It’s been many months since I established this website. Life intervened, as life tends to do.

Events of the last few days have set me pondering about decent humans versus not-so-decent humans. What’s the difference?

A decent human has a moral compass. If you have one, you avoid attacking people’s characters, even while challenging their opinions or their words. You tend to value truth over being “right”. This means you’re able to change your views if convincing evidence is presented to you.

I attribute my moral compass primarily to my father, who has been dead many years. He told us his work colleagues referred to him as “straight arrow”. My dad was honest to a fault, accepted his responsibilities in life, and while I didn’t agree with all of his opinions, he taught me how to discuss (and even try to persuade others to come to my “side”) while honoring others who held different views in good faith. Dad was a product of the Enlightenment, as are all of us who are wise enough to treasure the best of Western values.

So what about the not-so-decent humans? For now, I’ll just say this: They set out to destroy those who disagree with them. They are not interested in discussing or coming to pragmatic solutions. They lie in service of a cause. Like most dangerous utopian-thinkers, quite a few of them dehumanize anyone who doesn’t share their worldview, and they think nothing of attempting to destroy careers, reputations, and relationships of those who dare to question them.

I’ll follow up with more later, but for now, I will share this interview with two decent humans. I think Dad would have been proud of us both.

A grand conspiracy to tell the truth