Delftsman

Relativism VS Religion

I was just talking to a friend when the topic of morality came up. This is something that is at the heart of our current political polarities today IMHO.

It's a difficult subject to try to tackle, to say the least. Religion is personal to all of us, even when we belong to the same basic faith, and the terms of religion tend to get in the way of a basic discussion of morality.

Most of the Progessive Left hasn't even tried to count religious faith in their terms, and have fallen back into relatavism, which furthur polarizes any public discussion on what is "right" and "wrong". In the Progressive worldview, there IS no absolute WRONG, there is only "cultural norms that may be in conflict".

We on the right have the problem of not wanting to impose a rigid religous view, but intuitively knowing that there ARE some things that are wrong, just because they ARE WRONG. And that intuative sense comes from a faith of one type or another. Logic doesn't have the language to explain it, all the public debates can't come to a total agreement on it. Religion and faith lay it out in a way that people can somewhat digest, even though, even there, our own contrary nature leads to even more confusion on just what the norms should be.

Human nature is to continually push the boundries. Moral boundries come strongest in the form of religious doctrine; with an outside source laying down the rules. We call that source God. The trouble lies in our imperfect, and differing, conceptions of that source and it's rules (morality).

But without some type of moral sense of right and wrong, we are no better than any other beast in the jungle. I want to believe that we are better, but everything around me tells me that we really aren't EXCEPT faith that we are.

(yeah, that last paragraph confuses me too; see what I mean about it being an impossible subject to tackle? I know what I MEAN to say, but my writing skills just don't bring it out)

In a nutshell, Man is the only animal that is more than just being what it is. Man has aspirations to a higher plane, indeed, is the only animal that can conceive of a higher state of existance. It is our highest achievement, and the souce of our greatest problems.

I sincerely believe that relatavism only leads us, ultimately, back into the darkness of the jungle, where only strength and speed ensures survival. And only survival of the individual, not a society.

Posted by Delftsman3 at June 8, 2005 11:48 PM