Morality of the Masses?

French Revolution

A great debate about morality has been going on in our society, especially ever since the age of reason and secular humanism became dominant philosophies in the nineteenth century.  Men who have a commitment to the general theory of evolution as the source of life and reason seem to believe that morality is just a product of years of experimentation by humans, and that it should be respected only as the legacy of humans who have preceded us.  If we are really smart, we should be able to have discussions among the elite thinkers, and improve on our inherited moral code. For example, we can decide that sexual interactions between consenting adults is natural and ok, so forget Biblical teaching about sexual immorality such as pornography, adultery, and homosexuality.

           

However, the weakness of this evolutionary concept of morality becomes apparent when we see the damage it has done to our society and institutions.  If morality derives from man, then isn’t one man’s morality just as good as another’s?  And isn’t the morality of the masses the thing to follow in a democracy?  What is the real heritage of the French Revolution?  Is the morality of the people to be determined by vote, or the State, or is morality an individual choice? 

Or consider the possibility that Biblical moral principles are derived from the Creative Power of YHWH, that He knows what is best for us, and has at great cost established divine revelation of life and happiness.  What do the great stories of the Bible teach us? What do we learn from history?  What about Jesus?

Our government struggles with concepts of morality within the constitutional bounds of the separation clause (intended to prevent the establishment of any Christian denomination as the state religion).  Educators sometime feel that they must be careful not to give preference to Judeo-Christian morality over such moral systems as Native American paganism, witchcraft, New Age philosophy, Buddhism, Hinduism, and especially Secular Humanism.  (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judeo-Christian)

Also skeptics and atheists are very critical of the history of “Christianity” as the world views Christianity. And well they should be critical of the horrible history of State controlled religions, including Hinduism, Islam, Buddhist, Pagan, Jewish, Christian, and all others. We must add Secular Humanism to the list of State sponsored religions, and call attention to the facts of history. In less than one century, State mandated atheistic humanism killed more people than other systems combined, according to the Black Book of Communism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Book_of_Communism

Estimated number of victims

In the introduction, editor Stéphane Courtois states that "...Communist regimes... turned mass crime into a full-blown system of government"^[3]. He claims that a death toll totals 94 million^[4]. The breakdown of the number of deaths given by Courtois is as follows:

·         65 million in the People's Republic of China

·         20 million in the Soviet Union

·         2 million in Cambodia

·         2 million in North Korea

·         1.7 million in Africa

·         1.5 million in Afghanistan

·         1 million in the Communist states of Eastern Europe

·         1 million in Vietnam

·         150,000 in Latin America (mainly Cuba)

·         10,000 deaths "resulting from actions of the international Communist movement and Communist parties not in power."^[4]

           

While we do not want our government to establish any religion by force, we do want the freedom to control the moral standards taught to our children in the public schools.  Surely it is not unreasonable to hold that the community may impose its moral standards upon the children who are being taught, so long as there is freedom from pressure to submit to a certain religious faith.  There is a difference between moral law and religious faith.  Civil moral law is imposed by the laws of society, while religious faith is a matter of private choice.  Local control of education is important for protecting our children from the overreaching arm of the State.

           

Christian parents have the right to insist that Christian moral standards are taught to our children.  When we compare the true Christian moral system (as opposed to State controlled systems such as the Holy Roman Empire) with all other moral systems that have ever existed, we can see clearly that individually freely practiced Christianity has produced the most blessed societies.  

           

If we measure the value of a moral code by the effect of its teaching and practice, then there is no other culture in history that can claim a more exalted position for its followers than true Christian morality.  But the blessed effect is related to how many people within a given society are actually practicing the standards of real Christianity.  Presently the moral concepts that are treasured by so many of us are being dragged in the mud, even by those in high places. The legal structure of our society provides a basis for what is right and wrong.  This is why encouraging individual freedom of conscience that chooses to follow the true teachings of Jesus  is the practical means of being blessed by democracy.  

           

And God has a plan to redeem mankind from lawlessness by His own power and love.  For that purpose a man named Jesus was born more than two thousand years ago.  His teachings transformed mankind, and His sacrifice on the cruel cross at Calvary became a call to all people to turn to God and be blessed by His love. 

           

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead became the evidence and foundation for Christian morality.  The culture containing the most people who follow the teachings of Jesus has proven to be the most blessed society on earth.

           

Whose morals are we to follow?  If we call ourselves Christians, we need to follow Jesus.  His moral code is based on loving God and loving each other.  He calls us to do for others the things we want for ourselves.  No moral code can improve on that.