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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (7780)	3/7/2001 2:38:02 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

"If, by right thing, you mean best thing, we agree on this." Yes, I think so too. We really got stuck on the morally right vs Morally wrong issue. I have absolute clarity in the decision making and "rightness" that I proposed. There was identification of the problem, admission of past mistake (promise that got out of the promise maker's control), commitment to a resolution that will work for everybody. Sure there can be a variety of good and right actions as well as a variety of bad and wrong actions. There is lots of latitude here. However, I would put honesty, sincerity, and committment to a resolution that works for everybody in the right category. I would put, lying deceit and stealing in the wrong category. You termed this "morally ambiguous," right? You chose stealing. Not just a little bit but, grand theft auto, from a neighbor. We are definitely in different camps here. I am an old guy and was taught as a young guy that "two wrongs don't make a right." I am a witness to the validity of that old saying. There is no way I can view this as a right, justified by what you called "compassion" and I called "guilt feelings" for the job seeker. Both descriptors may apply here. I suppose it is possible to feel compassion and still do something that is 1)Illegal, 2)A sin, 3)Immoral, 4)A betrayal of trust (neighbor's) 5)Unjustifyable (try it in court). Yet, you haphazardly just label the act of stealing as moral and right because you feel compassion for the job seeker and feel guilty about the circumstances. I am not saying you shouldn't feel these things, as I would have similar feelings. I am just saying that you can't justify all acts on how you feel at the moment. I see why you think of the terms "right" and "wrong" as moral ambiguity and I see why you're mistaken. There is only ambiguity if you apply rules of morality as you have. Many people do that. I suppose that is why things like adultery and stealing are popular. It is wrong for other people to commit acts of betrayal and most people recognize that. But when it is in first person, I hear people make statements like, "it isn't adultery because what we have is very special." Some how those happy ending statements only survive as endings at the theater, though. I guess from venturing to various threads that involve left wing comment, I have to conclude that this (moral ambiguity) is a left wing standard or view. Please correct me if you think I have drawn the wrong conclusion here.