Relativism

Let's start the week off with something a little heavy -- the theory of moral relativism.

Our new Pope, Francis I, identified relativism as the leading threat to faith.  He's surely right on this.  Why?

Relativism is the belief that there are no absolute truths.  So from that would naturally come the belief that there are no absolute morals, no absolute ethics, no God whose wisdom gave us the 10 Commandments.

From that perspective, what is really bad?  What is really wrong?  What about lying?  With relativism, maybe it just depends on whether you are able by lying to protect a plan or someone's hide?  Kind of like that "whatever it takes" kind of reasoning that takes a soul right down that slippery slope.

To me relativism represents another danger -- that of comparisons.  "Well, at least I'm not like so-and-so who did this.  At least I didn't sink that far."  With no absolute, how would one know how far he or she has gone down?

For me there are absolutes, and I'm not the perfect person who hasn't veered off of the right path based on those absolutes.  By admitting that there are absolutes, I admit that there is sin and that I have done wrong.  By acknowledging absolutes, I recognize that God loves us and because God loves us, He knows that certain behavior leads away from Him and toward evil.  And the older I get, the more I recognize that the absolutes do not limit freedom, but rather offer a platform upon which I am free and take responsibility for doing right or doing wrong.

Told you it was going to be heavy today.  Take an opportunity to look online or elsewhere about relativism.  Then you will be able to judge for yourself as to when and where relativism is starting to snake its way into our lives.   Because it surely is.

I really like Pope Francis.  He embodies for me the humility that Jesus showed, the humility that His disciples showed, and the humility behind which lies tremendous strength.  There was a video of Pope Francis not long ago ministering to a man alleged to be possessed.  He put his hands on the man's head and prayed over him.  Suddenly, a change occurred in the man's demeanor, in his behavior that showed a calm, a relaxation.  I'm not saying here that the man was healed, but something surely happened.  Without absolutes, there is no real good and there is no real evil.  There is no sense in that for me.