Taking care of yourself is your responsibility. Vengeance belongs to the gods. This is what basic human societies have understood since time immemorial.
I wouldn't consider what I do a form of vengeance. I don't necessarily wish to inflict punishment for wrong-doings. I don't generally feel anyone has done anything "wrong" to me, in most cases. I described it as "eye for an eye", because I suppose it was the best way I could think of describing it, without going into a long, lengthy explanation. Maybe I should have more described it as, "if you are going to act like you do, then expect it back." I suppose "eye for an eye" implies that i think someone has hurt me. I don't think anyone on an internet forum can actually hurt me lol......
I think there's a grey area that many people don't think is bullying but I do, and that's what I am referring to. When I do it to others, I think it is bullying, but many others don't. Same with others. It's an arguable situation. But it's generally socially-acceptable behaviors ....... I don't think going as far as believing it is anything more than just child's play is going too far.
Technically, it IS bullying, but most people on this forum do it, at least on occasion. I have a low threshold for when I think someone is acting out-of-line, and occasionally, I do cross my own lines, in other words. That doesn't mean I like playing god lol...... whole different scenario, whole different person.
At the same time, i don't agree that "vengeance belongs to the gods", since I don't believe in gods in the first place.
I think we as a people decide to punish criminals, children, etc., all the time for bad behaviors when they are justified, and it's socially acceptable to do so, in method. That is not what Victor was choosing to do. His methods and the things he was punishing seemed to be an attempt to prune others toward believing his way, and both his method and ideas were both socially-unacceptable. The same cannot be said for me, even if you believe I enjoy "playing god", which I don't. In other words, there is a difference between a kind-hearted teacher and a morally-questionable cult-leader, even if both are doling out "punishments". There's a difference between a friendly mod who volunteers and a rule-breaker who continually disrupts, even though they both induce punishments on others.