Sliding Scales

Overlooking the sins of your own tribe because the other tribe is so very sinful is how Israeli/Palestinian-style uber-stalemates foment.

Right and wrong are not sliding scales. The road to Hell may be paved with good intentions, but its exit ramps get blocked with “But they’re so much worse!!”


I watched professional tennis as a kid. Once, I saw an umpire call a shot "out of bounds" though the opposing player (and viewing audience at home) clearly knew it was inside the line. The camera zoomed in on the player’s face, which betrayed the slightest pinch of tightly constrained discomfort. Conflicting forces, impulses, and rationales were at play, and while the ones favoring justice, fair play, and sportsmanship were stifled, at least it wasn't entirely comfortable for him.

I realized that I'd spotted a saving grace. Though I very much wanted to see the player explode with indigantion over the bad call - the same sort of angry response he'd have offered if a bad call went against him - at least I could spot his stomach lining eroding a little; his hair greying a little; his cells anti-oxidizing a little; and his mortal soul dessicating a little. There were at least some subtle consequences (see Brazilian Bus Driver Syndrome).

My two reactions: 1. I stopped watching professional tennis, and 2. I realized how hopefully close humanity was to a moral threshold. Yeah, we often chose to do the bad thing, but our saving grace was our tinge of teetery ambivalence.

That was back in the 1970's. Since then, we've clenched back from that ambivalence and toward greater comfort with our bad behavior and that of our cohorts (while becoming exquisitely fine-tuned to bad behavior by The Other; we’re paragons in judgement and pragmatists in action). But I maintain hope. The crossover point was visible in my short lifetime, so it's not inaccessible.

We can go first! We can risk nonconformity by leading, rather than following, the crowd! By being less extreme and rigid and awful. By insisting on smart calls and level standards. By standing for justice, fair play, and sportsmanship for everyone, even our despised opponents.

Or...we can keep blocking the exits from the highway to hell (hey, at least our intentions are super good, right?).

Greetings from sunny Portugal.