where we as a society become beholden to flaws in our language. In English, there is no appropriate way to combine the concepts of responsibility and the common good with daily actions an individual takes (or in the likely even that there is such a way, it is beyond my current grasp of the language). The problem really comes in when we combine Good with Deed. Either term is fine by itself, but the combination opens up the proverbial "can of worms." Good is a subjective principle to an extent. Everyone is good by their own terms - however a deed is an action. So the term good deed combines the subjective - that which can be perceived as good, with the objective - that which can be done / performed. In a society full of liars, telling the truth could be perceived as the greatest of good deeds with a lie being considered normal (not a bad deed), however in our modern society where being truthful is expected of another, a lie can have a shocking effect. Knowing someone has lied to you can bring you anger, can embarrass you or cause you to feel distant from that individual. Once again this is societal... without the subconscious effect our "good society" has on us, we wouldn't view the world with this perspective.

So telling the truth is not really a "good deed," from my Canadian context because the term good deed is defined by the society around me, through my own interpretation (and for me at least it doesn't). However, I would argue that the avoidance of sin or a bad deed is also a good deed. Either way, it's a moot point. At the end it must be remembered that good and bad are not measured in a quantifiable manner... I do not believe that I will be judged based on a point system that will say - 131 good, 129 bad... ok, better than not. If this was the case, the measurement of good vs bad would truly have meaning. Lying may even prove to be the only good action that can be performed in a certain situation. In reality, all one can do is behave in the most ethical manner that one knows how to. Live, love, laugh and sing - know that whatever you do, at least to thyself be true.