Moral Relativism Debunked

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In the study of ethics, there is the term relativistic morality or otherwise relativism which is a system that what is true depends on certain demographics such as self, culture and religion ignoring the fact that contradictions CANNOT agree with each other as Amos 3:3 says, "Can the two walk together except they be agreed?". That's right. The truth can NEVER coexist with a lie. To accept all religions as true means there is no differentiation between the truth and the lie. However Romans 10:4 says, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." and there are REALLY various consequences. which will be shown below So how does moral relativism work? Here are some of the ways how man's own thinking works and what moral codes they have invented:

1.) Manmade religion- To determine right and wrong by religion would be like this. For example, a Filipino woman goes to work in Saudi Arabia as a maid. Then her boss who is obedient to Islam decides to make her his next concubine. Muhammad wrote in Surah 4:34 saying, "Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because God has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and forsake them in beds apart, and beat them. Then if they obey you, take no further action against them. Surely God is high, supreme." That means, a woman if they refuse, can be beaten. Wow! So that means she loses her right to complain against being raped because of Islamic law!

2.) Culture- This is another crazy appeal to moral relativism to determine right from wrong by cultural background. For example since cannibalism is the culture of the natives therefore it's right for them and because it's not our culture, then it's wrong for us. Therefore, we should just allow those crazy natives to continue harming people and eating them up even if it means the consequences of cannibalism to their health hits them! Perhaps the best illustration will be the Nuremberg War Trials in which because of cultural relativity, the Allied attorneys fell into a fifty yard loss when the German Supreme Court said, "We have done nothing wrong. We acted according to our own culture, according to our own mores, according to our own laws. We were told they could be killed. Who are you to come from another culture, another society and impose your morals on us."

3.) Pragmatism- If something works well and succeeds then therefore it must be good. Let's get back to the Bible shall we? In the days of the prophets, the idolatrous system was working pretty well especially in the days of Jeremiah. However it was definitely not right just as God would declare. Or to backtrack, remember Ahab and Jezebel both had a sturdy marriage, they both succeeded in causing fear to the prophets of the LORD, brought Baal worship to its peak in the Northern Kingdom and even succeeded in getting Naboth's vineyard (read 1 Kings 17-21) but God was NOT a big pleased. Later, it cost them their lives!

4.) Egoism- This is the self-seeking morality which is if it feels good for me, then it must be good. Again, this is faulty because this is where Communism takes itself too. For example, during the Cultural Revolution, the late Communist dictator Mao Zedong was seeking what was good for him not for the people. He was simply self-serving.

5.) Cafeteria-style morality- This is how religion can go. For example, the Roman Catholic Church chooses certain commands from the Bible which they want to keep and ignore what they don't like. Sure they have the nine commandments BUT they have deleted the second and ignored the tenth when it comes to the catechism. Also, the establishment of the Inquisition was based on cafeteria morality. Why? Jesus NEVER taught the use of force to spread His religion but the Catholic Church taught otherwise. Should it be mentioned that the Roman Catholic doctrines are determined by the Council of Trent on what's going to stay and what's going to leave the Scriptures?

6.) Altruism- This is referred to as "ahimsa" in both Buddhist and Hindu philosophy in seeking as to never harm anyone which can be ridiculous, because it ignores self-defense. True it's wrong to strike somebody but when in danger, people have to defend themselves. Jesus told His disciples in Luke 22:36-38 to buy a sword to defend themselves from robbers.

7.) Libertarianism or man's free will- Man has a free will but his free will DOES NOT determine the moral system which he can decide which rules he wants to follow. Again this can go back to egoism (see number four) and cafeteria style morality (see number five).

8.) Determinism- This is the appeal that man is determined by his culture (see number two), religion (see number one), environment, what he eats and by all things that impinge upon him. However a reality is that recent studies show that environment does not necessarily make a man get that type of life. Being rich does not make one wasteful just as being poor doesn't make one thrifty. For example, a rich man may be thrifty and conservative while the common laborer may be wasteful with both food and money which if course, is not very expected.

9.) Hedonism- If it makes you good then it must be good right? WRONG! This kind of mentality has caused the increase of many sins like pornography, prostitution, alcoholism, drug addiction, womanizing, smoking and the list can GO ON and ON because it makes people feel "good" yet in the end there are tragic consequences. Wasn't it Bathsheba's nudity that led David to sin? Proverbs 5:11 describes sexually transmitted diseases so accurate as the consequence of prostitution. Alcoholism destroys the body systems especially the liver. Drug addiction has caused many serious increase in crimes and suicides. Womanizing causes fornication and adultery to increase. Smoking destroys the lungs and spreads harm to nearby people. Sin kills and destroys. It may taste good at first but when it reaches the belly, it becomes bitter!

Conclusion:

Psalm 119:155 says, "Salvation is far from the wicked for they seek not Thy statutes." which means that rather than seek for God's righteousness, they seek their own (Romans 10:3) and therefore, they refuse to come to Jesus Christ (John 5:40) and that's still true. It has only resulted in failure which can be demonstrated by the consequences of sin as shown above.

However only God's moral absolutes show this:
  • Revealed in the Scriptures (John 17:17)
  • It is perfectly balanced as it is in right motive (love- 2 Corinthians 5:14), right end which is God's glory (1 Corinthians 10:31), easily applied (Psalm 119:9) which leads to a well-balanced society. The southern kingdom of Judah during the divided kingdom is is an example- when the people were under godly kings, they prospered but under ungodly kings, the place was very chaotic like the northern kingdom of Israel.
  • It meets the needs of the human heart (Psalm 1:1-3)
  • It destroys self-righteousness as it is the perfect standard (Romans 3:10-19, Galatians 3:24)
Therefore, truth is OBJECTIVE NEVER SUBJECTIVE in order to keep society in order.