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Every so often I hear someone talk about how they're a moderate who "sees the flaws in both sides" and is trying to make the case that they're above the petty politics of the day. It turns out this isn't a new phenomenon; people have been trying to balance the right and wrong sides of each debate for quite some time. But that's the problem: when one side is right and the other is wrong, being a moderate means you're at best half-right. By refusing to stand against the hateful, awful opinions of the day - whether it be slavery, genocide, oppression, or mistreatment of the underprivileged - a moderate in an unjust society is perpetuating suffering. That's the opposite of morality.

In real life the truth isn't always in the middle. Sometimes it's completely outside the current spectrum, so if we want to find the truth we have to stop worrying about "balance" and start worrying about what's really true. This doesn't mean we can't sometimes moderate our approach to have the greatest possible impact. But it does mean we have to have the courage to find the truth wherever it lies, instead of assuming it's directly in the middle of the two most popular opinions.

Description
Every so often I hear someone talk about how they're a moderate who "sees the flaws in both sides" and is trying to make the case that they're above the petty politics of the day. It turns out this isn't a new phenomenon; people have been trying to balance the right and wrong sides of each debate for quite some time. But that's the problem: when one side is right and the other is wrong, being a moderate means you're at best half-right. By refusing to stand against the hateful, awful opinions of the day - whether it be slavery, genocide, oppression, or mistreatment of the underprivileged - a moderate in an unjust society is perpetuating suffering. That's the opposite of morality.

In real life the truth isn't always in the middle. Sometimes it's completely outside the current spectrum, so if we want to find the truth we have to stop worrying about "balance" and start worrying about what's really true. This doesn't mean we can't sometimes moderate our approach to have the greatest possible impact. But it does mean we have to have the courage to find the truth wherever it lies, instead of assuming it's directly in the middle of the two most popular opinions.