Can Do No Wrong

Choosing the good as the good

02/10/2017

Genesis 3:1-8 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the LORD God had made. The serpent asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?" The woman answered the serpent: "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman: "You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil." The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

          What I’m about to say will sound crazy, nonsensical and even self-contradictory, but there’s still a lot of truth to it, and I want you to think about it. There is a sense in which no one does anything wrong. You can do no wrong. That may seem patently false to you because every evening on the news we hear about people doing clearly wrong things: a homicide, a bank robbery, someone commits arson, a terrorist attack. But I would suggest to you that the only reason someone does these “evil” things is because they think – maybe mistakenly – it is a “good” thing. St. Thomas Aquinas taught that man always chooses the good under some aspect of the good; it “appears” good to me and therefore I choose it, even if I know it is bad for me.

          I love cheesecake, and if no one is watching, I will eat half of an entire cheesecake because it is soooo good. Now, people tell me that eating half a cheesecake is bad for me, and I’m sure it is bad for them, but it is good for me. In other words, I don’t eat cheesecake because it’s bad for me, but because I think it tastes great! People don’t smoke because it is bad for them, but because they love the high they get from the nicotine. People don’t drink to excess because it’s bad for their liver, but because they enjoy the numbing effects of alcohol. We always choose the good under some aspect of the good, because we think it is good for us, not because we think it is bad or wrong. This, by the way, is the core reason why people do not want to change their behavior (even self-destructive behavior): because to them what they are doing looks good, that’s why they are doing it; otherwise, they would stop. You cannot do anything wrong.

          In the first reading from Genesis, we see the first and fundamental example of this dilemma: we never do anything wrong. God has told Adam and Eve they should not eat of the tree of good and evil in the middle of the Garden of Eden. There is no doubt that they know such an act would be wrong. But what does the evil serpent do – he who in Revelation 21:9 is called “the Deceiver” – to make Eve choose to eat the forbidden fruit? He remembers his studies of Thomistic moral philosophy and that man will always choose the good under some aspect of the good. So he tells Eve: “The moment you eat of [the fruit] your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.” And Eve even saw that “the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she ate it.” Let me ask you: why did she eat it? Did she eat it because she thought it was “bad” (breaking God’s command) or because she thought it was “good” (beautiful, delicious and giving wisdom, just like cheesecake!)? Obviously, she ate the forbidden fruit because she thought – mistakenly so – that it was good; good for her. You cannot do anything wrong.

          This is why marriage counseling is such a challenge. I listen to one spouse complain about their spouse’s behavior. But the real difficulty for that complaining spouse is seeing that their spouse chooses to act that way not because he think it’s wrong but because he thinks he’s doing something good and right. Even the complaining spouse does irritating things but she cannot see it because she thinks what she is doing is perfectly right and good. You can do no wrong. The same is true in addictions. Addicts don’t continuously choose stealing or sex or smoking because it is wrong, but because they believe it looks or feels or tastes good. You can do no wrong. Even the worst case scenario of suicide is the same: someone chooses that action not because it looks bad, but because it looks good to them (mistakenly so). I am not saying any of this immoral behavior is acceptable or should be ignored; I just want you to understand why people choose to do what they do: only because they think it is good.

          The fourth step of the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous states: “Make a searching and fearless written moral inventory of yourself.” In other words, open your eyes truly – not like the Deceiver said, which was really closing your eyes – so you can see how you make choices; why you choose what you choose. What looks “good” may not always be good. You will always choose “the good” so choose what is truly and eternally good, not “some aspect of the good.” Remember: you can do no wrong.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!