Doing the Wrong Thing at the Right Time

This week's topic, doing the wrong thing at the right time, reminds me of the mind games college philosophy professors used to play back when I was a student. You remember them - things like if a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? Right and wrong are even more nebulous.

Right and wrong are relative terms. Being precise in their definition is often difficult, perhaps even impossible. You might even say or think there is no absolute right or wrong in this world. What is most often the basis of "right" is religion. Right is what a given society determines to be moral, just, and legal. That leaves wrong things to be those things that are not in accordance with morality or the law.

So, in relation to our topic, Ramana has proposed doing the immoral or unlawful thing at a time when it is determined to be moral, just and legal. Is there a right time to do the wrong thing?

In a world where there is no absolute right or wrong almost anything is possible. People with strong religious upbringings will most typically do the right thing. Unless, of course, like  religious right here in the USA, they choose to support  amoral, falsehood-based policies and practices to pack the Supreme Court with conservative justices to facilitate overturning existing law with which they disagree. Apparently, everyone has a price. I myself find little if anything done by radical Muslims to be moral, just or legal. There are many more examples.

For a long time climate change was laughed at and considered folly by conservatives here. Several consecutive years of radical temperature change, extended drought and the great state of Texas almost losing its electricity grid in an exceptionally cold winter seems to have awoken a few to reality. Climate change is the right thing to address, so can there really be a wrong time for that discussion?

Man's contribution to pollution? One of the unadvertised benefits to the pandemic we have been enduring is cleaner air. Why? Travel has been severely restricted. There's that nasty science bugaboo raising its head again. Can there be a wrong time for that discussion?

The wrong thing at the right time has been justified for centuries when the outcome is considered positive - in other words, the end justifies the means. It's what Arthur got wrong with Camelot - might for right. That is really no different than might is right.

Considering the high regard in which science holds evolution, we can easily conflate might makes right with the survival of the fittest. Is that always correct? I think not.

Thomas Jefferson had an interesting take on religion and Jesus. The "Jefferson Bible” was created by Thomas Jefferson in 1820 as a collection of the Biblical teachings of Jesus that he found sound, with passages that Jefferson found unreasonable, such as miracles and the resurrection, removed. To me, it is a humanist view of Jesus. Strip away the magic from Jesus and the Bible reveals a real guidepost for life.

We all have the capacity to choose right over wrong. We do it daily in our lives. Many times we habitually do the right thing which helps maintain stress levels. Imagine how you would feel if you actually had to ponder every decision you make daily. Turn left, turn right, stop at the sign, and so on. Habits can be a good thing. Sounds like a 9AM naptime to me.

Since there are no real absolutes, you could be forced to do the wrong thing at the right time quite often. Take each action as required. It is all about perception and as long as your moral compass, be it god-based or humanist, leads you down a sound moral path, I suspect you will be just fine.

That's my quick take on Ramana's wrong thing at the right time conundrum. Be sure to check what Ramana and Conrad have to say. We'll see you next week, same bat time and same bat channel.