Glen Argan: Beware the traps of self-righteousness Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash Glen Argan: Beware the traps of self-righteousness By Glen Argan March 6, 2021 Sometimes, morality is the enemy of justice. Leading a morally upright life should lead one to act with integrity and compassion. Society itself cannot be good unless a critical mass of its people is morally good. But when we try to make other people good and judge them harshly when they don’t live up to our standards, we become repressive. The report on mother and baby homes in Ireland, released in January, gives one example of cruelty in the cause of morality. The institutions housed women and girls who became pregnant outside of marriage, worked them tirelessly and forced many mothers to surrender their babies for adoption. “Numerous testimonies recounted experiences that involved cleaning, polishing floors and domestic laundering, with no concession for women who were often in their final trimester of pregnancy,” said the report commissioned by the Irish government.