For those who subscribe to Judeo-Christian values, right and wrong, good and evil, are derived form God, not from reason alone, nor from the human heart,the state or through majority rule.
Though most college educated westerners never hear the case for the need for God-based morality becasue of the secular outlook that pervades modern education and the media, the case is both clear and compelling. If there is no transcendent source of morality (morality is the word I use for the standard of good and evil), "good" and "evil" are subjective opinions, not objective realities.
In other words, if there is no God who says, "Do not murder" ("Do not kill" is a mistranslation of the Hebrew which, like English, has two words for homicide), murder is not wrong. Many people may think that it is wrong. but that is their opinion, not objective moral fact. there are no moral "facts" if there is no God; there are only moral opinions.
This is the reason for moral realtivism--"What I think is right is right for me, what you think is right is right for you" that pervades modern society. The secularizaton of society is the primary reason vast numbers of people believe for example, that "one mans terrorits is another man's freedom fighter"; why the best educated were not able to say that free America was a more a moral society than the totalitarian Soviet Union; why, in short, deep moral confusion afflicted the 20th century and continues in this century.
This is the reason why The New York Times, the voice of secualr moral relativism, was so repulsed by President Ronald Reagan's declaration that the soviet Union was an "evil empire." The secular world-- especially the left--fears and rejects the language of good and evil becasue it smacks of religious values and violates their moral relativism. It is perhaps the major difference between America and Europe.
A major reason for the left's laothing of George W. Bush is his use of moral language--such as in his widely condemned description of the regimes of North Korea, Iran, and Iraq as an "axis of evil." These people reject the central Judeo-Christian vlaue of existence of objective good and evil and our obligation to make such judgements. Secularism has led to moral confusion, which in turn has led to moral paralysis
If you could not call the Soviet Union an "evil empire" or the Iranian, North Korea and Iraqi regimes an "evil axis" you have rendered the word "evil" useless. and indeed it is not used in sophisticated secualr company--except in reference to those who use it (usually religious Chritians and Jews).
Is abortion morally wrong? To the secular world, the answer is "it's between a woman and her physician." There is no clear expression of moral relativism: Every woman determines whether abortion is moral. On the other hand, to the individual with Judeo Christian values, it is not between anyone or anyone else. It is between society and God. Even maong religious people who differ in their reading of God's will, it is still never merely "between a woman and her physician."
The best-known verse in the Bible is "Love you neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). It is a reflection of the secular age in which we live that few people are aware that the verse concludes with the words. "I am God." Though entirely secularized in common parlance, the greatest of ethical principals comes from God. Otherwise it is just another man- made suggestion, no more compelling than "Cross at the green, not in between."
www.townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/printdp20050111.shtml
Though most college educated westerners never hear the case for the need for God-based morality becasue of the secular outlook that pervades modern education and the media, the case is both clear and compelling. If there is no transcendent source of morality (morality is the word I use for the standard of good and evil), "good" and "evil" are subjective opinions, not objective realities.
In other words, if there is no God who says, "Do not murder" ("Do not kill" is a mistranslation of the Hebrew which, like English, has two words for homicide), murder is not wrong. Many people may think that it is wrong. but that is their opinion, not objective moral fact. there are no moral "facts" if there is no God; there are only moral opinions.
This is the reason for moral realtivism--"What I think is right is right for me, what you think is right is right for you" that pervades modern society. The secularizaton of society is the primary reason vast numbers of people believe for example, that "one mans terrorits is another man's freedom fighter"; why the best educated were not able to say that free America was a more a moral society than the totalitarian Soviet Union; why, in short, deep moral confusion afflicted the 20th century and continues in this century.
This is the reason why The New York Times, the voice of secualr moral relativism, was so repulsed by President Ronald Reagan's declaration that the soviet Union was an "evil empire." The secular world-- especially the left--fears and rejects the language of good and evil becasue it smacks of religious values and violates their moral relativism. It is perhaps the major difference between America and Europe.
A major reason for the left's laothing of George W. Bush is his use of moral language--such as in his widely condemned description of the regimes of North Korea, Iran, and Iraq as an "axis of evil." These people reject the central Judeo-Christian vlaue of existence of objective good and evil and our obligation to make such judgements. Secularism has led to moral confusion, which in turn has led to moral paralysis
If you could not call the Soviet Union an "evil empire" or the Iranian, North Korea and Iraqi regimes an "evil axis" you have rendered the word "evil" useless. and indeed it is not used in sophisticated secualr company--except in reference to those who use it (usually religious Chritians and Jews).
Is abortion morally wrong? To the secular world, the answer is "it's between a woman and her physician." There is no clear expression of moral relativism: Every woman determines whether abortion is moral. On the other hand, to the individual with Judeo Christian values, it is not between anyone or anyone else. It is between society and God. Even maong religious people who differ in their reading of God's will, it is still never merely "between a woman and her physician."
The best-known verse in the Bible is "Love you neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). It is a reflection of the secular age in which we live that few people are aware that the verse concludes with the words. "I am God." Though entirely secularized in common parlance, the greatest of ethical principals comes from God. Otherwise it is just another man- made suggestion, no more compelling than "Cross at the green, not in between."
www.townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/printdp20050111.shtml
I was gonna ask the same, but figured it would be a waste of time! :bangheads
