When "Goodness" Misses the Point

Now, you wouldn’t think that morality would ever become popular in the world, but there is a certain kind of “goodness” that is actually quite hip these days. Issues such as the size of your carbon footprint (and therefore the car you drive), where your coffee and chocolate come from, how your vegetables are grown or your fish is caught, the kind of shoes you wear — these are the causes du jour. Before I continue, let me say clearly I think these things are important. I don’t think they are as important as other issues, but I think they are important. I do my shopping at these kinds of stores.

But what I want to point out is the softness of popular “goodness.” Recycling can make you feel like “Hey, I’m a good person,” while you ignore the fact that you’ve abandoned your children through your latest divorce. This is human nature: to find a morality that is comfortable and convenient and let it suffice for holiness. But it is not. So you ride your bike to work, or drive a hybrid car — but you have the sexual discretion of an alley cat. Yes, you gave clothing to the homeless — but you hate Republicans; you have hatred in your heart. A classic example would be the popular bumper sticker “Mean People Suck.” Um…meaning you, then, who put this mean-spirited bumper sticker on your car.

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