The Soapbox - Being Right

"These brief, random thoughts are being written just a short time after the Attica State Prison tragedy.  Now I've no intention of imposing my own opinions upon you about which side, which party or parties might have been right or wrong.  Instead, I'd like to discuss the theory of 'right or wrong' itself.  Is it possible that too much harm, too much injustice has been caused in the name of 'right' - in the pursuit of combating 'wrong?'  In every human conflict, isn't each disputant completely convinced that his particular cause is wholly 'right' while the opposing viewpoint is totally 'wrong?'  And, armed with the sense of being 'in the right,' don't we dogmatically attempt to impose our own will upon those who hold different convictions?  But, what if we had no such hang-ups about right and wrong?  What if we were to remember that what's right for here may be wrong for there?  In fact, what's right for you may be wrong for me - and what's right for today may be wrong for some other time.  'Right' to a liberal is politically 'wrong' to a conservative, just as 'right' to a labor leader can be 'wrong' to an industrialist, or 'right' to a child can seem 'wrong' to a parent.  Yet, I wonder what life would be like if we weren't so preoccupied with proving ourselves right and the other guy wrong.  I wonder if we might not find the peace, the understanding we all seek by striving to relate to each other, to sympathize with each other's problems, to reach out to those who may differ from ourselves and to realize that they too may be 'right' in their own way, from their own point of reference.  I wonder - mightn't it be worth a try?

Excelsior!"

Stan Lee, Stan's Soapbox, 1972

 A little primer for an upcoming blog today.  While it gets a little to close to relativism, the sentiment remains true.  The part in bold in particular.  We are all far too concerned with being right.  For believers, there are too many of us more concerned with being "right" than being righteous.  And it's time for change.

To be continued...