The Facts of Life: Morality
In our modern world, almost nothing is more provocative than insisting on the existence of moral truths. Insisting that moral principles are factual and provable truths that provide clear standards for all human behavior and attitudes, all human emotions and thinking, all human aspirations and ambitions, is oddly a sin of the first order now.
In keeping with this aversion for moral truths, the modern world also aggressively rejects the inherent “judgement” such moral truths must of necessity and nature entail. In fact, such “moral judgement” is perhaps the greatest moral transgression, according to many in our modern world.
Now, moral “judgement” is the first and foremost moral sin. For it is a direct violation of the modern premise that morality is solely a matter of individual perceptions, a product of personal beliefs and convictions, a by-product of individual personal freedom. Now, any moral “judgement” is perceived as a matter of personal freedom and perception, outside the purview of objective moral judgement.
This is what moral relativism is all about. And, it has replaced the historical and orthodox view of morality. It has replaced the view that moral principles are real objective truths knowable and provable with reason and confirmed by Judeo-Christian revelation and tradition. For moral relativism makes morality merely a matter of personal choice, personal values, personal beliefs.
This moral relativism rests on the assertion of the absence of all objective moral truths and on the certainty of each individual’s right to exercise their inherent personal freedom and their complete sovereignty to define and to determine morality as they see fit. This is why “judging” is the first and most prominent modern moral transgression.
In our dominant modern worldview, “judging” any person is deeply and dogmatically wrong, no matter how sweetly worded or extensively explained. Now, almost everyone knows this. Now, such “judgers” are really the bigoted and the arrogant, the fundamentalists and the zealots, those without love, compassion or respect for others. Often, these “judgers” are the Christian religious or the politically conservative, who seek to impose their moral standards on everyone through legislative activity, judicial enforcement and cultural conformity.
But, these attitudes decrying such judgements and the judgers who purvey them are flagrantly and fatally contradicting themselves. On the surface, their principle of non-judgement requires judgement. For to know someone is being judgmental requires a judgement. A judgement is unavoidably necessary in some form or other, whether explicit or implicit, whether articulate or attitudinal, whether broadly conceptual or more finely nuanced.
Anyone, everyone must make a judgement about the person they believe is being judgmental. They must judge the person’s actions and attitudes, their argument and their morality and even their metaphysics (their first principles). You see, all morality is, by nature, judgmental.
So, if moral judgement is unavoidable, if judgment is an inherent inevitability of any and every moral issue, no matter how benign or relativistic, then it is crucial to make sound moral judgements grounded in moral truth. This leads any and all of us back to the necessity of objective moral truths. It leads back to reason and to the nature of goodness and its many dimensions and its sophisticated nuances.
To draw out the certainty of definitive, objective moral truths, let’s look at some simple examples that are morally self-evident. How about some flagrant examples of moral transgressions that all good people readily identify? How about slavery? Or genocide? Or sex trafficking and white slavery, pedophilia or necrophilia? Clearly no decent person would call these morally good or even morally neutral actions. Clearly there are some profound moral truths that are objective and knowable in spite of our modern moral relativism.
There are also other less significant moral transgressions we can accurately judge just as well. How about tone of voice or facial expressions? Car driving behavior? Discourtesy or instigation, lying or selfishness? Surely these minor moral errors reveal just how finely tuned our moral principles really are. Not only are our moral principles finely tuned, but internally they even govern how we assign degrees of guilt to the transgressors of these moral principles, even the minor ones.
For instance, when we are slighted by others, we often weigh the culpability of the transgressor and speculate about their motives, or even morally question our own perceptions and our possible response to these small slights. Again, such reflection and analysis are common occurrences in our daily lives, where we use known moral truths and routinely apply them with sophistication to others and to ourselves. We make such moral judgements without the slightest hesitation, even if we happen to be a moral relativist.
Not only do moral truths exist objectively, factually, certainly. But, we can apply them on a grand scale and on a smaller one. We apply them externally and internally, individually and collectively, socially and culturally, legally, even legislatively. This is how we can determine the nature of an unjust or flawed law or an erroneous judicial judgment. It is also how we evaluate our own character and the character of others.
