If you think you're right and someone else is wrong, have you thought about the reasons the other person thinks they're right?

What is right and what is wrong? These are two labels that human beings have placed on what’s acceptable in society or not. Your parents, most likely taught you what is morally acceptable, like kindness, forgiveness or staying on the right side of the law and what isn’t, like lying, cheating or adultery. But what about someone who has lost a job and has a family that is hungry? If that person cannot feed his family and the opportunity arises to steal food is he right to do that or not? Is it wrong for him to let his family go hungry? Circumstances can make you wonder about the morality of those actions. The human race knows that many things are right and wrong. For instance we know it is wrong, and unlawful as well, to take another human beings life but what about abortion? There are many reasons for a young girl to get rid of or kill an unborn child. Maybe she was raped or it was an accident between two very young people who cannot possibly support a new life. Is it wrong do abort the child or is it right to bring it into the world to have it growing up unwanted or hungry? There are two sides to every situation. Then there’s the issue of the death penalty for convicted criminals. At one time it was the right thing to do to these murderous individuals. If so, why did it stop. Was it wrong? When European settlers came to the new world, they brought the practice of capital punishment with them as being morally right but in the early 1960s, it was suggested that the death penalty was a “cruel and unusual punishment.” Now it was wrong to put murderers to death for a heinous crime and they gave them life sentences instead. Some people thought at that time that it was wrong to house and feed undesirables. They should get what they deserve. Who’s right? What about ethics versus morals? How does one conflict with the other? A lawyer’s morals may tell him that murder is unacceptable and is a crime that is punishable by incarceration or death but his code of ethics as a professional lawyer, requires him to defend the client to the best of his abilities, even though he knows that the client is guilty. That is his job as an attorney but is it right? The code that he must abide by makes it right in his eyes. Lastly, there is the religious aspect of right and wrong. Christians believe in a moral order that governs creation that is based on the reality of God’s existence. It is an eternal moral order. Though unseen, it is more real than even our physical world. Christians believe that ethics are ultimately based upon the nature and character of God. Secularists deny God and therefore any universal moral code. They are left with man-made ethics based on atheism, naturalism and evolution. Humanists deny the Ten Commandments as too restrictive for their version of the good life. In their opinion man can only rely on his own morals to know right from wrong. Some argue that morality is devised by humans to meet a need which leads to a world where everyone makes up their own moral code. Islamic followers believe there is no real distinction between law and ethics. Morality is what ever Mohammed did, no matter how immoral it may be by any other standards. Muslims must avoid what is forbidden and observes what is commanded . “Jihad,” is the internal battle against temptation and the physical war against all who oppose Islam. They are not allowed to consume alcohol, pork and cannot gamble. They have very different standards of sexual morality. Ultimately, Muslims believe they will be saved from Hell if their good works outweigh their bad works. So, what is right and wrong? These are only a few examples to make it hard to distinguish between the two. Ultimately, people who believe that their actions are right may not be shared by another culture. Some quotes about right and wrong: “Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.” Leo Tolstoy. “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” Theodore Roosevelt. “Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right, than to be responsible and wrong.” Winston Churchill.