Left, Right, Good, Evil, and Liberty

Recently, conservative Dennis Prager wrote this:

"A defining characteristic of the Left is its inability to identify––and therefore confront––evil..."

Without undue rancor, I am beginning to agree. While I happen to be a person who sees a lot of gray area in life (sometimes I even live there), I also see black and white as the prevailing colors of most moral issues we face. Right is right; wrong is wrong, and mitigating factors are seldom able to change that essential rightness or wrongness. They simply increase our understanding and, perhaps, compassion for those who cross the line to walk on the dark side. It's important to remember, in our empathy, that there actually IS a line...and that taking into account the underlying motives and/or circumstances of those who take the low road should not include redefining what a low road is...or where it must inevitably take you.

The particular liberal mindset that excuses or normalizes bad behavior, then tries to justify those who exhibit it through rationalization or minimization, reminds me of today's parents who seem to be more comfortable changing the standards than upholding them. In far too many cases, reasonable standards of behavior have been abandoned in favor of what is touted as personal freedom, independence, and the right to self-expression. Yet believing that any of these is enhanced by lack of parental structure and/or expectation is faulty thinking. I was once in a group therapy session where parents of drug-addicted teens were counseled to set and consistently enforce family rules and limits. Why? Because having parameters they are taught to respect and live up to makes children feel safe and loved. It increases feelings of self esteem and establishes a sound core from which to act upon the world in positive ways. (A side note: Imagine my surprise when nearly every parent there asked for suggestions of what "standards" they might consider adopting. The problem wasn't even that they were afraid to impose their personal mores on their offspring; it was that they hadn't really espoused any for themselves.) A rather sad situation.

Overtly permissive parents will often try to explain away their children's bad behavior by pointing out a supposed inability to exercise obedience due to youth (lack of adequate intelligence or skills to comprehend) or special circumstances. In doing so, they underestimate their offspring...even patronize them. They fail to recognize (and utilize) the facility and potential with which children are born, and their lack of confidence and expectation undermines development. Rather than fostering the qualities of personal freedom, independence and self-expression they value, these parents are stunting the very growth and self-worth that breed them.

Okay, back to my analogy. A number of liberals, like overly permissive parents, enable bad behavior by getting overly involved in trying to explain and understand it. Then, somehow, the explanation (if there even is one) becomes not just a justification for the behavior but a revision of or redemption from it. The Soviet Union was more misguided than evil; the guys who beat up Rodney King had their reasons, and Hugo Chavez isn't such a bad guy if you put the whole thing in context. Even Islamic terrorists aren't so dreadful if we understand the circumstances that created them.

Let's face it. Pity, sympathy, or empathy for the actor does not transform the act. (Holding him accountable, however, can transform the actor.) Sometimes, most times, right is just that: right––and wrong is plain, old wrong. What's more, as Abraham Lincoln said, "No one has the right to choose to do what is wrong." Not even if something wrong was done to him (or her, as the case may be).

Prager concluded his remarks with this final one: "When, one day, the Left exits from history's stage, its epitaph will read: 'Those who do not understand evil will not understand good.'" Once again, I have to agree, and that's what worries me now. Good solutions to our problems cannot be created in a vacuum, and the ability to hold to what is and has always been good about our country is inseparably connected with being able to determine what is and always has been evil. Ours is not to excuse that evil, not to explain it, but just to recognize that it exists. (And thereby avoid, condemn, and thwart it.)

Wherever and whenever possible.