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The Right Thing
to Do
“The right thing to do”
is a phrase that is rarely heard in modern times. When I was a
child, I remember my parents reading the newspaper and getting
into animated discussions over certain events and issues and naming
certain persons involved with those issues. Finally my mother
would call out the names of one of the involved persons and say,
“He should back down on such and such,” or “He
should stand up and apologize to the public”, or some other
seemingly drastic action. My father would ask her why, to which
she replied, “Because it is the right thing to do!”
As a youth, I remember growing
up with that old admonition. I can remember my pastor saying those
words, as he preached his messages on Sundays. I remember our
scoutmaster quoting that phrase as we talked about honorable ways
to treat others and perform certain duties which were “morally
straight”, according to the pledge of every young scout.
I remember our teachers talking about “doing the right thing”
as they taught us about civic responsibilities, about treating
others fairly on the playground, and even as they warned us against
the evils of cheating on our tests. I even remember hearing the
phrase on some of the old television shows, perhaps on the westerns,
where morality provided a foundation for strength of character
in the guys who wore the white hat. Is it possible I remember
hearing John Wayne, in one of his old movies, say he would do
something “because it’s the right thing to do”?
Strangely, it seems over time,
the old proverb of “doing the right thing” has quietly
faded away. Somehow the idea of doing something “because
it is right” seems to be out of context or out of vogue with
the more modern mindset. As the years have gone by, it seems that
“doing the thing” became more an object of discussion
than “doing the right thing”. As people have become
more open-minded, the discussions became hotter and heavier regarding
whether “doing the thing” was wise or appropriate, or,
as we would say today, “politically correct”. In this
brave new world of independent thought, one would never resort
to the idea of what is the right thing to do, because times have
changed, and moral judgments belong to an old world that is a
part of a bygone era. Over the decades Americans have grown up,
and they have begun to think for themselves, to reason for themselves,
and to decide for themselves what is really important. If I am
to be a truly mature, responsible American adult, I must realize
that what is important is not “is this the right thing to
do” but “does this issue relate to me?” As a result,
a new phrase began to take on meaning: “I don’t want
to get involved.” There is no reason for me to try to justify
myself or my actions, or to rationalize my behavior, as long as
I determine that an issue has nothing to do with me. For this
reason, there is now a new principle by which to live: I don’t
have to decide if something is the “right thing to do”
as long as I am not directly with it. Therefore the adage of “doing
the right thing” is now a thing of the past. Or is it?
There is an obvious flaw in the
idea that I never have to decide on the morality of an issue because
I am not involved with it. The question quickly arises: what happens
when I am involved with the issue? No matter how thoroughly I
detach myself from passing judgment on a moral issue, I will most
certainly pass judgment on that issue if I am involved with it.
If I have had nothing to eat for days and I break into a house
to steal a loaf of bread, I am passing a judgment which decrees
stealing, at least under certain conditions, is morally right.
Unless I openly admit to wrongdoing, I have declared to the world,
whether I like it or not, stealing is the right thing to do in
some circumstances. The bottom line is: there is no way a person
cannot live without declaring a moral judgment. No matter how
hard he tries to steer clear of deciding on a right or wrong,
there is no way a person can live without saying, in some situations,
under certain conditions, “this is the right thing to do.”Unfortunately,
we have taught our views regarding “not getting involved,
and not passing judgment” all too well to our young people.
In February 2002, less than six months after the tragedy of September
11, the Barna Group, a Christian based research organization,
released some astounding survey results that indicate the majority
of modern Americans do not believe in an absolute moral truth.
64% of adults stated that they believed truth was always relative
to the person and their situation. The distinction was even sharper
among young people, of whom 83% stated that they believed moral
truth was always relative, and only 6% said they believed in the
existence of an absolute moral truth. Even the majority of Christians
believe in moral relativity. According to the survey report, only
32% of those who claim to be born again believers accept the idea
of moral absolutes as compared to only 15% among non-believers.
Certainly, these statistics explain
why the old passion for “doing the right thing” has
nearly died within our culture. Perhaps these statistics explain
some other things, such as the shootings that took place in Columbine
High School where 2 teenagers murdered 12 other teenagers and
1 teacher. Perhaps these statistics explain why our crime rates
have increased drastically over the last 50 years, why teenage
pregnancy rates have soared, only to drop because of huge increases
in the number of abortions, and why our jails are overflowing
to the point that law enforcement officials allow huge numbers
of offenders to walk, simply because they have no place to keep
them. Some people may ask, “How did we lose this concept
of an absolute right and wrong?” “Why has such a change
taken place within a country such as ours, where the last stanza
of the Star Spangled Banner proclaims “this be our motto:
in God is our trust”?
We can easily place the blame
on the media. The role models of film and television skew morality
to the point that it becomes perverted, distorted, unrecognizable,
or laughable as a concept. We can easily blame our public institutions.
Something is wrong with a society where the majority religion
is spurned and outlawed within public school systems, yet minority
religions are welcomed and studied. However, the root of the problem
lies much deeper, within the churches and the families of America.
Many people of this nation, over the years, have stopped practicing
their belief in morality because they have stopped practicing
their beliefs in God. Without concrete faith in God, there can
be no firm ground for moral beliefs. Anyone with normal power
to reason understands that people have to believe in right or
wrong, or all of society would fall into chaos. However, if belief
in God wanes or falters, any reason for believing in moral absolutes
is forced to shift to the shaky ground of mankind. Since every
person has their own idea of what is right and wrong, absolute
morality falls to into the pieces of relative morality, which
is really no morality at all.
Now is the time to sound the cry
to return to the faith of our fathers, to our belief in God, to
our belief in an absolute wrong and right. We owe it to our families
and to our future to re-create the moral foundations and fiber
of our country in order to return it to the stability it once
knew. Desperate is our need for the bold strength of character
that develops the passion for righteousness known by previous
American generations, who took Jesus Christ at His word when He
said, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be filled.” We need to take
up the cause of absolute truth and help our children to understand
that without it, we won’t survive as a civilization. After
all, it’s the right thing to do.
James Sanders
Pastor,
July 26, 2005
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