right and wrong

I have been thinking about how do you know what is right and wrong, because I have been... well, its a long story, no it really is, because I have been thinking about this for a very very long time, for as long as I can remember.

How do you know what actions are right and what are not so right? What is the test? What makes some people so sure and others so doubtful? Any theory that claims to explain the difference must account for everything, every action big and small, no matter how inconvenient it is to do so. Only scientists can afford to overlook hard evidence staring them in the face and say let us assume that this part does not affect our observations, or sometimes not even bother to do that, we will add a correction later. Most of us, however, do not have that luxury, we must reconcile whatever little we know to everything else that we know to be sure that we know anything at all.

Is right different for different people? Can I say, this is what is right for me even though this might be wrong in your opinion? That is the premise the notion of modern tolerance is based upon. It is your life, you get to decide what you need to do, I do not dictate the terms and vice - versa.

On the face of it, it looks like a very civilized evolved way of thinking. Most of us go through life, trying not to get into other people business and think those who do so are merely meddlesome busybodies, trying to stick their fingers where they do not belong. It is almost like being in denial. I don't want to think about it, I do not want to fight this fight, so i will pretend like this is not important enough to discuss. We ignore the issues as long as they do not directly influence our lives - Abortion, Gay Marriages, The war in Afghanistan - they are too much to think about and we say fine, let the people who are involved make the final decisions. Women should have the right to choose - why should I have to think if abortion is the same as murder or not? If the mother is ready to kill her own child, more power to her. Really? that is the civilized way of thinking? Who advocates for the little fifteen week old human being who cannot speak for himself? Who is looking after this kid's best interest? The mother is for some reason or another not, and the society does not want to get involved. We do not want to think about it, so we hide behind tolerance, that's what we do, because the alternative is harsh - a fanatic who tells others what to do.

But is it? Why do we think as a society that murder is wrong, why do we openly have laws against it and why do we penalize people for committing the act? Why is it wrong to kill a 15 year old, but not a 15 week old? Does age matter? If it does, is it more acceptable to kill a 15 year old as opposed to a 50 year old? Does it matter that you know that the child is going to be born with genetic defects? Does that give you some moral high ground to kill them? Would you be standing on the same high ground if you went about shooting mentally retarded people? Why not? Why is one more acceptable than the other?

You see, it is a moral quicksand. You start sinking before you know it.

Right is absolute, it does not come with qualifiers. So every time you go around qualifying, defining, defending your actions, you know something is not quite right with it. Or so it seems... it is very tempting to say that, and there are days when I really do feel that way.

But they are not all the days, there are days when I feel there are no absolutes. There are too many variables, too many factors that affect the outcome, too much happening behind the scenes. Too little information to make a hasty decision.

Unfortunately too little information to make even a well considered, deliberate decision.

I don't know.

There is a reason I have been thinking about this for such a long time.