Jesus Was Not a Nice Man

The Broad and the Narrow Way

I realize grimly that a large segment of mankind has, in practice, no morality. Their sole idea is that one is supposed to try to get along with whomever one is currently dealing with.

This is the concept of “being nice.” It is so common as a mock morality in my experience that I think it is the position of the great majority: the prime directive is to be “nice,” and not upset anyone. Anyone who has principles is not nice, and is liable to be condemned for it.

As Jesus warns in the Beatitudes: blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’s sake.

This is especially a Canadian fault; Kathy Shaidle wrote a book called The Tyranny of Nice.

It is also surely the bones beneath the corpse of “cultural relativism.” The essential idea of is that the only possible morality is to go along with what those around you are doing.

This explains how abortion has become the norm. Some women adamantly want an abortion; so the “nice” thing is to let them have it. Unborn children are not visible or audible; so there is no need to get along with them. It is not nice to bring them up.

The same inert moral mass could explain the Holocaust. The Jews were rounded up and sent away to camps. It no longer matters to get along with them. It no longer matters if they are executed.

This produces a delicate balance. Social harmony will always be preserved by the easiest path. If anyone is noisily demanding, they may be shunned or imprisoned. But if there are too many of them, and dealing with them becomes too common, the easiest option becomes to give them whatever they demand.

Whether their demands are reasonable or unreasonable does not enter into this equation. An oppressed group might use this to their advantage; so might a privileged group wishing to preserve or expand their privilege.

But it is far less likely to work for an oppressed group. They are more likely to be shunned or imprisoned before they reach such a critical mass that they need to be accommodated.

There is no principle to this “niceness,” and great evil is produced by it.

There is nothing moral about trying to get along with whomever you are speaking to. It is pure cynical self-interest.

I believe that Jesus was speaking of this “niceness” mock morality when he warned about the broad path to destruction:

"Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it. How narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it.”

It is not necessary to infer that the majority of people follow this path, although that seems to be the case. It is the path itself that is majoritarian, “the broad path”—the path of always just going along and getting along with those nearby.