Conscience vs Crusade

Conscience vs Crusade (which wolf do you feed?)

by the ADHD Accountant – Krid

There are many a villain who’s origins are ascribed the phrase: “the road to hell is paved with the best of intentions.” “They just went too far,” others say. My partner has told me on occasion that I have said something that was “over the line.” In other words, inappropriate. How do you know when it is too far? Where is the line? How do you prevent yourself from crossing it?

I have been an avid reader my whole life. Bookworm. I have read fiction and non-fiction; theology, philosophy, psychology, and history are amongst the genre I've consumed. While searching for a quote I came across one from 40k: “Damnation starts with little steps, by arrogantly thinking that you are wiser than our great forbears, by tinkering with truth, by compromising, by departing from the straight and narrow path of the Emperor’s light.”

History is a story told over and over in different ways that often mirrors Hopof: “hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.” See Rome. See Mongol. See Ottoman. See Greek. See Sparta. See Britain. See France. See Russia.

There is an interesting theory about how to store string (cords, rope, etc); out of an infinite variety of ways that the string could be stored there is only one way that is best. Or, at least that is what I leave it hanging on the hook. Any energy added to the stored string causes change and it is improbable that the string will be changed into the preferred storage format. Is civilization any simpler with it's myriad forces pushing and pulling?

Guizot is paraphrased as: “a young man who isn’t liberal has no heart, and old man who isn’t conservative has no head.” Passion vs. Wisdom. Youth vs Maturity. Of course it isn’t as simple as that, if it was social experiments wouldn’t have so many victims and our world would be Utopia.

Youth, it has oft been remarked, is a time of passion. Of learning and development. Age, hopefully, brings perspective and the benefits of experience. I feel I have a little of each so must be middle aged. And so I have begun to forge for myself a path to follow. Though it must be tested to ensure it isn’t leading me astray. I’ve written elsewhere about testing everything – CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

Heroes, at least some of my favourite heroes, are flawed. Like us. One of the things we often admire about them, and often the source of the drama, is their adherence to a code. A set of values. A creed. Honour. Even, especially, when they fail to live up to it. Or, even better, when it causes them grief with their peers. Some good stories there.

My thought then is based on this idea and the following is a distillation, a chrysalis, to test a decision against: follow your conscience, not your crusades. Simple, right? But not easy. We’ve been down this road before.

Why not join a crusade? A crusade is a mob. Lit by the fires of passions and started off with a vision and a target. But like any powder keg there are two problems with vision and targets: vision can often be usurped by the loudest voices; and, who is the NEXT target.

That isn’t to say that a vision isn’t worthy, or that a target isn’t legitimate. But it isn’t the vision of the masses that makes it worthy. It isn’t the name or the perception of the target that makes it legitimate. And the ends NEVER justify the means.

The crusade doesn’t end. The ambitious hijack it seeking power. It becomes warped and twisted over time as the values are lost and all that is left is an organization seeking out the next target, the next morsel to sate itself on.

Values, the basis of your conscience, on the other hand, while tested and perhaps changed, retain your interests. They retain your goals. They retain your rights. They retain your responsibilities. They provide the criteria on how to test your choices. They are the beacons on how to go forward on the path you choose. It's a narrow one.

So to end I would like to share a few rules and values I use.

RULES (healthy relationship):

1 - protect yourself

2 - be honest

3 - be respectful

VALUES (healthy society):

a - free speech

b - fiscal responsibility

c - finite legislature

Bonus! HELPFUL TIP:

Charitable interpretations!

I always prefer to believe the best of everybody; it saves so much trouble.

-Rudyard Kipling

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