THE CHRISTIAN HAWK

A Christian Eye on Politics

The Curious Topsy-Turvy Moral World of the Modern Liberal

A BBC News website report recently highlighted the disgrace of an American Mormon off-shoot cultic group in the United States in which a member seems very likely to face imprisonment for the practice of polygamy (plural marriage).

One does not seek to excuse the man in any way, but it always seems most amazing to me when a typical news report - full of all the usual biases and assumptions of modern liberalism - expresses moral indignation.

Just think about this for one moment:

• Modern liberals express repugnance when witnessing polygamy, yet firmly also believe in sexual liberation, believe that adulterous affairs are probably inevitable for most couples 2-10 times within a typical 40 year marriage and believe that sex before marriage should positively be encouraged - although not rampant promiscuity. Hypocrisy and double standards?

• Modern liberals support the medical profession's avowed determination to eventually eradicate all diseases and to prolong life as long as possible and fully support the new 'health and safety' legislative excesses (which can mean prosecution for even absent-mindedly dropping a few matches). Yet - at the same time - modern liberals firmly support a woman's (so-called) 'right to choose' regarding abortion and firmly believe that legal abortion has led to 'a more just society.' The slaughter of countless thousands of innocents in the womb is calmly brushed aside in a most cavalier fashion by these people even though the practice has robbed Europe of its future generations to the degree that large-scale immigration from eastern countries (in which abortion is usually illegal) is now seen as the only way forward for European society!
  Furthermore, modern liberals continue to make more and more demands for euthanasia to be fully legalized (some European countries already allow euthanasia), and many pundits and social commentators believe that widespread euthanasia will be available within a generation. So, in typical confused fashion, liberals want to make it easier to preserve as well as to kill.
  Hypocrisy and double standards?

• Modern liberals are wholehearted supporters of so-called "human rights" and also of 'penal reform' - penal reformists want the whole concept of punishment to be taken out of the treatment of criminals and want to see imprisonment evolve into "social retraining" to make former criminals better able to fruitfully contribute to society; these people feel that punishment has no place and that 're-training' is all that the vast majority of criminals ever need. Yet - modern crime is far more violent and malicious than it used to be, especially in Britain and Europe, and even 'shoplifters' now randomly carry knives. Meanwhile the victims of crime feel that they now have fewer "rights" than ever before, but liberals are completely myopic in their lop-sided application of these 'human rights.'
  Hypocrisy and double standards?

• The aforementioned liberal commitment to 'human rights' is actually highly selective right across the board. Christian groups often feel that they themselves have no such rights and that things are stacked against them. Gay groups (much loved by liberals) have the 'rights' to place pro-gay leaflets almost anywhere, including in public libraries, but Christian groups often face tough interrogation from police officers if they leave pro-Christian leaflets in such places; moreover, if such Christian leaflets contain any criticism of the gay community, the Christian that left such a leaflet can face arrest (just as Christians who offered pro-Christian leaflets at the gay Mardi Gras in Cardiff, UK, were arrested in 2006).
  Hypocrisy and double standards?

Surely one has to be blind indeed not to perceive a most staggering moral confusion within such 'enlightened' modern liberal societies!

While frequently offering distaste for the whole concept of morals and morality, liberalism nevertheless has set up its own confused 'morality' or, "social behavioural standards" which display the most amazing confusion and contradiction! Since such societies support secularism and reject all religious standards, is this any surprise ?

The truth is that morality came from deep-held religious belief (Judeo-Christian values) in the first place, and immediately becomes a meaningless concept where belief in an all-powerful personal God is rejected. Liberals and modern 'humanists' continue to writhe and struggle to try to avoid this conclusion even while evolutionary psychologists do at least squarely face this fact and will usually frankly admit that society's widespread acceptance of evolution should mean that 'morality' is now meaningless!

It is impossible not to be reminded of certain Scriptures:

'Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.' (Isaiah 5:20-21, NIV throughout).

'The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.' (Romans 1:18-20).

'Furthermore, since they did not think it worth while to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practise them.' (Romans 1:28-32).

'Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.' (1 Peter 4:12-16).

The Christian Hawk, September 29th, 2007.

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