Question of the Day: Day 41
Is it better to do the wrong thing for the right reasons or do the right thing for the wrong reasons?
posted by Michelle at 9:06 AM
We are looking for answers to some hard questions as we dig deep inside and explore our own core values and how that guides not just our own lives but the very world that we live in. These questions will be asked to a group of high school students but we would also like to hear from the world at large. While we hope to keep this forum wide open we do reserve the right to delete responses that we find to be offensive or combative in nature. Thank you for participating with us.
posted by Michelle at 9:06 AM
7 Comments:
I think that it is better to do the right thing for the wrong seasons because you can help someone in the process.
I think that doing the right thing for the reason is better. I also have to say doing the wrong thing for the right reason may at some point be good such as if a family could not get any money or was in a natural disastor and teaking bread or water or some thing of that sort is a good thing, because it is wrong but if they are trying to help there family survive that is a good thing.
Right and wrong can have different meanings depending on your point of view and situation. So I think that your intention is what is most important. If your intentions are good, meaning you aren't trying to lie, steal,cheat or harm anybody, then you are most likely doing the "right" thing.
Since I mentioned stealing, I have to say that I like Cecil's point about stealing to help your family survive. That is an example of a special situation that makes an act that is normally considered wrong seem right. What we need to think about, though, is at what point do we cross that line - for example, when are are just hungry or actually starving. That would definitely be a very tough test of our moral character.
As we talked in class this morning it became clear that we all would like to be doing the right thing for the right reasons but that life isn't perfect and there will always be times when our values come into conflict and at that point we have to prioritize and make our choices based on what we can live with.
It is easier to face myself in the mirror for doing something that I feel is right (even if it fails) than it would be for being deceitful no matter how well it turned out in the end.
Is the road to hell really paved with good intentions...?
And sometimes we have to understand that "following the rules" and "doing the right thing" may, in fact, NOT be the same thing at all. The "right" moral thing to do may not be the "right" legal" thing to do. So, once again, I try to make my choice based on what I can live with.
From my point of view...the intention sometimes seems irrelavent. If you do the right thing because you have been forced into it by somone else, then what is the difference if you had done it instead. Other times I would say there is a world of difference. At the moment...I am in between. The results are the important bit. Whether you rescue people from a burning building because you think its the right thing to do, or because you think it will impress the people around you, the children are still safe. So best to do it for the 'right reasons' but I'll settle for it being done at all.
that is a really tough question, Michelle.
I think that neither is ok because if you do the right thing for the wrong reasons then you feel resentful and you lose and the other parties win.
if you do the wrong thing for the right reasons. you win but everybody else loses.
and that is the tough part because you are put into situations that require you to either do the wrong thing for the right reasons or the right thing for the wrong reasons.
Well, I've procrastinated enough on this one...
I think maybe these really are the same things. A can't win situation where neither is better.
Some examples...If I am unable to work, do I sell drugs to feed my starving family? Would you do whatever it took to feed your family?
Another one...Do I call the feds on a guy using marijauna to help keep down the legally obtained pain medication simply because the guy is someone I don't like or is buying from lazy/greedy drug dealers? If I do that, wouldn't he wither away and die from malnutrition?
In a perfect world, I would always do what is right for the right reasons, but it's not a perfect world. I do, however, sleep better when I do what is right. Then again, there are exceptions...that second example is very real in my life and I will not be making the phone call.
Post a Comment
<< Home