Against the World

There are some people who act as it they are against the world and as if the world is against them. But there are some things that all of us ought to be against: We all ought to be against evil, against brutality, against persecution, against oppression. We are, or ought to be, against waste and inefficiency, indecision, against corruption, disloyalty against loose-living, evil-thinking, injustice. We are or ought to be against every malady, and every malpractice and every evil on earth. But perhaps it is time to remind ourselves that it isn’t enough just to be against something bad. We must be for something good. We could sit in our rocking-chairs and be against something bad. We must be for something good. We could sit in our rocking-chair and be against everything, and still not accomplish any good purpose. To be effective we must be actively for something. Evil will not run from nothing or from neutrality. If we’re against slavery, we must do something for freedom. If we’re against falsehood, we must do something for truth. TO eradicate wrong ideas we must plant right ideas. To make the world what it should be, we must fill it full of what it ought to be. We must make freedom so real for all men that no one could ever promise them anything that would sound better. There are many in the world who are against evil, who will probably never reach the heaven they hope for – and will wonder why – and then be neutral. Evil is an active force. And those who would see good cover the earth must also set in motion an active force. And so, if we’re against the troubles of our time we should do something about them, and not be neutral.