Just look at the common vices like gluttony or slothfulness. How often do we readily apply these moral precepts when we examine our own personal lives and habits? Morality’s reach is clear to most of us, particularly when we are being honest with ourselves and trying to improve by resolving to change our eating habits or our activity level.
Most of us know intuitively where we need to improve. And, the stronger and clearer we become convinced of our moral weakness in these all too common moral failings, the more willing we become to try to do something about them. Morality is the guide to self-improvement and to all our relationships.
Also, a large part of moral judgement is nuanced by other contributing factors such as the scale and severity of the moral transgression, the degree of knowledge of the moral transgressor, the intent and ability of the transgressor, as well as situational variants and the actions of others that may lessen culpability or deepen it. All these factors come into play in legal proceedings and judgements.
They also apply in the many human interactions and decisions we make or fail to make in our professional and personal lives each and every day of our lives. We know we are free to do and to decide things, but most of us know instinctively we can evaluate ourselves in light of what is right, true and good.
For freedom is our right. But, it is also our responsibility. We may use our freedom actively or passively, but our action or inaction is the result of our free will decisions. True freedom is not to do, speak or think anything as we see fit. It is not to reduce freedom to personal definition and indulgence, nor is it to reduce any moral review to our personal standards. It is not for everyone “to do what is right in their own eyes.”
The goal and fruit of true freedom is goodness, truth, beauty and love. It is to embody the depth and breadth of goodness. To be honest, yet kind. To be inspiring, yet understanding. To be righteous, yet patient. To be demanding, yet compassionate. To be just, yet forgiving. To hold to the moral truth, yet temper it with love. As John Milton said, “Only good men can love freedom. The rest love not freedom, but license.” This why the wisdom of Milton is so important in our deteriorating and depraved time.
Just look at the pervasive and pernicious principles enshrined in law and infecting our culture. Take abortion. Abortion is legal because women have the sovereign right to kill a baby. And, no law can affect that right. Women’s individual freedom is above moral review and reproach. Any appeal to moral truths is denied. Abortion is justified legally by an appeal to personal freedom. This is the quintessential example of moral relativism.
A baby can be killed because it is solely a matter of individual morality without any credible appeal to objective moral truth grounded in deductive reason supported by Judeo-Christian revelation and tradition. And, over sixty million babies have been killed, justified solely by each woman’s personal freedom, with no recourse to moral justification or review. Can the dominance of “moral relativism” be any clearer?
Surely, any mother killing an unborn baby is a moral evil of a profound nature. But, to have this enshrined in law justified solely on the grounds of personal freedom is a mockery of true freedom and its inherent moral evaluation and justification. And, intelligent lawmakers and judges have concluded this consistently over the last fifty years. They have decided and justified this on the grounds of personal freedom and moral relativism.
Do we need any more evidence than this when it comes to the factual nature of morality and the moral review of human behavior and attitudes? If we can see the moral errors in tones of voice or facial expressions. If we can see the moral scourge of slavery, or racism, or genocide. If we can see the minor, the major and the middling morality of the human experience, how can we really make morality a matter of personal perception and determination? How can we think freedom’s use is above review, above judgement?
Of course, there are moral certainties, moral principles, moral truths. True morality is a matter of fact, a fact as common and clear as the physical world, a fact as certain as our life and our love. The evidence is right before us. Just look in the mirror. We are good. But, none of us is perfect. Yet, we know it matters how close we get to moral perfection. It matters to those who are closest to us. It matters to all those who are touched by our lives.
And, it matters to all of us collectively. So, it is consummately crucial to confront and convert those who propound and promote the morality of personal perception and the philosophy of moral relativism and its many manifestations. For timeless moral truth tells us where we are right and where we wrong. And, it compels us to climb the heights of goodness and beauty, to scale the summit of love and truth.
But, it is not a solitary quest. For we do not live solitary lives. We all live together. And, God is there for each of us. To enable and to encourage us. To reprove and to reward us. To ignite us with His love and to inspire us with His truth. For His truth is love. And, His love truth.
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This article is the seventh part in an extended series on the “The Facts of Life” by F. X. Cronin. You can start with part one by clicking here and see previous entries by clicking here.
We also recommend Mr. Cronin’s latest book, The World According to God: The Whole Truth About Life and Living. It is available from your favorite bookstore and through Sophia Institute Press.
