Do Right? Be Kind Always? According to Whom?

Is “right” rooted in the objective moral law of God, and “kindness” measured by the eternal good of souls? Then the slogan regains weight, authority, and even urgency.

Prologue: An Unavailable Question.

It is common to hear people counsel others these days in these words or its equivalent: “do right. Be kind always”. 

It obviously sounds golden,  gentle and harmless, and rather unassailable. It glows with moral warmth. It seems to be above any argument whatsoever. 

However, beneath its gentle surface lies a question that cannot be avoided: 

Who defines what is right, and who measures what is kind?

In the mouth of the moral and religious indifferentist, the meaning of this counsel quietly shifts from what the component words ordinarily suggest. 

• Is “right” whatever I sincerely feel, and “kindness” whatever avoids discomfort? If so, then the phrase becomes a floating sound, unfastened from truth. 

• Is “right” rooted in the objective moral law of God, and “kindness”  measured by the eternal good of souls? Then the slogan regains weight, authority, and even urgency.

The phrase is not to be rejected. No. It must be purified in the light of the consistent Traditional Catholic principles of right reason and right faith. 

Yes. Before we repeat “do right”, “be kind”, we must ask: according to whom?

What “Do Right” Means to the Indifferentist

In the mouth of the indifferentist, “do right” sounds noble; but it becomes a floating sound unanchored.

When used, it usually means:

• Follow your conscience; whatever it says.
• Choose what feels sincere.
• Avoid causing offense.
• Be authentic to yourself.

But when we look closely, what quietly vanishes? 

• Truth becomes personal.
• Right becomes preference.
• Conscience becomes creator, not judge.

Conscience, in this view, is no longer a witness to truth above us; it is an echo of feelings within us.

Never has it been taught by the divinely constituted teaching authority on earth that conscience invents morality. No. Conscience does not create law; it applies law.  

A man must obey his conscience; but he sins if he refuses to form it according to divine revelation and the teaching Church. Conscience is meant to be formed, not followed blindly. 

Pope Pius IX warned against the exaltation of private judgment detached from objective truth. In the same way, Pope Pius X exposed in condemning Modernism that religion cannot be reduced to inner sentiment.

To “do right” without objective truth is like steering a ship by mood instead of stars.

You may feel steady; until you strike the rocks.

True righteousness begins not with self-expression, but with submission; submission to divine law, revealed doctrine, and the moral order written by God into reality.

What “Be Kind Always” Means to the Indifferentist

“Be kind always” is another beautiful phrase. In the mouth of the indifferentist emptied of backbone, it collapses into silence.

To the indifferentist, it often means:

• Never correct error.
• Never mention sin.
• Never say, “This is false.”
• Never disturb peace with doctrine.

Under this reign of indifferentism, 

• Kindness becomes quietism.
• Charity becomes avoidance.
• Love becomes tolerance without truth.

But authentic charity is not allergic to clarity.

Christ forgave sinners; yes.

He also commanded: “Go, and sin no more.”

He welcomed the weary;

and warned of judgment.

A surgeon who refuses to cut may appear gentle ; but he is kind only to the disease.

So too, a Christian who refuses to speak truth for fear of discomfort may preserve feelings while losing souls.

 The Traditional Catholic Meaning

In Catholic teaching, truth and charity are not rivals. They are married. What God has joined, indifferentism tries to separate.

• Truth without charity wounds.
• Charity without truth deceives.

To “do right” is not to follow shifting feelings, but to conform one’s will to the objective moral law of God. It is to bend the heart beneath divine truth, not reshape truth to suit the heart.

To “be kind” is not to preserve comfort at all costs, but to will the true, and eternal good of another soul. And the eternal good of a soul sometimes requires correction, warning, even sacrifice. Silence can be cruel. Flattery can be fatal.

The Cross is the measure of both.

There, truth was not softened. Sin was named. Justice was satisfied.

Yet there, love burned brightest. Mercy flowed. Redemption was purchased.

Perfect Love did not flatter sin; 

it died to destroy it.

This is the perennial teaching guarded by saints and affirmed by shepherds such as Pope Pius IX and Pope Pius X: conscience must be formed by truth, and charity must serve salvation.

Truth and charity are like two wings of a bird.

• Remove one, and the soul cannot rise.
• Hold both, and one flies straight toward Heaven.

 The Danger of Indifferentism

Religious indifferentism whispers softly:

• “All paths are basically good.”
• “All religions lead to God.”
• “Sincerity is enough.”

It sounds gentle and generous; and therefore it is appealing and spreads easily, competing with the speed of wild forest fires. 

But beneath the softness lies something devastating.

As a matter of fact, 

• If truth does not matter, then error does not matter. 
• If doctrine does not matter, then revelation was unnecessary. 
• If sincerity is enough, then the martyrs died for nothing. 
• And if all roads equally lead to God, then why the Cross? Why the Blood? Why Calvary?

Indifferentism empties Christianity from within. That is why Pope St. Pius X described the Modernists as the most pernicious of the adversaries of the Church, for they seek to transform her from within by means of indifferentism.

The Church has always taught that outside the true Church there is no salvation, though the manner of belonging may be mysterious.  The martyrs refused pagan worship; the missionaries crossed oceans, because salvation mattered.

Within the framework of indifferentism:

• The Cross becomes a symbol of love; but not a sacrifice for sin, not necessary.
• Doctrine becomes decorative; but not binding.
• Conversion becomes rude and impolite;  instead of urgent mercy.

Indifferentism weaken the soul.

Like a mild sedative, it removes the discomfort of conviction. No more struggle. No more sharp edges of truth. No more need to choose.

Indeed, a numbed soul does not feel the weight of eternity.

Like a slow poison, it does not attack the soul; it benumbs it. It does not deny truth outright; it whispers that truth is not urgent. It does not reject Christ; it reduces Him to one option among many.

Drop by drop, conviction weakens. Conscience dulls. The saints trembled for souls; indifferentism shrugs.

It soothes; and while it soothes, it slowly kills.

Yes. The saints trembled for salvation. The martyrs preferred death to false worship. Missionaries crossed oceans because they believed souls could be lost. Indifferentism smiles politely; while eternity slips away unnoticed.

We must point it out without mincing words:

• If Christ is one savior among many, then He is not the only Redeemer; and if He is not the only Redeemer, the Incarnation becomes unnecessary.

Once Cross is reduced to preference, the world is left without redemption.

Imagine a house on fire.

The indifferentist stands outside saying,

• “Be kind. Don’t alarm the children.”

The Catholic runs inside shouting,

• “There is danger;  come out!”

Which one truly loves?

Summing Up 

“Do right, be kind always” is beautiful, yes, it is; but only when Right means conformity to God’s truth and Kind means willing the salvation of souls.

• If “right” is reduced to personal preference, it loses its anchor.
• If “kind” is reduced to avoiding discomfort, it loses its courage.

Right, in the Catholic sense, is not whatever feels sincere; it is what aligns with divine law.

Kindness is not silence in the face of error; it is love strong enough to guide, warn, and, if necessary, correct.

Separated from truth, kindness becomes sentiment.

Separated from charity, truth becomes severity.

United, they save.

But when 

• “do right” means “follow your feelings,”

and 

• “be kind” means “never disturb anyone,”

the slogan becomes dangerous.

It soothes without steering.

It comforts without protecting.

It becomes a lullaby sung at the edge of a cliff; gentle in tone, fatal in effect. 

Kyrie Eleison! 

"Save us, Lord, we perish!(Matthew 8:25)