Doing Right in an Age of Demanding Rights

These days, perhaps more than ever before, we hear talk about “my rights.” During my lifetime there have been important movements to secure rights of many kinds. And today, protests and debates continue, sometimes civil and sometimes not. But amid all these demands for rights, the simple act of “doing right” isn’t greeted with the same degree of enthusiasm. And that’s unfortunate.

 

Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.: "The time is always 
right to do what is
right."
(Wikipedia photo)

It was the great civil rights leader, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who said, “The time is always right to do what is right.” To state it in a slightly different way, there’s no wrong time to do the right thing.

Years ago, there was much discussion about “situation ethics,” especially in the business world. What’s that? One dictionary defines it as, “the doctrine of flexibility in the application of moral laws according to circumstances.” Another definition is “taking into account only the particular context of an act when evaluating it ethically, rather than judging it only according to absolute moral standards.” Does this have a familiar ring?

 

Even though we might not use the term as much, situation ethics seems to reign in the minds of many people. Doing what Dr. King advised is problematic, because who’s to say what’s right – especially when taking “context” or circumstances into account?

 

This is hardly a new phenomenon. At the end of the Old Testament book of Judges we find this sad assessment: “In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

 

I wonder what would happen if the vast majority of people shifted their focus from, “I want my rights!” to “Am I doing what’s right?”

 

At his Presidential inauguration in 1953, Dwight Eisenhower preceded his inaugural remarks by uttering a very personal but public prayer. It included these words: “Give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from wrong, and allow all our words and actions to be governed thereby….” Of course, this was in the days before notions of “separation of church and state” were enforced. Are we allowed today to petition God for “the power to discern clearly right from wrong”?

 

For some, that seems a very old-fashioned concept, but I think Dr. King was absolutely correct: The time is always right to do what is right.

 

In business, the circumstances may indicate that shading or even twisting the truth might be expedient or advantageous. But is it the right thing to do?

 

While walking through a convenience store, it might seem easy to snatch a pack of gum or a candy bar and leave without paying for it. But even if you’re not caught, is it the right thing to do?

 

If while driving, you receive an alert that a text you’ve been waiting for has arrived, should you read and respond to it – as long as you’re trying to be careful as you steer the car? Or should you ignore your phone until you find an appropriate place to stop? What’s the right thing to do?

 

We could consider hundreds of similar situations, many of them even more serious than those cited above. In another Old Testament book, Deuteronomy, Moses was addressing the Israelites, knowing his time on earth was coming to an end as they were anticipating finally entering the Promised Land. He said:

“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse – the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today…” (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).

 

A bit later Moses said, “You are not to do as we do here today, everyone as he sees fit” (Deuteronomy 12:8). Apparently, the Israelites had become deeply immersed in their own brand of situation ethics, leading them away from the God who had delivered them out of bondage in Egypt.

 

We find one of the best examples of doing the right thing, even when it meant denying one’s personal rights, in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. In the story, a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by robbers and left “half dead.” Two men – a Jewish priest and a Levite – were going down the road later that day and had the opportunity to go to the man’s aid. Instead, each man moved to the other side of the road and acted as if he hadn’t seen him.

 

Finally, a Samaritan – whose people were despised by the Jews – happened by and “took pity on him.” The Samaritan could have reasoned, “Why should I help a Jew? They hate me. Besides, I’ve got places to go and things to do!” However, he chose to do the right thing – bandaging the injured man’s wounds, pouring oil and wine on them to ease his pain, and then taking him to a nearby inn where he could recover. Not only that, but the Samaritan also promised to cover the man’s expenses in full.

 

As He concluded this parable, Jesus asked “the expert in the law” who had prompted the story, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” In other words, which of the men passing by chose to do what was right?

Yes, we all have rights. The U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights defines many of them. But in our troubled, increasingly self-centered world, might it not be a good thing to redirect our concerns toward doing things that are right?