Weekly Insights: Who Are We When Our Beliefs Come At The Cost of Another's Wellbeing?...

Our values of integrity, truth, honesty, and fairness are the foundations of our spiritual, religious, moral, and ethical belief systems. When our lives hit an intersection where our aspirations for power and success meet our higher values, we have to make some critical choices. Is there ever a space where our values should be compromised to get our way? That is for each of us to decide if and when that question arises. On the global scale, the most powerful people around the world have to answer this question regularly. Are they choosing to do the right thing for all, or are they choosing to do what is right for them personally?

One of the most difficult things to accept is that most systems of power are biased and corrupt, even though they can began ethically-based with high moral standards. These systems start adapting collective interests and beliefs that feed the worst aspects of humanity, where inequality, injustice, and abuse become a new collective agreement for personal gain. A feeling of "us" versus "them" offers the permission to dehumanize and mistreat others. Instead of seeing the vision of the collective working together for a common good, an illusion of fear, lack, and self-preserving desperation takes over and opens the space for manipulation, lies, abuse, mistreatment, and targeted exclusion. Loyalty is a quality that is exploited for moral disengagement, where individuals are encouraged to support a common purpose and turn a blind eye to the suffering of others in order prove allegiance to a leader or group. Suddenly, there are endless excuses that help to rationalize cruelty and the complacency it takes to allow horrific things to happen in the name of personal gain. What was once morally unacceptable becomes tolerated for the group goal to be achieved. It's an old human story that has been set on repeat for thousands of years. Is there a way out of this cycle of pain?

Ultimately, this topic is a question of moral character more than a question of beliefs. There are many extreme belief systems on the planet, but not everyone subscribes to the contract of cruelty, mistreatment, and abuse. Our moral integrity addresses what we stand for, who we are deep inside, and what we choose to do when personally confronted with a crisis that questions our character. We cannot say that we stand for Love if we are not willing to make a sacrifice in that direction. The opposite of Love is fear, and when we fear that we won't have the resources we need, that our lives have been threatened in some way, or that we will experience great loss, then choosing Love becomes more difficult without moral character. The strength of our character holds us up strong during the most challenging storms.

The question of integrity is not whether we keep our allegiance to our family, friends, political party, spiritual leader, or other authority in our lives, but whether or not we choose what is right for the greatest good of all living beings. This sacrifice sometimes comes at the cost of personal discomfort, conflicting beliefs, or selflessness. It begins with awareness of the self and the world around us. We get to hold ourselves accountable for what we actively or passively support with our energy, our money, and/or our time, and consciously choose what is morally just over what we personally could gain at the expense of others. It is our responsibility to stand up for the higher good of others, no matter what the external influences may be. By being an advocate for what is fair, righteous, and good, we are reflecting compassion, justice, and grace on our society. It becomes the Light that fills the cracks of the broken systems and hearts that are longing for restoration. When we decide to come together for a greater purpose to help others that are suffering, we can hold the space to become the highest versions of who we are both personally and collectively. Goodness is contagious, and Love is a bridge that can bring everyone together. We only have to ask ourselves, at what cost do we compromise our morals for personal gain? This will show us where society is headed. May we awaken to the importance of our oneness, and the need to care for one another as we care for ourselves - no matter who we are and what we believe. Life is sacred, and it comes before our personal agendas, ideologies, and belief systems. When we truly understand this, then we can work toward co-existing more peacefully on Earth together and for a higher purpose.