Destroying Sense of Right and Wrong

Member Group : Lincoln Institute

Whenever there is an assault on a society’s moral compass the confusion that can result is destructive to both the society and the core values of that society.

In any society when the concept of right and wrong becomes blurred the chaos which results leaves many bewildered, dazed, directionless, and distraught. Without boundaries and core values, a society is doomed to failure.

When someone is attempting to fundamentally change your society, the way to effectively do that is to destroy any sense of right or wrong. Once that is in process, then impose your will upon confused people who are too bewildered to act or react.

That very destruction and fundamental change in of our culture is underway in the United States. Throughout our culture, right and wrong are clouded. People are confused. Standards of decency, common courtesy and common sense are no longer common.

Change is stressful but change can be both good and bad. Societies have changed for the better throughout history. However societies have also changed for the worse.

When cultural boundaries and the sense of right or wrong become distorted the effects of the ensuing chaos is difficult to predict. Pendulums swing in both directions!

As examples, the ability of political leaders to lie, cheat, steal, and violate the public trust with impunity is mind-boggling.

For example, in January 2016 a Philadelphia police officer was shot by a terrorist who said he did it in the name of Islam. Philadelphia Mayor Kenney immediately responded that the shooting had nothing to do with being a muslim. What?

Hillary Clinton sent thousands of classified emails through an unsecured server and has yet to be arrested. She told the American people that the Benghazi terrorists attack was caused by an anti-Islam video but told her daughter it was a terrorist attack. She has yet to be held accountable for either her lies to Congress or her violations of security protocols.

Lois Lerner formerly of the Internal Revenue Service is not going to be prosecuted because the Attorney General’s office has a political agenda rather than a Constitutional agenda. The Attorney General’s office will decide what is right or wrong politically versus what is legal or illegal.

The rush to judgment by Obama and Holder in Ferguson Missouri which sparked riots has had no consequences to either Obama or Holder despite the inaccuracy of their comments but it certainly affected a police officer and a community destroyed.

A terrorist shooting in San Bernardino from obviously radicalized Muslims was deemed a gun control issue not a terrorist issue.

The Fort Hood massacre was workplace violence.

In late December 2015, the New York City Commission on Human Rights released enforcement guidance on gender identity and expression discrimination.

The fines for failure to comply with this act are $125,000 for violations and $250,000 for violations that are deemed to be willful. The fear of being accused under this guidance will paralyze many people into inaction over the complexities of complying with this act.

Two provisions of the act are noteworthy.

First, a violation of the act includes an employer failing to utilize the preferred pronoun when referring to the person. For instance, discrimination now includes:

"This includes failing to use one’s preferred name, pronoun and title (i.e. Mr. ) regardless of one’s sex assigned at birth, anatomy, gender, medical history, appearance or the sex indicated on one’s ID. It means referring to someone as they/them/theirs or "ze"/"hir" (popular gender-free pronouns) rather than the more traditional he/she, him/her his/hers. It means the right to be called a name no matter what one’s official ID says."

Second, relative to the use of single-sex facilities (ie bathrooms, showers, and the like) and programs consistent with their gender employers are prohibited from any gender specific limitations.

"On this one, it does not matter if other employees object, but employers are permitted to provide a "private space" within multi-user facilities for anyone who has privacy concerns. Further, the law does not require employers to make bathrooms "all-gender" or construct additional bathrooms. And those with single occupancy bathrooms should make clear that they can be used by people of all genders."

Of particular note is the comment "it does not matter if other employees object".

While many of us sympathize with individuals with gender confusion, the impact of this act are massive to a prospective employer considering the magnitude of the fine and cost of having to defend oneself if accused. Changing perceptions in gender identity require substantial changes in business processes and complexities that no one yet knows. The assault on the society of not giving time to think through this problem assaults the very fabric of the society.

The American people have become so bombarded with dishonest politicians and government leaders and poorly thought out laws that they are overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the deception, dishonesty and change.

This constant assault on your sensibilities is precisely what it is designed to do. It is designed to overwhelm you, distract you, confuse you, and bombard you with so many transgressions of your core values that you are paralyzed into inaction. Once you become paralyzed, the battle has already been lost for the society will have been transformed before you regain your composure.

The only sensible solution for each and every one of us is to identify a cause that is important to us and focus only on that issue. Let others focus on other issues important to them. Whenever your actions become diffused, you will lose.

Focus on one major front in your core values and the core values of our society will be preserved.

During World War II the decision was made the focus on Europe first and Asia second. This allowed for the systematic defeat of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy and then the eventual defeat of the Japanese military.

Fighting a battle on too many fronts will ensure defeat!

Col. Frank Ryan, CPA, USMCR (Ret) and served in Iraq and briefly in Afghanistan and specializes in corporate restructuring and lectures on ethics for the state CPA societies. He has served on numerous boards of publicly traded and non-profit organizations. He can be reached at [email protected] and twitter at @fryan1951.