The first day of a class my junior year, the teacher handed us an account of someone being drawn and quartered. After reading the document, we were asked to share our opinion. Words such as "gruesome," "inhumane," "unjust," and "wrong" were included in the long list of adjectives written on the blackboard. The teacher questioned us: "'Wrong?' 'Unjust?' Quite contrary, the king was doing what was considered exactly right and just according to the law." After a fiery 30 minutes of discussion, we landed on the theme of a subjective right vs. wrong.
Imagine walking down the street in Minneapolis. On the sidewalk, you see a bare three-year-old, crying for help with no guardian in sight. In the US, wouldn't it be considered wrong to walk right past that three-year-old and do nothing to help the child? Now, imagine you are touring the streets of Delhi. On the sidewalk you see a bare three-year-old, crying for help with no guardian in sight. Well, I walked right by, and many Americans would probably say that I did the right thing. "There are so many, and if you help one of them, they will all come after you. It's better not to look and just give to a charity." Why is it wrong to walk past the three-year-old on the streets of Minneapolis and right in Delhi? Is it because right vs. wrong is all subjective?
Reflecting on the situation, I don't think so. It seems as if opposed to following what our conscience tells us what is right and what is wrong, we habitually allow personal morals to conform to societal morals, determined by what I think is convenience. In India, it wouldn't be convenient for me to stop and help the three-year-old. As we travel from place to place or from day to day, as society changes, morals change, constantly satisfying ourselves with the delusion that we are morally progressing. Just as drawing and quartering was deemed immoral and abolished in England in 1870, the last execution by gas chamber in the US took place in 1999. Currently, Americans are making a fuss about the lethal injection. I wonder what moral way we will find to execute someone next.
"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery."- Bob Marley
1 comment:
I was excited to see your blog address in the Spire. Immediately I read all of your post. It reminded me of talking to you on community meal days. Your courage, compassion, and intelligence shines in your words. You are added to my Bloglines, and I look forward to your updates and insight. God bless! Mary Moeller
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