When Wrong is Right

by Douglas Ross

Right is a timeless proven concept that has been true in the past while providing direction for today and tomorrow. It is an objective standard of human action for all in a subjective world.

 The word “right” refers to that which is universal, consistent and objective. All people, regardless of race or nationality understand the concept. Evan a child knows right.

In the first act of life, a child signals to the world whether they are all right or something is wrong. The baby’s appearance and vital signs are assessed by a medical team against an enduring standard of right that existed before the beginning of science. The results of that assessment are the child’s first communication that he/she are indeed right with the world.

A child’s progression is measured against a standard of right that reflects not only an intuitive understanding but an objective physical, mental, emotional and social framework that transcends time and culture.

Right is integral to the body and the mind of a child. It is an innate part of the evolution of the human condition and part of the way of life.

Right is the internal compass that discerns actions that align and integrate the larger good with our subjective experience.

Yet, increasingly as the thundering herd of our economy exalts expediency and exploitation as the cornerstone of prosperity, the underlying and commonly accepted principle of “right” is silenced by the ensuing chaos. 

“Our lives begin to end,” Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The day we become silent about things that matter.”

The journey however to rightness is often fraught with trail and error. When something is wrong, it is natural to seek to correct it. The fact that thousands of people died with chickenpox was wrong but it created in humankind the desire to eliminate the disease so countless generations could explore new possibilities.

You have heard the saying “wrong is right and right is wrong” We know that something wrong can be right. Right can emerge from wrong. Mistakes can be corrected! But what happens when right is wrong. Can expediency, entitlement and exploitation ever be right?

I propose the following to help us further our discussion.   

When wrong is right, a way appears; when right is wrong, the way disappears.

I saw a story on the Little House on the Prairie series that haunted me for two months as I attempted to discern the truth within this statement.

In “The Silent Cry” two little boys, Michael and Josh are orphans in a government home awaiting adoption. Due to the trauma of the accident that took their parents’ lives, the youngest boy, Josh no longer spoke in public.

A middle age couple appears with a need to adopt a boy.  The two little boys are presented but Josh is excluded from the proposed adoption because he is supposedly is mute. 

The agency director decides to place the eldest boy Michael with the family by incorrectly reasoning that placing one child is better than placing none and that the ethically right thing for placing the boys together is invalidated because of Josh’s condition.

Michael responds to the apparent wrong by fleeing with his brother and finding refuge in a secluded farm with a lonely old man, Houston. As Houston protects the two young run a ways from the law, a loving relationship develops between all three. Houston even applies to adopt the children but is turned down because of his age and lack of income.

Charles (Michael Landon) eventually spots the boys and confronts Houston about doing the right thing. Houston argues that what was going to happen to the boys was wrong but in due course good conscience overrides the situation and the boys are returned to the agency.

 At the agency, Houston states that he believes that Josh can speak but Josh remains silent. As the decision for Michael alone is finalized, Houston belief in right is defeated. As he exits in desolation, Josh’s love for Houston overcomes his affliction and he speaks.

 Josh found his voice in the love that mattered to him and in doing so, the adopting family found the compassion to keep the brothers together.

 It was wrong that the family was destroyed. It was wrong to further break up the family. It was wrong for the boys to run away. It was wrong for Houston to protect the boys from the law. In that whole series of wrongs, the right way emerged.   

  Michael and Josh did not remain silent when it came each other. Their actions spoke for what mattered. Magically they befriended an unlikely advocate who also spoke for right. Eventually the wrong became right when Josh speaks for what mattered to him.

 When wrong is right, a way appears.

 Want to learn more? Turn in next week for part II of “Wrong is right and Right is wrong”.

Contact me at principledynamics@gmail.com or visit my web site at www.principledynamics.com.

I want to speak to you about integrity and how it can help you and all of us.

Comments

[Jyoti Shukla]

Well said Doug!
It is true that RIGHT is GOOD and WRONG is BAD.
Not necessarily though, all that APPEARS good is right and bad is wrong.
Hence, that which leads us to RIGHT is a journey, the rest is escape.
A journey has a scope to continue, an escape ends when the flow of life stops.
When wrong appears right, a traveller will search for a way ahead; an escapist will take it as a convenient short-cut.