In my travels across this country, I have met many types of people. When I was in college, my major was in film school. One of my classes was screenwriting. In screenwriting, we learned about building great characters based on the seven personality traits of the “Seven Dwarfs.” 

There was Bash, and he was reticent. The Doc’s cognition and the puppet master Dopey were sagacious. The character, Happy, was sanguine. The boring one, Sleepy, was phlegmatic. The dwarf Sneezy is melancholic. The one I identify with was Grumpy the choleric.

My mother and sister were all choleric people. As a baby, I acted melancholic in my personality, but I grew to become choleric. My dad worked like the reticent. I got into an argument no matter what the subject. I always had to fight. I always said, “It’s my right to defend myself.”

When I fought in the military, I would get arrested. The point was simple. I was wrong, and I broke the law. “Cherished, child doesn’t retaliate against another person, and don’t give into a rage: for God’s word read, Retribution is mine; I will recompense, saith the Lord.” (Romans 12:19) 

A person may say that the police must limit their, and people must bring justice by protecting armed citizens. Our protection by constitutional rights gave us our protection. We don’t need police enforcement. That’s what the second amendment enforces. Yet, the mob rule of militias in the past violated the rights of others because of racism.

Are their violations of civil rights done against others? Yes, there have been. Look at the Jim Crow Laws of the Reconstruction Era. When is someone attacking someone’s physical, emotional, and spiritual welfare? It doesn’t matter if it is a pro-choice demonstrator throwing blood on pro-life demonstrators or a pro-life demonstrator blowing up abortion clinics. It is unrighteous. Jesus never protested with a pick-sign against the Sanhedrin, the Roman Empire, or the Herodians. Jesus of Nazareth just loved them and healed people; he encountered daily. Christ Jesus spoke the truth of the other’s sinful nature. Jesus said to the hypocrite’s iniquities and exposed their true nature. 

History has proven that America has violated many people’s civil rights based on race, faith, and sexual orientation. What is the difference between violating someone’s civil rights and the country protecting the common defense against aggression? A person never moves in foolish behavior when acting in wisdom. Their deeds in wisdom should give others clear paths to understanding God. This understanding of faith and love is an example of righteousness.

For a century and some seventy-eight years, the growing Skeptics wished to destroy the influence of God in our country. At the beginning of our people, the Puritans formed the Mayflower Compact, and the founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. These guys were godly fathers. How did we change from this nation under The Almighty? Now the Pagan daily tries to remove the acknowledgment of God from the public view. 

Now I’d like to make this second point: a personal lifestyle or choice of sexual preference isn’t a right, but this preference is just that: it is a choice! Do we need notable amendments to define someone’s choices or rights? The answer is no! Knowing your rights will never change the world. We don’t have freedom of choice, but we have the freedom to work for what humanity chooses.

What makes the freedom of religion understandable? Does this freedom of religion mean suppressing others’ right to exercise their beliefs? Or does the freedom of religion mean controlling others behind an iron wall of personal expression of how they see and worship God or disbelief in a god? 

Our right to the freedom of the press is to write by exposing evil and spreading the truth in the media. It never means to have the privilege of vulgar expression that violates children and women by objectifying them as objects of pleasure. We have the freedom of lawful assembling, not the freedom to pillage and riot at will. The freedom to own and bear weapons to protect our person and property, but not to wage warlike terrorism on innocent people.

We hold these truths to be self-evident that our creation as man (humanity meaning both male and female) equality is ours. And the artistic function of humanity by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, and these rights are the right to life, liberty, and pursuing of [happy] joy.¹⁰ _xii 

Now, if our Creator with artistic purpose created us with certain absolute rights when we have liberals that say there are no absolutes. Who are we going to believe? The concept of “right” has many definitions. What is the true meaning?

This understanding of rights is something to contemplate if you like. I’m throwing rocks at any liberal, atheist, or agnostic person while I stand in a glass house on this rights issue. It is a choice of being a liberal or conservative, not a right. I am neither a conservative nor religious, but a moderate and a believer. As a libertarian I do not vote according to my party affiliation. I vote as God leads me to exercise my right to cast my choices.

Now concerning right and wrong, here’s my third point in the form of an example. Let’s say you have just spent a year studying to near madness for your exam. In addition, I have rewarded your work with a 100%. Only to find out the person who never showed up to class. The day of the exam had gotten a copy of the test from the dean of students for doing some special favor for him in his office behind closed doors.

Now, are you going to say down in the depths of your soul, as this generation has coined the phrase when they are blocking (meaning to ignore someone)? You will say it doesn’t bother them at all. You know what I mean; the hand in the face and the neck turning while saying, whatever!

Being very honest with yourself, you would judge that person as untrustworthy. And, you may go out for drinks and even sleep with the person, but trust them with doing your taxes or give them a position in your company? The answer would be no!

