Which is more important: being right/just or being happy? Or put a different way, is it more important to judge another person when they are wrong or seek their happiness when they are wrong? Or put an even different way, is it more important to seek justice or happiness when you have been wronged?
From my experience, happiness is the way to go as it brings about the most good and can even bring about the aims (at least some of them) of seeking to impose righteousness.
I try to link them. Doing good things makes me happy, and doing bad things makes me unhappy, in general. And being happy makes me want to do good things. Not that I don’t make mistakes sometimes.
If I could not link them, then I would choose righteousness over happiness. At least up to a certain limit. I’m not going to give up all my wealth to charity. But some.
But iiandyiiii is pretty much on the ball here: it would make me unhappy to be grossly unrighteous. (And a world in which I am miserable is obviously a world plagued by injustice!)
To a degree, and carefully hedged about with weasel clauses, utilitarian ethics are the best: we should try to maximize everyone’s happiness, and minimize the world’s sorrows. That is a major part of what righteousness means in the first place.
The problem with utilitarianism is that it’s impossible to apply without making huge arbitrary assumptions. Without paying careful heed to essential (agreed upon) basic rights, utilitarianism can lead to great evils.
If killing one innocent man would make billions a tiny bit happier, is it justified?
I use utilitarianism as a litmus test when weighing the long term outcomes of an ethical system. Any system that leaves most of us worse off clearly fails the test. But it’s nearly useless when applying to a particular case.
Also, what I want to maximize isn’t just happiness, but whatever we value, both collectively and individually. We might maximize happiness by drugging everyone into a blissful stupor, but would we want that? This is the essence of humanism, IMHO: to maximize what we value, not just happiness.
Nipick: righteousness does not mean “being right”. I think you might mean “rightness” or something like that.
To the last question…I don’t know. I can argue it either way, but I’m damned if I know.
In general, yes, you’re quite right, which is why I wrapped myself in a big smothering cloak of weasel-clauses, exceptions, fine print, boilerplate, and bacon. Just 'cause bacon.
I think we’re still talking about righteousness, if not in a religious sense. There is secular righteousness. Clean government, fair trials, honest business practices, good citizenship. Bearing false witness is unrighteous, whether or not there is a religious prohibition on it.
how can a man’s personal subjective happiness be the true happiness when it often involves transgressing his neighbor? It should be obvious to rational men that the greatest happiness is achieved by all men uniting themselves to the Objective Good and thereby being united to one another?
These are all great and welcomed points, though I think I’ve taken for granted that I know what I’m getting at, so obviously everyone else will, right? 
So let me try to rephrase; perhaps just focusing on one question will narrow it down to the issue I’m talking about. If you feel that someone is doing something wrong or has wronged you or another person, would you choose righteousness, judging that person either out of punishment or in the hopes that that person will correct their errors, or would you choose happiness, healing any hurt feelings/relationships in lieu of direct punishment in the hopes that that person will choose acts that maintain this happiness in the future?
Does that make my question more clear? If not, let me know. Apologizes if my OP was not clear.
The needs of the many… Oh wait, that’s for Vulcans. 
It is not agreed that there is such a thing of “Objective Good.” Even if we were to stipulate that, we would disagree on what exactly that Good is.
There are times we must transgress our neighbor, such as when he starts whipping his children bloody.
I agree.
I find it hard to oppose what is right to what makes people happy. Whatever I choose seems to be the wrong option, which means the equation itself may be flawed. Why? Here are a couple of hints. What is right is socially constructed whereas what makes a person happy is is an individual matter. Moreover, I don’t think happiness should be regaded as a goal in itself, but as the result of achieving other goals/desires.
Hello all, I am popping my cherry here as this is my first reply.
The question of right or happy do correlate, as many have already identify. When I do “right” I am more likely “happy” and when I do things which are “not right” (in my eyes) then I am “not happy”.
That being said, the answer is not that transparent.
First, one must ask what is “right”? Where do these standards lie which define right and wrong. Are these standards universal?
Second, most of us have experienced times when we had administered our righteousness (judgement) on another in a way which was wrong thus not yielding the desired outcome (happiness). In business there is a model called I-B-R (Intent >> Behavior >> Response). If our intent is happiness, did our behavior to a situation yield this response.
I am not a Bible scholar but I have always appreciated the verses which mentions that “Love covers a multitude of sins”. Perhaps righteousness emulated through love is what makes us happy?
Here’s a real life example, I once got a call from the Labor Board about one of my former employers about some overtime worked at regular wages. That employer and I parted on, shall we say, somewhat less than bad circumstances.
It would have made me happy to help nail this cheapskate boss, I’m still mad at him, plus there was a few hundred dollars on the table. I was actually holding my journal of that time period in my hand when I told the inspector on the phone I couldn’t remember the details … because I asked to be allowed to work Saturdays for straight wage. “My word is my bond” is more important to me than gleefully wreaking vengeance on the boss-dude.
I did eventually get the check for back wages, which I righteously sent back which in turn made me unhappy. Couple months after, he died of a heart-attack while filing for bankruptcy because all the home-owners were suing him for shoddy construction. "Vengeance is mine saith The Lord".