Society needs to be guided by a moral compass
by James Simpson

Potomac News
Friday, November 21, 2003

Recently I read an opinion column that warned folks about those who claim to know more about ethics than "the rest of us." This was written by someone who teaches ethics at a local community college. Funny thing about that statement ? I can't help but wonder how someone can teach others about a subject without claiming to know more about it than those he is teaching.

Fortunately, for most of society, there are still folks who believe in ethical absolutism, but the number of people who are moral and ethical relativists is growing. I believe it is mainly due to the liberal thinking that plagues our schools, from kindergarten through college.

As a Libertarian I have a solid set of ethical beliefs that both Christians (like me) and secular objectivists can agree upon. They are based on the principle that one's rights, and therefore actions, are morally just as long as they do not infringe upon the rights of others.

When an ethical relativist wants to try and persuade others to believe as they do, frequently they pose a scenario that not only is extremely rare in the real world, but also has a "no-win" scenario. Star Trek fans will remember this as the Kobayashi Maru rescue simulation.

When we have a society of individuals who are taught that ethics and morals should be based on situational events, relative to the circumstances, then we end up with a society that has no moral compass.

Unfortunately we are subject to the actions of these folks every day. And I personally believe that it has gotten worse over the past 50 years.

Prime examples this week are Potomac News stories such as: "EMT charged with stealing patient's credit card" and "Teens charged in flamingo theft." In the past these were rare and shocking. Nowadays they are in the paper every day and no one gives them a second thought.

I happened to be watching an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit this week and dang if I didn't hear at the end of the episode a classic ethical relativist argument. It was between a detective and the owner of a Web site titled "Amy's Little Secret," who happened to be Amy's father.

This is the noteworthy part of that scene:

Father: I don't abuse my daughter.

Detective: Ya you do. Since before she was able to walk.

Father: So you say.

Detective: You betrayed your daughter.

Father: I did not. I love Amy. More then you'll ever realize. And I'm not going to feel bad just because you're telling me I should.

Lawyer: That's enough, this interview is over.

Father: Society says I'm wrong. Not long ago, society said interracial marriage was wrong too. Not long ago society executed homosexuals.

Detective: Did you hear that? Now that is a classic. It's a pedophiles justification for why he's not the pervert we know he is.

Father: I use to think I was alone. I'm not. There are hundreds of thousands of people just like me, maybe millions. Go ahead. Arrest us. Persecute us. We're not going to play by your rules. And nothing you can do will ever change that.

You see? as long as there are folks advocating that people should be suspect of anyone who dares to suggest ethical standards, we will continue to face increases in violent crime. We will continue to have children abused and abducted.

Killers like Malvo and Muhammad use ethical relativism to justify what they do all the time. When an anti-abortion extremist kills an abortion doctor to prevent them from killing unborn children, they use ethical relativism to justify their action.

Employees and investors suffer from the consequences of corporate scandals and corruption because of moral relativism. Taxpayers suffer from the moral relativism of politicians who seek power and lifetime careers.

There are seldom situations where an ethical course of action is not clear. Far more frequently the ethical course of action is more difficult. But we have become a nation interested in instant gratification and it is easier to justify unethical actions then to expend the effort required to do what is ethical.

We live in a country where people learn - through the examples of those who they are taught to look up to - that rules should change according to the circumstances. This is disastrous to our nation. It is a shame that many folks who are in the position of educating our students also believe this to be true.

James Simpson lives in Lake Ridge.