Moral Measurements

All humans are judges. Each one judges whether they can fit into that parking spot at the mall, which healthcare plan to use, or what politician has the best platform to vote for. Cutting to the chase, everyone has a set of standards that serve as a rutter for their judgements. Some call it a moral compass, or an inner voice. Others use a religious text or a set of ethical principles. Of course, people are not completely morally homogenous; they disagree on minor, and major ideas. 

A Ku Klux Klan member and someone in the Peace Corps do not see eye to eye on issues of human equality. The vast majority would side with the Peace Corps member in this dispute, but why? Is it because there is one objective standard on human rights and morality? This conflicts with the idea that “truth is relative,” and “always speak your truth.” If one says, “my truth is that whites are superior,” most would reject it. Objective truth is obvious and necessary to make sense of a world with rights and morality. Who cares about “your truth;” what matters is “the truth.” 

 So, if there are objective truths, how can anyone know what they are? Most would preach that these truths are found within a person’s heart. Their personal “north star” some call it. Now, to be sure, there is a uniting morality in most humans around the world that acknowledges murder, rape, etc. are wrong, but even on those issues not all express equal disgust. If some are foggier than others on basic morals what is there to appeal to?

Think about this practical example: If Tom and Pete are building a fence and Tom measures a 2x4 piece of pine wood as 38 inches long with a tape measure, and Pete says, “That is not the right measurement.” Yet Tom asks, “Why do you think that?” Pete exclaims, “Because it doesn’t look right and it just feels off!” What is Pete basing his assertion off of? Tom measures again: 38 inches. Tom has an objective standard that defines the measurement in the first place. Pete, does not. 

The pressing question is this: If objective truth is obvious and necessary for moral sanity and even for everyday functionality such as Tom and Peter’s dilemma, what is the set of standards used to judge the world? Inner voices amongst people collide, yet some voices must rise above others. There must be a standard outside of all inner voices that is adhered to or deviated from. What is your tape measure? 

In a previous article, the popular secular worldview was described this way: “the universe and its inhabitants are nothing more than random chemical reactions resulting in the guideless splattering of evolving matter. No ultimate difference is given between the human and the centipede; we are simply just a species among the species.” This obviously does not lend itself to having objective moral truths in the world. There is no tape measure for that kind of thinking. So, what is the alternative? God. 

Here is where some may get disinterested, but think about it. How can anyone say there is true wrong, true injustice, true evil without a standard from which these truths come? There must be a tape measure, and consider for a second that it must be an eternal, perfect, righteous, God. Most of the time evil and wrong are equated in our minds and portrayals as darkness while what is good and right is portrayed as light. Listen to the words of the apostle John, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5). Jesus Christ, the man believed to be the Son of God while being truly and fully God Himself, is described as the ultimate light.

The picture of darkness and light paints binaries not relatives. The entire framework of dark and light illustrates a clear line in the sand between right and wrong. Here is the logic of the Christian worldview to make sense of that distinction: there is a God who is perfect, righteous, and holy. He is the ultimate standard of right and wrong which He reveals to us in general revelation and most clearly the Bible. We appeal to objective truth based on the revelation of the objective God who has created us in his image, and has given us inherent dignity. Any evil, injustice, or hatred toward human beings is a violation of the worth and preciousness of life bestowed by God Himself.

As shocking of a statement as that is to some, it is consistent. A foundation and framework that makes sense of why we are different than beetles and rats is presented. This foundation is the basis for much of the world, specifically the West’s conception of human rights and justice which I will somewhat unpack in later articles. My question for the reader to ponder is this: if you object to that foundation, what is yours? How do you make sense of morality, justice, and human rights? Do you have a tape measure, or are you like Pete? Making judgements based on nothing but the wind of culture and the fizz of your brain. There is serious conversation to be had about the validity of the worldview I’ve presented, but first identify the one you are operating with. Is it consistent? 

In future posts let’s explore this path together evaluating the consistency of the Almighty God as the standard. 

For the initial post in this series on apologetics, start here.