Relativism II

Relativism

I remember very distinctly, somewhere around 4th grade, our teacher standing up in class and teaching relativism. She explained how truth is relative and my truth can be different from your truth. The damage this so-called philosophy caused me and I’m sure, countless other children, still lasts to the present day.

People today, at the earliest days of comprehension, are taught from their parents that things can be both right and wrong. Well-meaning parents teach their children that “well, I want my child to grow up and make the decisions for themselves.” The onus is then put on the school systems to teach children the ins and outs of life. The problem seems to be that nobody actually knows how to think anymore. The school curriculum seems to be prone to the changing fancies of popular consensus. Our society seems to think that teaching a sort of “tolerance to everything” is the only truth philosophy (if you can call it a philosophy).

So who cares?

Let me give an example of the futility of relativism. Hopefully this will hit close to home while still pointing out the futility of relativism.

On September 11, 2001, several people, after careful consideration and much planning and preparation, felt it in their hear that it was God’s will that they take drastic action against what they perceived to be rampant materialism and hostility toward their God’s will. The planning for this event probably took many years and many hundreds of people working together all with one common goal. Their plan was to destroy the political, financial and world economic system by destroying its people and its famed buildings: the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon, the White House(?).

These people prepared by taking flight training in Canada and the US. They lived among its citizens. They ate in their restaurants. Ironically, one of them even enjoyed a strip club the night before their fateful plot. On September 11, 2001, two planes struck the World Trade Centres and a third into the Pentagon. Another plane was downed in a field, presumably by the mutiny of its passengers. Thousands of people were killed and the Twin Towers fell. Part of the Pentagon was destroyed.

A Mighty Question

So, here are the big questions: Were these acts right? Were these acts morally acceptable?

The people who perpetrated the acts thought they were doing the will of God. Many other people thought that what these people did was right. But was it?

Were these acts wrong? Were theses acts morally acceptable?

From our perspective (the perspective of most North Americans and most of the world), these acts were horribly wrong and definitely not morally acceptable. But what about the people who perpetrated them? They thought they were doing the will of God! They thought what they were doing was morally necessary.

The question arises, who is right and who is wrong? Can we prove that one side is right and the other wrong? Can they both be right? Herein lies the trap. We have this sense of wrongness about it. We say to ourselves, this had to be wrong. But let’s go back to our grade school relativism now. One could say: “well, I suppose they thought they were doing right. In fact, they thought they were acting on behalf of God. Therefore, what they did was right for them. But obviously it was wrong for us.” Does this make sense to anyone? Is it possible that both are right? If so, shouldn’t we all just shake hands, give each other a hug and say “well, now that we all understand each other, everything is alright?” …Is the point clear yet?

Backing Up

Let’s go to elementary philosophy and logic. This should be taught in every grade 4 class instead of relativism.

Postulate: Something cannot be both true or false at the same time.

For example, if I make the statement, my watch reads 1:40AM (incidentally, that is the time of day I’m writing this). This statement is either true or false. It cannot be both. It would be absurd to say “well, my truth is that it actually reads 9:12PM.

If I make the statement: Rape is wrong. You might make the statement, well, I think that rape is OK for some people. I mean, if you look at it from the perspective of “survival of the fittest,” rape could be a good thing… you know, weed out the weak men and only the strongest will survive. Not only that, the strongest will always get the most beautiful girl. So, who is right? One would be mad to think that rape is right under any circumstances.

A Different Perspective

So, who gives us this sense of right and wrong? Can this sense of right and wrong be applied to the truth statement made above? That is, can we postulate that something cannot be both right and wrong at the same time? I would argue yes…and volumes of books have been written on this to support this. One might argue against this by saying “what about if it feels right for that person…does that make it right? Well, this is the heart of the matter isn’t it? We are in a time where we base truth on our feelings, and not on some objective moral framework. We seem to live in a time where the only absolute truth is the statement that truth is relative to its beholder. Now, that last statement is madness at its best. Any child in elementary school should be able to point out that the statement defeats itself. Unfortunately, we are not given the tools to discern this in grade school. Children take it at face value and trust that it must be true.

This idea then incubates for the rest of their lives until someone comes along and actually challenges this idea with something that makes more sense. I myself had been plagued with the idea until my late 20s when I realized with the help of a philosophy class and much theological research, that the whole idea is ridiculous.

So many might be asking, what does this have to do with spirituality? Well, it was the first intellectual hurdle I had to overcome in my spiritual jo

urney to Christ. It had taken the longest to overcome…but it also made all the difference.