Because you know that you passed with that 100% by your efforts, and not because of how good you were in bed, now tell me if that action was right? I said this example to ask this next question again. Where does the word “right” come from in a definition?

The word “right” comes from the Hebrew word MISH-PAW ¹¹ [ (מִּשׁפָּתּ). And in the Greek or-thoce’12(όρθως)], which means: straight or level, accurate of time, immediately, but according to the dictionary. The word means: Rights to have entitlements to certain kinds of treatment based on one’s status. In the modern Western tradition is a person’s natural rights, in which each person is born with certain rights as a human being. Others gained rights because of contracts or ownership.¹³

Now the total definition of “right” then means to be of good moral character and make correct decisions, which will help anybody and the common good of humanity. Then further define the word “moral” as classified in character and actions. In Hebrew, the word right defined as TAW-HORE. And taw-hore (טָהֹד) means as a person or object to make pure (physical, chemical, ceremonial, or moral logic).¹⁴

In Greek, the word is el-yoo-ther-ee-ah¹⁵ (έλευθρία), meaning to have freedom (legitimate or licentious moral or ceremonial) in liberty. What if the right of yesterday is no longer the right thing of today? Is the wrong in the world today’s social order changing? What if the iniquities of today is now the right thing to do? 

“Woe unto them that all say evil equal to good, and good equal to evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” ¹⁶

What if the correct decision we measure isn’t by good and evil but by what we can get away with in society? Now consider this as an example. Let’s say that a political official is in an election, and they favor him to win to ensure that he will win. The Presidential Candidate comes to several areas where the opposing Candidate is winning in the area and taking the county.

Being the winning Candidate calls the governor of that state. And the runner tells him to close certain areas where fifty to a hundred people will vote. This Candidate doesn’t care that those people have been in the standing heat for hours waiting to exercise the freedom to vote.

Many people have fought and died to get the rights we take for granted. Americans can’t allow the government to remove civil rights for personal security. The attack on 9/11 can’t excuse everything by violating others’ liberties. Neither can humanity hide behind the government? 

As someone quoted Thomas Paine, the government is a necessary monster.¹⁷ So, the United States American government has become the solver to the country’s problems of personal responsibility. The question of right and wrong has been with us since our fall in the Garden of Eden.

These right and wrong decisions have caused humanity to leave God’s truth. Humanity has eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, and my theory is that this knowledge of good and evil is morality. This morality is how humanity measures right and wrong.

This morality is something to think about and define. Using a story in a newspaper as an example. A fictional character named who we will say is “Jerry” comes home from a hectic day at the office. Jerry’s beautiful wife, who we’ll say is “Helen,” has been working all day doing her duties as a domestic engineer, and when she finished, she drew herself a bath. Helen’s husband came home wanting her to complete one more task before she got in the tub. Jerry wanted sex, and he wanted it “RIGHT NOW!” Helen tells him, “No!” Helen drew her bath into the bathroom and then went to bed.

Being the man, Jerry tried to let Helen know he was serious, and she was to give him what he wanted “RIGHT NOW!” And the answer was still “No!” The very aroused husband waits for her to fall asleep at the right moment. Jerry jumps on Helen and has sex with her because he likes it.

When he finishes defiling Helen, Jerry goes to sleep; only to find out how badly Helen disapproves of his actions on her body. The following day, the man was bleeding almost to death because Jerry’s wife cut off the sexual organ Helen felt violated by and threw the penis away.

Some people may say, “Michael, that was very graphic!” (Even though Jesus’ parables were just as graphic when he told the parables.) the phrase “I need it right now” is this phrase an example of being wrong?

Then humanity by making a hasty decision without asking God. Who is the owner of us all? Could these actions be wrong, according to the Bible? When people say to others, “I want it right now!” Are these right-now-decision based on the righteousness of God, or are they selfish rights?

The relevant theory is that we have mistaken our rights for the righteousness God gave in Christ Jesus’s person. Humanity has divorced the wife of righteousness, and we have married the whore of being right. What is the measuring stick we use when trying to act right? Does being correct all the time please God? If being right doesn’t please God. What pleases him?

Let us see what truly pleases God according to His story, which the story I’m referring to is the Bible. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and I will add all these things unto you.” ¹⁸

CHAPTER NOTES:

10) (Jefferson, 1776) paraphrased

11) [Strong] H4941

12) [Strong] G3723

13) Merriam-Webster Dictionary [© 2000] paraphrased

14) [Strong] H2889

15) [Strong] G1657

16) Isaiah 5:20 KJV

17) (Paine, 1776) paraphrased

18) Matthew 6:33 paraphrased

* From the book “A Tree Called Morality” ©2008