Sharku:
Your post brought several things to mind.
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The immoral act in best intention (and the conscious intent of serving Eru) is not true sin/evil
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This brings to mind an old saw oft quoted by my father: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" Also, Judges describing the descent into moral anarchy: "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." It doesn't say everyone did what was *wrong* in his own eyes and anarchy ensued.
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from 1+2: the immoral act without best intentions or conscious intent of serving Eru is sin/evil/truly immoral, even if not perceived as immoral [an interesting point, if we accept that - I'm not sure I even accept it as I concluded it myself]
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Reminds me of "That which is not of faith is sin." Faith is tied to mercy and grace just as rebellion is tied to sin.
Returning to the first point-- I doubt Feanor was doing what was wrong in his own eyes when he refused to surrender the silmarils to the Valar. He saw what they were asking him to do as wrong, I think; but his decision was about fearing for his own heart, it wasn't about faith or service.
Would he have been happy with the two trees restored? Or was he beyond happiness already?
And does it matter? We all want happiness (I sure do) but is the point of life to be happy? I act as though it is. Brain-heart disconnect, apparently. Our culture seems to have lost the internal fortitude that it takes to persevere against all odds for a distant goal: destruction of the ring, or establishment of a kingdom. I think devaluing what is *right*, the *right * thing to do in Eru's sight, and replacing it with *whatever makes us happy*. But that doesn't get us to Mount Doom, or through the Paths of the Dead either.