Why Morality?

Have you ever heard the following statements?

-It's all good.
-What's true for you isn't necessarily true for me?
-Who are you to judge?

The reason is because of a philosophy that is gaining ground in today's culture. This philosophy is called relativism. It preaches a strict tolerance to all viewpoints, stating that all points of view are equally valid, and that there are no absolutes. It gets applied to various religious beliefs, to truth, and to morals.

Schools are, and have been, secretly bringing this philosophy into the classroom for students at all levels. A class valedictorian from Harvard was quoted as saying that the freedom of the emerging generations was such that they were free to believe whatever they wanted, so long as they don't follow it absolutely (paraphrased). My question to this is does this make any sense? Absolutely not! It is so ridiculous it can only be described as stupid. Hitler said that "if you tell a lie loud enough, long enough, and often enough, then the people will believe it." Many people many people are buying into this lie of relativism, which in effect has stolen some valuable tools all need to be able to come to Christ as Lord. The rest of this article will point by point show some of the inconsistencies of this as applies to morals in today's culture.

1) The bible affirms one way to heaven, and absolute truth- John 14:6
2) There is an absolute set of ways and ideas, which do not start in the mind of man- Is 55:9
3) There is an absolute morality, and all have transgressed it- Rom 3:23

Col 2:8 warns to avoid being cheated through philosophy and empty deceit, which follows man instead of Christ. Relativism is exactly that. It is completely self contradictory. It is the same thing as saying "I don't speak any English." Relativism starts with an absolute that isn't supposed to exist.

Why morality? Rom 6:23 and 1 Pete 3:18 tell us that all have sinned, and are deserving of death, but Christ paid that price for us. If we don't have an understanding of absolute morals, we cannot see ourselves as sinners needing the Saviour. The devil understands this, which why this attack on our minds is occurring this day and age.

If morals do not come from God, then where do they come from? Here are three proposed origins.

1. The individual decides- this makes no sense. For one thing there is now no distinction between someone moral and someone immoral, they both act according to their thoughts and pleasures as they see fit. The second problem is that no one has the right to condemn anyone else for immoral behaviour anymore since they're following exactly what we're telling them.
2. Evolution dictates morals- this makes just as little sense. One of the main tenets of evolution is survival of the fittest. If the strongest are supposed to survive, then we have two new problems. The first is that we must be immoral by wasting so many valuable resources on developing cures and hospitals, for the express purpose of upholding the weak. Then, secondarily, the main reason an evolutionist will tell you it's good to be altruistic or unselfish, is because it will benefit the herd, which benefits them. In effect they're saying that we must be unselfish to be more thoroughly selfish! Point made I'm sure.
3. Society decides morals- this poses a few questions.
   1. What do we do with moral reformers? By going against society they are immoral, yet we hail them as heroes.
   2. Why do we use words like justice, praise, punish, reward, good or evil? These words all imply a standard which doesn't exist in moral relativism. Everything gets lowered to status of personal preference.
   3. Which society do we then listen to? Each individual crosses many societal boundaries each day. If we are to listen to each one then we only add confusion. If it's the governing society, then we must admit might makes right, which most disagree with.
   4. Who are the moral relativist's heroes? Some one who does what they want when they want at all times is a complete sociopath. Some one who is completely passive resistant is a Gandhi. Someone who believes in feeding the poor to extreme yields a Ma Teresa. Someone who takes self sacrifice to extremes, and we see Jesus Christ.
   5. What right do we have to judge another nation? We all hailed the 9/11 attacks as evil. The whole world banded against the horrors of Nazi Germany. Their societies were doing what was morally right according to relativism.

As is easy to see, the only thing that makes sense is an absolute morality which comes from God. Here is a line of reasoning that shows morals as an excellent proof for the existence of God.

A) Morals exist…
B) Morals must be absolute…
C) Morals cannot exist without a lawgiver, and man is not qualified. This lawgiver must be absolute for the laws to be absolute…
D) By means of necessity, God must exist since morals exist.

If this is something you are interested in learning more about, I can point you in the right direction of some good books to get started. There is a bibliography of suggested reading which is being developed for the website, but I can e-mail some to you at any time if you desire. To be honest, if you're sharing with the average Joe on the street, you probably won't want need more than this. It's a great line of reasoning to point to Jesus as the one who saves from our sin, but the best part is that He isn't in the grave, He is risen.

Grace and Peace,

Arron Bergeron.

(select) Bibliography

Francis J. Beckwith and Gregory Koukl; Relativism, Feet firmly planted in Mid Air. Grand Rapids, Mich. Baker Books.(1998)

C.S. Lewis; Mere Christianity. Harper, San Francisco. Zondervan Publishing House.

Norman L. Geisler; Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Grand Rapids, Mich. Baker Books (1999)

Some of the ideas mentioned here can also be found in the writings of Justin Martyr, particularly his Dialogue with Trypho, and his address to the Greeks. To find them on the web, go to www.earlychristianwritings.com

In reference to the agenda of teachings relativism in the public school systems, go to www.crossroad.to