How do you know if something is right or wrong? Disagreements on this matter have spawned some of the ugliest confrontations - consider the pro-lifers versus those who support a woman’s right to choose. Consider fundamentalists taking on homosexuals. Consider the arguments about immigration, about war, about stem cell research and recreational drug use.
I think that we have to have a value system. Murder is wrong. Rape is wrong. Kidnapping, blackmail, robbery, all these things damage others and left unchecked would lead to social breakdown. But where do you draw the line? Is murder okay in defense of loved ones? Is it okay in defense of your country? Is it okay in defense of strangers?
Then there is theft. Unmitigated, Mafia-style armed robbery is one thing. A starving man stealing food is another. Is a junkie a criminal, or is the person that hooked him to blame?
Then there are those born or raised without the capacity for empathy. Whether you call is psychopathy or antisocial personality disorder, there are a tiny proportion of people who are incapable of guilt, or of understand why hurting others are wrong. Are they criminals? Or are they disabled? Is it possible to be ‘born evil’?
I’m simplifying the questions (and the problems), but they make for interesting discussion. What responsibility does society have towards rehabilitation, towards ensuring people have access to food and shelter and clean water?
