Wrong is such a large word. Such an all-encompassing word. A word we become acquainted with very early in our lives. Sitting happily in our high chairs at breakfast we probably, in the adventurous way of all babies, had the happier idea of not just eating our dry Fruit Loops but attempting to see if one of the little things would fit up our nose. It seemed about the right size. Of course the attempt brought an instant and emphatic NO! from mama. Our little baby hand was snatched and the offending Loop removed and lots of words issued out of mama none of which we understood. We did, however, understand the emotion conveyed by the tone of voice(loud/stern), the facial expression(scowl), and the action of having our baby will controverted by the act of a larger and stronger authority figure(mama).
In last weeks’ installment I posed the question—“how shall we define Wrong?” Of course, I have been mulling this over for the past seven days in an attempt to whittle it down to an ingestible size for public consumption. Quite a task as you all may appreciate. One of the reasons this posting is late. The trouble is not so much that everyone has their own opinion of what defines ‘wrong’ as it is the conflicting applications of the term.
For instance–freedom of speech is guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States of America. Everyone agrees that this is a ‘right’ thing for us to have included in our rules of government. The right of honest and open dissent. OK so far? Let’s apply this to one of the major bones of contention today. Homosexuality. Never mind whether you personally are for or against this practice, that is not what we are discussing now. My point is this, a person has the constitutional right to disagree with it and to say that they do without being accused of hate crimes or “discrimination”. In a few words, the homosexual lobbyists are calling freedom of speech ‘discrimination’ and making out that this is a ‘wrong’ thing. They uphold the principle of free speech only they want it censored to suit their egos. Especially, any prospective employer is to be penalized for not agreeing, both verbally and on paper.
When did we pass an amendment to the Constitution saying that employers were no longer Americans with the same freedoms guaranteed to the rest of us? There is definitely a conflict of application here. Freedom of Speech is defined as–freedom of speech and not as–speech that only agrees with me.
This same political maneuver is being used by a host of other so-called ‘minority’ groups. They yell “DISCRIMINATION” at anyone who doesn’t instantly agree with them on any subject whatsoever as if discrimination were a dirty word. In fact, it is not. It is the first public function of any intelligent adult to discriminate between what is actually, functionally good and what is only good if you don’t look too close. But the real issue here is this–any one of these groups which are nowadays referred to as special interest, base their expectations and arguments on the freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution but in practise expect these same freedoms to be denied to all opposing opinions. Any one who disagrees with them is ‘wrong.’
So. How shall we define “WRONG” ? In two ways. The baby way, which I illustrated in the opening paragraph above. It is a sad but true thing that many Americans are social/political/intellectual babies and will remain so. Their sense of ‘wrong’ will always be based on a purely emotional reaction to a scowl, a stern voice saying NO!, and a dim but persistent resentment of the authority figure(usually Republican government) that controverts their baby will by taking away their Fruit Loop.
Then there is the adult definition of wrong which is based on a reasoned analysis of any given issue. For the adult, a thing is wrong because
a.) the logical premise is either false or fatally flawed(ObamaCare, censored Freedom of Speech)
b.) the certain outcome is physical illness and/or discomfort(just try snorting a Fruit Loop), it is fiscally irresponsible (bouncing checks, ObamaCare), and it will cause harm to yourself or others(drug addiction, drunk driving).
I am sorry to disturb the many babies out there with a bit of adult truth but in the real, adult world you will occasionally be scowled at. You will hear stern voices and sometimes they will use the n- word. This is not “wrong.” It is not required of society to never make you feel like a baby if you insist on reasoning like one. Society is not going to hell in a handcart as so many people say. It functions just the way it should. The problem seems to be the generations we are raising to think that “no” is a hate word and not a reasoned response to stupid or even dangerous ideas; generations imbued with totally unrealistic expectations of the society in which they will have to live.
Which brings me to the subject of my next post.
Great Expectations!
The Longest Journey Begins... 