Sauce for the Taco

Well, that's a pretty serious charge. And guess what? It's true.

Why is it true? Because I'm still asking questions about everything around me. Because, being human, I don't have answers to those questions, so I improvise on the fly, and I try to do the best I can. Sometimes my best is good enough. Sometimes, it isn't.

Since I ask questions, even though I may have extremely strong beliefs, I can't claim absolute belief, not even in God and Christ. And I don't have an absolute, blind opinion. Never have. And I hope I never will.

Why don't I want an absolute opinion? Because there's no such thing as an absolute opinion. For example- one can make the case that all killing is "bad." But what about Euthanasia? What about self-defence? Heck, what about the destruction of Jericho?

I don't want to have absolute anything; because of the risk that I might overlook something. That I might close my mind to a possibility. (Of course, being human, I probably do, but I'll leave that for another column.) Looking at both sides of a story, no matter how repugnant we might find the other side, is an educational experience that we must not forget.

There's no such thing as absolute right and absolute wrong; we can only get actions that are a proportion of "right" and "wrong". Or, in other words, somebody is going to be mad at most things you do, no matter what you do.

I guess an anology would be to look at a taco.

On the outside, a taco is a taco. A Mexican treat that Food Services of the University of Waterloo likes serving in weird and wild ways. But on the inside, a taco may have crisp lettuce, fresh ground beef, ripe tomatoes- and really, really sour and rancid salsa.

An absolutist would be forced to call the taco "bad" or "good". Reality is different- the taco can't be good because of the sauce, but it can't be bad because of all the other ingredients.

So what do you call the taco?

What do you call a person who has made mistakes, but is basically a good person at heart?

What do you call a moral decision that involves hurting people, no matter how you decide it?

I haven't figured it out yet, and never will. So, how about you?

How do you like your taco?