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Van Horn Advocate
By
Rick Smith
To discriminate is to make a clear distinction among the options available or to make sensible decisions and judge wisely. If you hang around people who are not discriminators they will probably lead you into trouble.
The strong promotion of multiculturalism in this country has turned discrimination into a dirty word, but without discrimination we would not be able to choose the paths we want to follow in life.
A July 21, 1997 U.S. News & World Report article states that an increasing percentage of college students are unable to outright condemn such things as human sacrifice or mass murder, especially if the acts are tied into a society's culture such as human sacrifice was to the Aztecs. Yet, those same students take strong moral stands on the cruelty of killing whales or the immorality of smoking.
Often people who insist on a woman's right to kill her unborn child in abortion will be vehemently opposed to the death penalty being applied to a serial killer.
How do people come to hold such conflicting values? They are afraid to discriminate, to make a wise judgement about what is truly right or wrong.
Once you discriminate you must show favoritism. Favoritism even applies to your relationship with other people. I'm partial to those who treat me well. Those who cause me trouble should not come asking me for favors.
After you discriminate, discern what is good or bad, favorable or unfavorable, wise or unwise, you would be a fool not to be partial to that which you decided would be beneficial. If I decide that a certain action will be bad for me, I would be very stupid to go ahead and take that action.
I must add that it is not always easy to discriminate. In today's world we are constantly bombarded by people and entities claiming to be experts and telling us what is right or wrong. A recent television commercial pops into my mind. The announcer is telling viewers that children are the best judge of fashion. Of course in this back-to-school time of year the commercial is for children's clothing. The announcer wants parents to give in to their children's clamoring for the most expensive and popular styles.
That's one way you discriminate. You have to look behind the surface of things and see motives and consequences.
Without discrimination we blindly follow the dictates of those in authority who claim to be experts but only want us to conform to their agenda. Those agendas are often cleverly disguised in politically correct propaganda designed to make us feel as though we are guilty of some moral sin if we are discriminating enough to see through the plan.
Me must distinguish, discern and discriminate between good and bad, right and wrong, helpful and harmful if we are going to live a full life.
Rick Smith is an Enterprise writer and city editor whose column appears each Monday.
Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail: news@pecos.net
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Copyright 1997 by Pecos Enterprise
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