Before we get to talking about the news of the day, let’s take a moment to discuss guilt – because, after all, the personal drives the political. And we’ve all done things that we consider cringe-worthy.
But scientists who research human behavior say that what tends to cause most of us long-term emotional pain isn’t the bad deeds we’ve done, but rather, the things we didn’t do – which we think we should have.
In religious terms, it’s the difference between sins of commission and sins of omission — the wrong you commit and the good you omit. Traditional Judaism, for example, cites 613 commandments in the Torah — 365 negative (the “thou shalt nots”) and 248 positive (the “thou shalts”). They specify sins both major and minor – like, don’t oppress the weak or bear a grudge, don’t get a tattoo; and do honor your teachers, and do leave a corner of your farm unharvested as food for the poor.
A lot of those 613 commandments don’t resonate with us these days — tattoos are now considered cool, no matter what an ancient religion says, and few of us are farmers. But that doesn’t mean we don’t recognize plenty of our own failed shalts and shalt nots.
There’s the personal stuff, of course, like not saying thanks often enough to Mom, or failing to put away much money for our kids. On the societal level, well, we’ve witnessed such a collapse of our political system’s capacity to confront challenges that a lot of us are left feeling a sort of collective guilt about not doing enough to make things better. And there’s the exhaustion factor. With so much going wrong, where do we even start? There’s climate change, racism, economic inequity, political polarization and, of course, wars that are causing agony for millions of people. So we can’t shake the “thou shalt” conundrum – the good we have failed to do. (1:47)
Take racism, for instance. Nobody alive today is responsible for the international trade in human beings that to this day has left deep scars on the lives of the Americans whose forebearers came from Africa. Nor was I a party to the conquest of indigenous tribes on this continent by settlers whose roots were European, as mine are. But surely it is a sin of omission to do nothing personally about the lingering after-effects of slavery and the near annihilation of America’s native population.
But there are people stepping up to do something. One example: Harvard University, bastion of the white establishment, recently committed $100 million to make amends for its history of slaveholding – including new partnerships with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and programs for historically marginalized groups in community colleges, high schools and tribal schools.
You may say the money is inadequate, or the action overdue. But consider how different Harvard’s response is from what others are doing in the face of the same evidence of America’s failure to heal the bloody gash of slavery. Notably, consider the pushback in so many states at the fundamental idea that schools should teach the facts of how race has affected our nation’s history.
Maybe a religious scholar could answer this: Is it a sin of omission to fail to give kids a true story of how we got to where we are? Or are the politicians who are pushing to outlaw the honest teaching of history committing sins of commission? Whatever: A turn away from truth-telling isn’t morally defensible, no matter what you call it. And a step to make up for past wrongs is laudable, even if it’s not comprehensive.
Here’s another example, this one dealing with the effects of climate change.
Our country is home to 2.9 billion fewer birds than it was in 1970, a decline at least partly caused by more intensive agricultural practices – especially beef production, which is quite dependent on environmentally damaging chemical and mechanical activity. So the Audubon Society has launched a “bird-friendly beef” campaign, offering the organization’s seal of approval to cattle ranchers who use techniques that can restore bird habitats — to help rebuild ravaged ecosystems.
The notion of the Audubon seal is to give consumers an easy-to-understand marker of where their dollars might support climate-friendly practices – so that the marketplace might encourage ranching practices that can turn back some of the environmental destruction. It’s not a huge initiative, but here’s what’s great: It invites individuals to do their part, by acting as conscientious consumers.
There are, in fact, so many stories of this sort — of people and organizations trying to make a difference. Contrary to what Donald Trump says, we do not live in a land of chaos and darkness. Yes, we face tough challenges, but by focusing our attention on the powerful positive acts all around us, and supporting them, we might build some optimism to help us confront those challenges. Psychologists suggest that taking even one small step in support of a larger cause can help us overcome the sense of inertia that is often debilitating.
So consider the good people who refuse to succumb to the impulse to simply lie down. They’re not “woke,” as the Fox News hatemongers claim. They’re just citizens engaged in combatting the sins of omission that we are all guilty of – unless we support them, and honor them, and join them in doing what we can.
Rex Smith, the co-host of The Media Project on WAMC, is the former editor of the Times Union of Albany and The Record in Troy. His weekly digital report, The Upstate American, is published by Substack.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.