What Happened to Right v. Wrong?

Up until the last 50 years (yes, I go back that far), I would submit that pretty much everyone agreed that certain things were “right” and certain other things were just flat out “wrong”.  By right and wrong I don’t mean true or false, which is a whole other kettle of fish.  I mean according to a universal code of morality and decency, which was generally accepted by the majority of us living on this rock.  Morality for the purposes of this discourse is defined as the “principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior”.

There was a time when:

• Telling the truth was the right thing, the expected thing to do.  And lying intentionally, especially on TV, was neither right nor okay.  It was not acceptable to continually distort the facts and repeat falsehoods to support one’s POV or political disposition.

• Those reporting the news in the paper and TV were expected to be objective, factual, truthful.  Not opinionated, bought by politicians or outright deceptive.

• Stealing was wrong even if it was taxpayer’s money.

• All lives mattered.  Taking another’s life regardless of circumstances was wrong except in defense of oneself, family or country.  Certainly not the life of a nearly born child 8 months in the womb.  Or innocents at a Music festival or at work in High Rise Towers.

• Being faithful to one’s partner, kind, respectful, forgiving and keeping one’s word were clearly right, if not virtuous.

• And I’m pretty sure raping and beheading a 12-year old girl and putting babies in ovens were never OK. 

• Likewise, mutilation of children - with or without parent’s approval.

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Grieving for yesteryear reminds me of the great Okie from Muscogee, Merle Haggard and his 1982 hit,  “Are the Good Times Really Over for Good?”

Sadly, the notion that some things are unmistakably, incontestably good and others fiendishly wrong has been lost in so many walks of life.  The whole concept of absolutes has been bastardized.  91% of teens don’t believe in absolute truths.  Neither do 66% of adults.  Right and wrong have been subjugated to individual perception, convenience and the promotion of some cause or personal position. 

In the 60’s, colleges started teaching kids, “Just do your thing.  If it feels good, it’s okay.  Truth is different for you than for me.”  But, even before that, History had proven unequivocally we cannot depend on society or the state to set standards for right and wrong.  Mankind’s history is replete with acts of horrendous barbarism.  Acts wrong by any moral code.  If we could depend on our governments or ourselves, there would not have been slavery or Stalin’s purges or the holocaust to cite a few of the atrocious savageries, which earmark mankind’s existence.

Today seems to be worse than ever.  Divorces are rising, single parent families exploding, crooked politicians feasting on every street corner.  Intentional dishonesty is normative in politics and media.  Society has fractured.  Democrats can’t stand Republicans.  Liberals and conservatives detest each other to the point where few can even speak civilly.  Muslims hate Jews and Christians, at least a lot seem to.

Niccolo Machiavelli famed maxim, The end justifies the means, has come to dominate our lives. Who cares whether it's true or right?

So, one must ask has so much of the world seems to have abandoned codes of morality and decency.

There can be only one root cause.  The disintegration of AUTHORITY.

 As a consultant responsible for organizational change in deeply institutionalized cultures. I learned some 50 years ago that behavior only changes when it is in one’s self-interest.  People rarely change unless there is some compelling reason, and that reason is almost always to further self-interest.  When change is seen to produce a selfish outcome, people will not only commit to change, but will also follow through.

When it comes to morality and decency.  Right and wrong.  The diagnosis is simple.  More and more governments, societies and individuals do not feel that “doing the right thing” is in their self-interest.  In fact, they often feel the opposite.  Accumulating power and thereby wealth is often best achieved by not doing the right thing.  By condoning permissiveness, illegal immigration, slaps on the wrist for egregious crimes, rigged elections, leftist doctrine in schools etc. politicians can stay in power and continue to feather their own nests.  Too many business leaders cook books and kowtow to the same transgressions as politicians.

Additionally, our country and our society have long been in the process of devaluing religion and ignoring the ultimate authority, God, who acts as a check and balance on those who put self-interest ahead of right and wrong.  It is not society, the state or science that defines right and wrong.  It is God pure and simple.  It is that supreme sovereign being, different from religion to religion, who defines right and wrong. 

When the influence of God is abrogated, wrong triumphs. As we drift further and further from belief in an all merciful, all loving God and abdicate religion in our children’s lives, we forsake the outcomes of right and wrong.  As judicial systems become more permissive, social consequences abate.  The line between right and wrong blurs.  Deceit, defamation, slurs, even threats of violence have all become acceptable forms of conduct if taken “in context.”  Eventually, we no longer see doing “right” to be in our self-interest.  Especially those in power.

The role of religion is receding fast.  Even kids brought up going to church are led astray as they go to agnostic universities and workplaces.  Schools have all but eliminated prayer and religious discussion.  Along with this goes the fear of God.  I am a church going Catholic.  I go for many reasons one of which is I don’t want to take the chance there actually is a life after death and a choice between paradise and eternal damnation.  Heck, even a few decades in purgatory scares me. So, pretty much I stick to the straight and narrow and dedicate my Sunday morning to communion with my God.

To restore the human race to a semblance of right and wrong we must reintroduce authority.  And the only real authority is God.  Doesn’t have to be a Catholic or Jewish or Muslim God, but it must be one. 

True, most of say we believe in God.  85% according to Pew.  But actions have always spoken louder than words.  Only 24% of U.S. teens say God is important in their lives.  A whopping 43% of adults agree.  A majority say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral.  Hah!  Nice try from those too lazy even to go to church for an hour a week.  Only 36% of adults go to church weekly.  17% of teens say they do.  They just banned Christmas in Jerusalem.  Get my drift.

Without God in our lives, we have no real authority.  Can’t trust the government.  In society we have such pervasive schisms there is no hope of bridging.  Especially when those in power gain by exacerbating.  We can’t even agree that a child is a life after 8 months or that young children should not be taught to question their sexuality or, worse yet, be mutilated for life.

Unless and until more of us reintroduce ourselves, our families and especially our children to the concept that a supernatural being does exist, has already defined right and wrong and may well have a say in how each of us spends eternity – there is little hope for right and wrong.