Right, Wrong, Black, White, Grey

We know if we are happy or sad

We know the difference between loving and mad

But good and evil is much harder to define

For one's man triumph is another man's crime

There are millions of examples we could cite

Human history is full of conflict about wrong and right

Every army that ever marched thought they were correct

That a just cause they fought to protect

Yet the soldiers across the field

Fighting for the other side, refusing to yield

Were just as certain theirs was the right side

Their ideas superior, their beliefs would abide

The Nazi Party, or the leaders thereof I should say

Sought to bring a new more glorious day

Yet they did so through horrific genocide

Burning men, women, children their beliefs to deride

The end justifies the means we have heard it said

Yet the victims remain just as horrifically dead

Religion is another example clouding right versus wrong

The Spanish Inquisition, uplifted in song

Condoned torture, murder, invasion, conversion or death

In the name of God's love in its all encompassing depth

Crusades, Jihads, Inquisitions, Holy Wars

All justified by a religious factions mores

Buddah, Allah, Jesus, Jehovah, and many others

Taught peace and love one to another

Hypocrisy is rife in many a congregation

Leading to many a hysterical conflagration

Not sure how that supports bigotry and hate

How espousing one thing while doing another leads to a glorious fate

These are examples on a national scale

Yet the same is true of individuals in solitary travail

When a doctor, a spouse, or a loved one assists

A terminal patient a pain filled life to desist

They know they are doing it for love

Releasing a tortured soul to fly like a dove

Others call it murder and decry the act

Despite mercy being the reason in fact

There is indeed such a thing as doing wrong for the right reason

For every thing under the sun is a time, a season

When a parent takes vengeance on the killer of their child

Do we prosecute them or understand why gentle went wild?

When a domestic violence victim finally strikes back

Is it battery or self defense? Do a conscience they lack?

Clearly there are crimes that seem to be just that

But for stealing bread to feed your child should one be taken to the mat?

I certainly do not advocate not prosecuting crime

There are violent dangerous persons who need to do their time

But ... Life is not just black and white

Good against evil in eternal fight

Grey areas occlude much we believe to be clear

So let's examine the motives behind that which is feared

Before making judgment whence another life gets seared