Passion is no indicator of right. One benevolent purpose may trample down another benevolent purpose like a rogue elephant through a village of mud and straw. The stances we’re most passionate about can be the most destructive ones. Emotion, like humor, can cloud vision and break down defenses in both good and bad ways.

Our most difficult decisions are between right and more right and, regrettably, between wrong and more wrong. We can’t effectively make such decisions without first considering the possibility–in all its varied nuances–that our impassioned stance might be wrong in process, if not in outcome. That requires seeing a bigger picture beyond our pet causes. It requires principled thinking beyond lists and rules. And the greatest of these principles is love.