Morality of Actions and Actors

The morality of an act is independent of the actor or their affiliations. If a serial killer provides food to a starving man, he has committed a moral act. If a philanthropist murders a man in cold blood, he has committed an immoral act. The action itself must be judged on its own. However, when judging the worth of the actor, then these previous behaviors can be accounted for.

I see a lot of people responding to critiques of actions as though they were critiques of actors and vice versa. It makes discussions difficult.