World of Grey

A friend of mine once told me a story:

He was a soldier in a combat zone, and as he was trying to move quietly he heard a woman screaming and men laughing. He crept forward and discovered a man and several children tied up while a couple of terrorists did unspeakable things to a woman, the wife of the man who was tied up.

True story.

As he was telling me the story I quickly ran through the options - do nothing, walk away and try to live with myself. Intervene, get myself killed and not stop them. Shoot them.

There was no good solution.

Life is full of the choice between bad and bad (life is also full of the choice between good and good - but that's another post). Is the commandment about not killing more important than the commandments about helping the helpless?

Okay, most of our bad/bad choices aren't this dramatic. But we still have to make them, don't we? I have known people who have had to choose between putting a few gallons of gas in the car to get to work or buying food for their families. So, do you get fired for not showing up to work or starve your family?

It's a grey world sometimes, isn't it?

No answers today, just the questions...