'Higher Principles'

This evening my sister read to me a piece from Wildes The Importance of Being Earnest. The two male protagonists had just got themselves into a load of trouble and subsequently set about bemoaning their situation - and eating muffins. At least, Algernon (the 'lovable rascal' character of the play) was eating muffins and Jack (our sensible{ish} hero) was complaining about Algernon eating muffins. At first Jack attempted to take the moral high ground: It's perfectly heartless for you to be eating muffins at a time like this! But Algie had no real concept of moral geography, so he merely replied that that was what he did when in trouble - he ate. Foiled in his 'guilt-trip' scheme, Jack proceeds to tell his friend to stop being such a greedy pig, and to give him a few. Algie may be wicked but he's not slow and quickly retorts I thought you said it was heartless to eat muffins at a time like this. Jack however had one more childish Ace up his sleeve: I said it's heartless for you . . .

Sound familiar? How often do we drag 'higher principles' into our personal petty feuds? And when they fail to come to our aid we drop them and revert to tit-for-tat. The trend stretches all the way from toddlers disputes to major wars. We don't like to come right out and say I want that, so give it to me. That's crass, barbaric - and exactly what we're really saying anyway. Instead we cloak it in lofty ideals: You can't have both chocolate bars, it's not fair or God has told us to dominate unbelievers and rule the world. "Fair" or "God" have got nothing to do with it. Unfortunately many people look around and see the evils and atrocities committed in the name of God, Justice, Freedom, et cetera and consequently say Hang all that. It's just a sham; an excuse. Which is where they are very wrong. Yes, Gods name has been used 'in vain' many times, as has just about any altruistic principle you'd care to mention. But that does not mean that they do not exist, nor that they are not Good. It is by their light that we know that deceptions exist - for who, living all his days on a sunless planet, ever said "It is dark"?