Thought of the Day 10.07.08

As any parent of multiple children knows, every child is different. Different in personality, learning style, aptitudes, interests, and even different in moral disposition. Consider my own sons. The simple truth is that one is far more good by nature than the other. He’s more compassionate, empathetic, generous, obedient, cooperative, and helpful. And given their very young age, you’ll never convince me this isn’t an inborn difference.

So here’s the important question: should we cater to the deficiencies of the other son by redefining the rules and standards so they match him better? Should we enshrine his inferior moral impulses simply because they’re natural for him? Doing so would simply mean recognizing who he is and allowing him to be himself, right? Of course not. We teach our boys the same standards and expect both of them to attain them even while we fully acknowledge that one boy has a significant lead on the other one from birth.

You see, the fact that people “are” a certain way from birth tells us simply nothing about what moral expectations they should be held to.