The Right Thing Is Usually The Hard Thing. Who Is Morally Responsible To Do It?

"A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you come to terms with the realization that your decisions cause your rewards and consequences. You are responsible for your life, and your ultimate success depends on the choices you make."
Denis Waitley

"Ah, the good old days. Everybody looked out for each other, we didn't even need to lock our doors. Whatever happened to those days? What happened to the moral fabric of America?" A better question would be, who is morally responsible?

For years, surveys have asked Americans about the loss of moral compass in our nation, and we hear a familiar refrain. The moral fabric of America is weakening. Well...,maybe it is, but maybe it is more about a decline in voicing our moral commitment? That is only a step above, but still, the opportunity is there.

Dr. King gave us a good example of someone who is morally responsible in the following quote. “On the parable of the Good Samaritan: I imagine that the first question the priest and Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But by the very nature of his concern, the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

Do the right thing

Those Good Old Days

Memories play a peculiar trick on us as we get older. The good things from the past are remembered in a better light than they may have actually been, and the negatives are diminished. Those good old days weren't so good for everyone. That has been true in every generation. We all had our share of bad actors.

In my own youth, there was an elitist group popularized by some tenured professors who advocated blowing up government buildings. "The Weathermen" also known as "The Weather Underground" swayed young minds with extreme rhetoric and blown-up buildings. A former two-term president spoke of his admiration for a Weathermen spokesman. Our good old days had bad things too.

Moral responsibility could be defined as doing what is right, even though there is no legal requirement to do so. It could also be defined as doing the right thing because it is right, even when no one is looking.

Who is Morally Responsible?

I don't believe our moral fabric is weakening. At least not any more than in past decades. Our resolve to speak up might be wavering. That points to a loss of accountability for our actions and a failure to understand our responsibility as citizens.

Most people have overlapping values on hot-button topics. They see value in viewpoints of "the other side" but the level of intentional polarization of our citizens has caused many people to fear acknowledging any potential middle ground toward solutions. The extreme ends of every issue tend to brand any attempt at consensus as treasonous to their agenda.

The rise of slanted cable television talking heads has created a rage mentality that overrides our moral compass. Negative sells better than positive and it is all about the money. So yes, the political machines that spread falsehoods are testing our morals and hurting our morale.

Who is morally responsible to overcome this test? The people that reject their garbage and stand up to speak the truth. The church members who call out the hypocrisy among the position holders in their denominations, not to tear down the denomination, but to refocus them on their true mission and away from pray, pay, obey.

Who is morally responsible? The people who see through the pretty words and the intellectual blather that conceals the truth. The people who draw the line about protecting innocent humans around our nation and the world. The rare candidates who don't toe the party line, but rather, place serving their country above their bank accounts.

Who is morally responsible? Each of us who look in the mirror and say "It starts right here. I won't add fuel to the rage movement designed to scare people from thinking and listening better. I won't ignore the truth about what is really happening to innocent humans, even when it is covered up by flashpoint rhetoric intended to distract. I will learn how to be more responsible."

The good old days had some good things. They were good because good people were morally responsible to do good things and try to change the bad things. This is still true today. There is an old Polish saying that states, "Not my circus, not my monkeys." It meant, don't drag me down into your divisive hole. I'm not getting involved in your drama.

Turn off the cable screamers for a while. Shine your positive light and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Don't fall for the empty noise of career politicans and the puppet-masters who pull their strings.

We are morally responsible. Our moral fabric might be stretched, but we won't let it tear away.

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