Whispers in the Wasteland

Shades of Gray

Boilermaker Greg at Zillas, who was forthright today about right and wrong and the duty to uphold right and to discourage wrong, has reminded me of pleasanter days -- days of moral clarity.

Last weekend I climbed out of the hermit cave, and paid a visit to an old friend. During the conversation, he brought up the topic of a neighbor of his, nicknamed Boo (don't ask me why), "Boo is a nice guy when he's not on booze and drugs."

I stopped him there and told him I wasn't buying that load of crap. Booze and drugs is not an excuse for evil. He said he understood, but just wanted to point out that Boo was a nice guy when not on booze or drugs. I refused to let it pass; I wasn't going to cut Boo any slack; no sentence that contained "Boo is a nice guy" went unanswered.

That apple didn't fall far from the tree. My friend's old man, may he rest in peace, was a liberal of WWII vintage. My friend's old man and I used to get into philosophical/political debates, and one time he observed that I tended to see issues in black and white. He encouraged me to see shades of gray.

I've just remembered that I had a counterpoint. During that time, our parish priest was Father McAndrew. I recall that my parents considered him cranky, but he is the last priest that I can remember who strikingly spoke of the possiblity of going to hell. Sin was the path toward hell and hell is unpleasant. Very clearly, and very loudly.

Shades of gray my ass. That crap has ever led to no-good.

Thanks for the memory, boilermaker.