Verities Sans Eternity

I was reading "Making Ethical Decisions" from the Josephson Institute of Ethics web site. Stumbled onto it doing research for curriculum writing at school. I was drawn to it for some reason. Perhaps it was the apparent certainty of the views, a longing for the certainty of my fundamentalist upbringing, or even curiosity. I perceive a disconnect when someone is earnest about abstract values but absent a view of eternity. The disconnect reveals my own narrow perspective I know, but it persists.

"Not all lies are unethical, even though all lies are dishonest. . . . Occasionally, dishonesty is ethically justifiable, as when the police lie in undercover operations or when one lies to criminals or terrorists to save lives."

This reasoning is the first tell that the highest value of the writer is human life. Later he goes on to say, "But don't kid yourself: occasions for ethically sanctioned lying are rare and require serving a very high purpose indeed, such as saving a life . . ."

In the choice between doing good or doing evil, this is doing good by doing evil, it could be called dry water, or bright darkness.

I know what you're going to say: "Only a Sith would speak in such absolutes." Well, perhaps you weren't going to say that. It's hard to imagine any situation, or movie even, in which that statement makes sense--certainly no situation or movie in my experience.

In the battle against evil, when good steps onto evil's battleground, picks up evil weapons, and begins to wage war, the war ends. There is only one side. Evil has won.