Complex

I suppose I need to write another entry.  It’s been too long again.  You might want to skip the next paragraph if you haven’t read the Harry Potter books and want to remain completely in the dark about what’s going on until you read them or watch the movies for yourself.  I won’t give away any of the events really so you could probably read the paragraph without anything being given away, but just know you’ve been warned.

So let me say that one of the things I like the most about the Harry Potter books is that after 6 books, I’m still not sure if Severus Snape is good or evil.  To be certain, betrayal and uncertainty about a characters’ motives is not something new.  Other stories have such characters as well, but here in the Potter books we have a character who has, since the very beginning, been flopping back and forth between the "good guys" and the "bad guys" for 6 books worth of reading.  It’s gotten to the point where I still don’t know what to think of Snape even after his last act that would almost certain peg him as a bad guy otherwise.

This reminds me of how complex people and situations truly are.  We often get bits and pieces of information about a situation and we somehow come up with "right" and "wrong" sides.  In some cases, we may make correct judgments, and in other cases, we don’t.  Perhaps there’s some greater good that the person we label as "evil" is working toward.  Some plan we haven’t become aware of.  Yet we persist in making our judgments with our imperfect information and imperfect logic.  Then when we come up with our idea that the man in the dark cloak is evil, we become unwavering in the accuracy of our judgment.  We then ignore the evidence to the contrary, even refuse to hear those who believe differently.  We make statements such as "If you aren’t with me, then you are with my enemy" without realizing that there are few things in this world that have only two sides.  As small as they are, even a flat sheet of paper has four sides in addition to the two obvious sides.  Sometimes you just need sight beyond sight to realize all sides of an issue.  Unless you’ve learned to see with the Eye of the Cosmos you are likely missing some part of a situation.

So how do we ever make a decision?  There are times when we simply must make a decision, even if we don’t have all of the information.  In these cases, you must be careful to make the decision which has the least aversive effect on others.  Generally when dealing with social issues this means making the decision which allows you to live as you wish while allowing others to live as they wish.  You must respect the freedom of others.  You have the right and freedom to do what you will up to the point where it impedes someone else’s right and freedom to do what they will.  Most issues are simply far too complex for us to be able to see all aspects and make the proper decision.  So the next time you are faced with a judgment, ask yourself if you can see with the Eye of the Cosmos.  Then realize that the decision you make must be the one which allows others to make their own decision.