Preponderance of Decency

Human beings are complex beings, and certainly, and as the old adage goes, no one is perfect. (Are you perfect?) Consequently, a dilemma arises when evaluating a lifetime's work of anyone who has been engaged in efforts to better the lot of other human beings; especially from the perspective of struggles for social justice. What does one do with those parts of that person's life, usually when they were younger, that involved acceding to or even supporting oppression that they would later challenge?

The answer is pretty simple. Evaluate the person's life in the same way that you would want others to evaluate your life when you enter its final stages, until and after you finally pass on. To emphasize the good, which for most average people (thankfully) constitutes a preponderance of their lives, instead of the bad that cumulatively make up only a small fraction of their entire lives. I call this the “preponderance of decency” approach (that, perforce, also entails forgiveness). Any other approach can only be classified as hypocritical.