Who Sets the Standard For Our Morals, Ethics, Integrity...all Values?
Posted: Friday, April 23, 2010
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
How do we know it is wrong to kill a fellow man? To steal or rob for what we get? We all know these sorts of things are against civil law. But we also know that if there was no civil law, these things would still be wrong. There are unlimited things which we know are immoral, unethical, and unacceptable to the majority of people.
Suppose there were no civil authorities. A do as you please' society. There would still probably be men who would kill you for having an affair with his wife. Or certainly for rape of his young daughter. Or if, after he worked and brought in food for his family, you should steal it from him.
Men, over the centuries, have tried to alter many of our age-old values, and it is growing more and more in that direction. Many now attempt to teach that what a man thinks within himself as being right, is right for him. That is hogwash. If a man with a gun walks up to you and demands your wallet...and he thinks that is perfectly alright, is it? Fortunately we have civil laws now that deter much wrong doing, but certainly not all of it.
But these values came from somewhere. There used to be cannibals in several places. They thought it quite permissible to "kill and eat". Since animals do this on a regular basis, how then can we say that in humans, it is unacceptable? Is it just because of civil law? Humans themselves, in most cases, will kill any other animal which is good for food. What set man apart from other animals? Was it only because he learned to manufacture and use weapons capable of killing other animals?
The only rational answer to all this is God. He created man differently than that of other animals in that he has the power to reason, and he has a soul. He was early on, put in command of the other creatures.
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:28 NKJV)
But not only did God set man apart from the rest of the animal kingdom, and put him in charge of it, He also laid out the rules of morality, ethics and integrity for man. He created us, and He has the might, and the right, to specify what is expected of mankind in those values. There is much reading to be done to locate all of His rules and regulations but they can be found in the Holy Bible, His words, given through the inspiration of His writers.
Once, in a discussion with an atheist when I presented the above information that all of those values came from God, he accused me of saying he was immoral since he doesn't accept the Bible as inspired truths. I responded that I did no such thing, but rather that if he was not immoral, his morality came from God, whether or not he believed it.
If morals originate in man himself, how then can we ridicule the cannibals mentioned above? How can we criticize those who steal, or kill, and whose conscience is clear in it? There has to be a standard and only God is omniscient and therefore knows all values which are best for mankind.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Thanks for writing this, Joel. Honestly, I'm struggling with this right now. Not that I struggle with the concept that God is omniscient and knows the values which are best for mankind, but rather trusting that man is capable of understanding the values of God.I know this indicates weakness in my own character, but when I see Christians say that God's will is that we do X, Y and Z and then circumstances change, resulting in Christians saying that it's God's will that we don't do X, Y and Z, I think something is seriously wrong.Saying that God sets what is right and what is wrong is fine, but that next step invariably adds the human element where the most basic of Biblical commands are willfully and blatantly ignored. Then who is to say that the will of God is being betrayed? Some other human?I used to hear it preached the direct Biblical principle, "Give to Caesar that which is Caesars." Now Christians seem to have a new call because they are Taxed Enough Already. So which is it?I have been raised from infancy hearing that we are all created in the image of God and thus deserve respect. Now Christians seem to be fine with sending the poor and the sick "back to where they came from."My point is that saying that all morals come from God is not so relevant anymore. In America it seems perfectly acceptable to call yourself a Christian and hate your neighbor. There's got to be something better than this.Hi Bruce, thanks for your comment. Your points are well taken...but, the fact that "Christians" now feel that thus and so are alright, doesn't mean that they are. Unfortunately, regardless if peoiple feel they are "taxed too much already" ultimately, if more are added , a Christian is to shell it out. As Jesus says, render unto Caeser. Actually there are very few "Christians" these days who are Christians. I try to be and I know I fall short, but we are to submit to the powers that be, unless their laws contradict that of God's Following Jesus' doctrine and examples as best we can, is all that we can do.I know I yell a lot about what our politicians say and do, but, again, when they do it, whether or not I like it, I am obligated to follow.God's will does not change, not since the cross. Men change it, but will suffer for it. I spend an enormous amount of time reading the Bible and biblically related works, history, etc. and if I get it wrong, it is only because of my density. When I find a thing that I qyuestion, I dig at it until I can find no more about it, and still, I may get it wrong. But that is where grace, takes over. My worry is that I know I don't have much more time to get it right.Again, I appreciate your comments.
"A man who cultivates virtue is all the time thinking about himself; he is everlastingly concerned about his own progress, his personal improvement, which is still the activity of ‘me’, the self, the ego; and this activity obviously has nothing whatever to do with virtue, which is a state of being and not becoming." - J.Krishnamurti.
This is kind of deep and I don't pretend that many will understand, especially the last nine words, but I thought I would give it a shot simply because God has never been proven to exist, a psychological illusion, and Krishnamurti's truths can be proven for oneself. Blind belief means that wherever you are born, that is what you will probably believe - no questioning, no spiritual search, just faith. But in what? Where were you born? What if you were born in an Islamic nation? Be honest now - you would be praising Allah.
Well, I have to agree with you , at least almost. I don't really agree with Krishnamurti's statement though.But one of the basic things my parents taught me was not to accept anyone's (even theirs) teachings as factual without proving it by the scriptures. Now, that doesn't alter the truth of what you just said, but, I have spent many hours in reading of other religions as well as various Christian denominations, and I truly can say that many of my present thoughts do not agree with those of my parents.Primarily, it is the Bible itself which causes me to accept the God (Jehovah) over any others and the Bible over any other religious books. None of the other books which I have read can even remotely compare to the Bible as far as truth and facts are concerned
Joel: There is a school lunch program that is corrupt throughout America. Industry is in bed with school government bureaucrats. They feed our children garbage. Sure, God establishes the concept of not stealing, and being generous. The trouble with laws and big principles is that they always get down to littler laws and littler principles. You can say God establishes these big principles, but somebody has to go in and say to the School Lunch program. This is excessive. This is greedy. This is inappropriate. Yes. God set down the big thoughts. But now, we have to sort out the issues of corruption and unfairness. Believe me, all the people involved probably go to church. The world is exceedingly complex with everyone claiming to be on the right side. No one says: "I am the Sinner." The quote that I think of often is: "Every man is right in his own eyes." Now that's a principle that we have to wrestle with. We know thievery is wrong in principle, but oh, finding that thief!Thank you Christopher, for your comment. Yes, actually, God's values as set forth, have never been observed by the majority. Most claim to be righteous, very few are.
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