Is Right and Wrong an Opinion?

When the lines blur-what is right and what is wrong?

“If you hit her again, I am going to hit you,” my dad yelled in response to seeing my young self hit my younger sister.

“Hmmm,” my young mind thought.

“Well, that will really teach me a lesson,” my young mouth said.

That was my thought process when I was young. I guess not much has changed. I have a hard time understanding the lesson in that. Is hitting wrong or right?

We all have experiences that helped us form our beliefs around what is right and what is wrong and some experiences that blurred the lines.

Blurred Lines

How about when someone expresses that another person is vial. So bad that even if the person was on fire, they wouldn’t waste their spit to help put out the flames. May both parties be considered vial by some? Where is the line between right and wrong here? In situations like this, an old adage floods my mind: Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Do the lines of right and wrong get blurred? By whom? When?

These questions lead me to the moral dilemmas I have heard commonly debated and seen in movies. Is it ok for a husband to steal if it is medicine for his dying wife or child? Is it ok to kill someone that has killed? Is it ok to do medical or other chemical trials on animals? Is it ok, in other words, is it right?

Are there circumstances to be considered that may impact the answer for each situation when determining what is right and what is wrong? Is the answer based solely on opinion?

Guide Markers

Is it humanly possible to construct guide markers for what is right and what is wrong? There are many major divides between the beliefs people and groups of people hold. Where could we start?

We can start with a commitment to all do what we feel is right. Many times when actions take people outside the markers, it is not a lack of knowledge or common understanding of what is right in a given situation, it is a lack of doing what the person already knows is right even by their own measure. Why do people do things that they themselves don’t feel are right?

Here are the top three reasons I believe this happens:

• They think they can get away with it
• They don’t feel like others care about them so they, in turn, don’t care about the impact their actions have on others
• They don’t feel like their best efforts can secure the resources they need

Remarking the Trail

Making everyone feel like a valued part of a community can help with all three of these forces that divert people from doing what they believe is right. If a person feels like they are part of a community:

• they can see how their actions impact the community even if they “get away with it” so they are less inclined to do the “wrong” thing
• they know others care about them, so they care more for others
• they feel like the community understands their needs and can help them attain everything they need as long as they are contributing members of the community

A sense of community can help in the above ways when people are acting against what they feel is right. The added bonus is that a sense of community also helps people come closer to a consensus on what is right and what is wrong for the members of that community and in relation to other communities.

Final Thoughts

Is community a foolproof worldwide remarking system that will make everything right in the world? Nope. It is, however, a step in the right direction that will work in some places with some people.

I do believe building community is a great step. It is one that we can take in small increments, even starting within our closest circles. The better we understand the perspectives of others, the more accepting we can be within our beliefs that serve as our guide markers for what we consider right and wrong.

Laws can’t govern opinion. Everyone is ultimately in charge of their own beliefs. I believe we can do better together.

Thanks for reading! I hope everyone finds ways to build communities that help each other do what is right for them.

Thank you to Diana C. for opening the floor to writer-inspired prompts and thank you to Joseph for this prompt!

“At the level of humanness, we see right and wrong as guide markers. At what point or level do we no longer see right and wrong?”