Some people say we do things or like things or behave in certain ways because we're biologically driven to. Like the way men are attracted to certain types of women goes back to a primitive drive to reproduce, or how we eat meat indicates our caveman roots, or whatever.

There is some debate as to what degree animals are able to reason, but most people agree that animals are largely driven by instinct. Similarly, people disagree as to how much humans act instinctively, but the very fact that I'm writing this, and that someone else will read it someday, demonstrates our ability to reason. Well, sort of.

No doubt, we do have instincts, and appetites, and urgings. Sex. Food. Self-preservation. Protecting our young. All of these instincts can be twisted and perverted, but none of them, I think, are bad or wrong.

There are those who believe that humans are just animals and no better than squirrels or monkeys, and these people would probably tell you that what we call "reasoning ability" is just a complex biological process, in its own way no different than digestion or reproduction. Other folks say, sure we're different from animals, but the differences are just the result of random mutations and natural selection. And finally, there are those who say the reason we're different from the animals is because God, in whatever way, made us different.

The Bible says the same thing. God made the earth, the sky, the sun, all the animals. And every time He made something, He said "That's good." Then he got to man. He made man, then took a day off. Then He looked at everything and said "That's all good." Now, He never looked at man and said "That's good," although one can argue that He included man in everything when He said it's ALL good, I still think it's significant that He never said that man is good.

Because God made all this stuff and got it all going, He told Adam and Eve what they were supposed to do, and for the very first time, He uses the word "no". He says, ya'll got this whole place here, but don't touch this one tree, or ya'll are going to die.

He never said no to anything else. He never told the fish "Don't jump up out of the water or you'll die." He never told the dogs "Don't go humping on the cats, they're not for you."

Whether you believe the Bible or not, I think this is what sets us apart from the animals. It's not how "smart" we are: I've seen some pretty smart animals on TV and all, and I've also worked with the public the past 10 years, and let's just say that if I was stuck in a well, I'd rather send Lassie for help, because at least I know that she'd get right there and not have to keep calling ahead for directions. No, it's not intelligence, so much as it is this sense of what's right and what's wrong, and that there are certain things we ought not do, and the reason we have to tell ourselves not to do them is because otherwise we might have a tendency to do them.

Some folks like to argue that morality is obsolete. Most folks ask themselves what's easiest, or what's best for them, or how much they can get away with, before they consider what's right or wrong. But that doesn't make it obsolete, just less expedient.

A lot of folks these days will say that morality is subjective, but I disagree. Different people might disagree on certain points, but nothing so much as to constitute a real difference. I mean, I've heard people say that giving money to homeless guys is a waste of time, but never that it was evil or bad to do. And folks might argue about the death penalty, but no one is saying to let a killer go free because he just has a different moral system than we do.

And what are we going to war for? What sense is it calling terrorists "evil", or what they do "wrong", if they don't know as well as we do that you ought not blow up buildings with innocent people inside?

Even people with the most humanistic philosophies still try to teach their kids right from wrong, don't they?

And did you ever hear tell of a "bad seed", a person who just did wrong and made bad choices their whole lives? Sooner or later, someone's going to make a case for them that their parents never taught them right from wrong. Prisons are full of folks like this. Isn't it curious that, not having been taught right from wrong, they always seemed to choose wrong anyway?

My point is just that I believe there is a right and wrong, and the difference isn't really hard to tell. If this wasn't so, we'd hardly have any business having laws or jails or even things like ettiquette. This is what sets us apart from the animals, and in a lot of ways this isn't even a good thing. Because it gives us a lot of responsibility, not just to ourselves and each other, but to animals and the environment and society.

To say otherwise is just a way to justify whatever you do. You could say we're cruel because that's a way that we show strength, and women really like it because it appeals to some caveman thing. Or that we have these uncontrollable instincts to reproduce, which is why a guy goes out and seduces and even rapes every woman in sight. It's just saying we're not accountable, and it's crap.