Convictions

What would you do if you were accused of a crime...or even a minor offense that you didn't commit? Would you stand by your convictions, feeling that 'the truth will set me free' (so to speak) and risk an actual conviction (aka jail/prison time) to prove a point/the truth? Or would you take the consequences for whatever it was, even if it was a lie/something you didn't do? And does the situation dictate whether you would do one or the other (follow your 'truth' vs. 'authority')? I am reminded of philosophical debates on such matters, such as those written by Plato (who questions what is more important: what is best for the self or what is best for society?) and Henry David Thoreau ("Civil Disobedience".....though this extends more towards going to jail for something you strongly believe in, such as people who get arrested in the midst of a political activist/protest, not paying the obligatory government taxes and usually anything else society/government imposes on us).

It made me wonder where one should draw the line between doing the right thing for the self (especially if it isn't hurting anyone else, or standing up for oneself when wrongly accused of something he/she did not commit) and when to sacrifice individual needs for the bigger scheme of things. I read something recently, I think it was in Osho's "Freedom", where it is said that first and foremost we are individuals....therefore individuals by default must come first before collective thoughts and actions. In a way, I can see how this makes sense. For a long time, I never understood when people would say that in order to take care of other people, you have to take care of yourself first. It seemed like a sort of contradiction....but as I get older, I notice how true that seems to be. How good are you to anyone else if you aren't doing what's best for yourself first? Of course, one could argue it's dangerous, selfish, and greedy,etc. But it doesn't have to be. It can be a positive, altruistic choice. I had a session with a client earlier that had me thinking about these things. I thought it was interesting enough to think more and write about it here.

While I'd like to be able to answer my rhetorical questions, I don't think I can. I'd like to think I would stand up for myself if thrown in jail and/or being given some kind of negative consequences for something I didn't do, but then a part of me thinks maybe it still happened for a reason....something I wouldn't have control over/be able to conquer. Again, I suppose it depends on the circumstances. If it were minor, I'd probably just do what an authority figure tells me to do......but if it were a serious crime, I don't think I could say I killed someone when I did not. I wonder how often this sort of thing happened centuries ago. Probably pretty often. I know it still goes on in the world now, but I guess I try not to think about it. Too depressing and somewhat futile to change.