Right v. Wrong

How do you know what is right and wrong?  Is it a religious text?  A gut feeling?  Does someone tell you?  Did you learn in kindergarten?

Is it moral relativism to pick and choose?  Or is it close minded and short sighted to preach one way of living as "right?"

In my opinion, it doesn't do any good for me to tell you that I am right and you are wrong, but I also know there are many ways of living that require that doctrine to be furthered.  I respect Jews equally to Christians, dog lovers equally to cat lovers, and those who like Michael Buble equally to those who like Prince.  (Even though, I myself would rather listen to the latter.)  So, if you respect everyone, then how do you define right and wrong for yourself?

I have decided there are two things I think are RIGHT:

1.  Being kind to others.  Not just acting kind.  Being kind.
2.  Being responsible for your integrity to your word.

There are endless questions we ask throughout our life that will define our values, culture, social groups, career choices, etc.  Is Jesus the son of God?  Is working hard better than hardly working?  Is eating a paleo diet better than a low fat diet?  Is Angelina Jolie hotter than Jennifer Aniston?  Is Obama better for our country than Romney?  What happens when we die?  These questions help us define ourselves, but I do not think there is a right or a wrong answer.  I think that if you are being kind and living with integrity, your answers to these questions have little relevance on whether you are right or wrong or good or bad.

What would the world look like if we weren't concerned with being right, but instead with being kind.  Instead of telling people they were wrong for being a Christian, wrong for working too hard, wrong for eating paleo, wrong for thinking Angelina Jolie is spicy, wrong for thinking Obama can turn our economy around, and wrong for believing in reincarnation, what if we didn't tell people they were wrong, but we listened and shared with kindness.

Being different is fun.  Being kind is right.