Aspect Three : When people are given a philosophical excuse to become their own gods , bitter fruit results .
Although untenable , relativism is enticing in that it rids people of restraints that discourage them from doing whatever they wish . This pushes society into treacherous waters . If every viewpoint is just as valid as every other viewpoint , then no one can challenge ideas like these 9 from Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger ( 1879-1966 ):
• “ The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it .”
• “ The most urgent problem today is how to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective .”
• “ Organized charity itself is the symptom of a malignant social disease . . . .”
Are you ready to affirm those statements ? If you claim to be a relativist , then to be consistent , you can ’ t condemn them ! I once heard Josh McDowell say that relativism , or what he called the new tolerance , 10 makes it impossible to distinguish between the wheatfields of Kansas and the ovens of Auschwitz . 11 Relativism refutes the notion these are substantively different in any way .
Because it can ’ t recognize either good or evil , relativism is incapable of distinguishing between the two and incapable of preferring good over evil ( see Isa . 5:20 ). Often , those who espouse relativism will recommend a practice that actually is evil ( but may not appear so ) to achieve a “ greater good .” 12 This is a natural result of a belief in evolution . If all that exists came into being from random , impersonal , material forces , then everything is morally neutral . Immaterial ideals such as values and moral standards of right and wrong could not have arisen from matter alone . God is out of the picture , and so , therefore , are good and evil .
As we have seen , relativism not only excuses tyrants and despots but also “ ordinary ” people , like the lost son , and like you and me , when we allow natural desires and inclinations to chart our courses . Do you want to avoid unnecessary heartache and pain in your life ? Do you want to help society cultivate a respect for others and cohesiveness conducive to authentic liberty ? Reject relativism and defend the existence of absolute truth — not any form of absolute truth , but a set of beliefs reflecting the truth of God as revealed in the Bible . In other words , adopt and uphold a biblical worldview .
Next time we ’ ll explore what this means in practical terms . Be sure to return . ■
This article was adapted for The RenewaNation Review magazine from a series titled Contending for the Recognition of Absolutes at wordfoundations . com / contendingfor-the-recognition-of-absolutes .
B . Nathaniel Sullivan is a writer , Christian educator , and blogger at wordfoundations . com and discoverbedrocktruth . org .
ENDNOTES 1 . “ The Absolute Truth ,” Josh McDowell Ministry , https :// josh . org / daily-devo / theabsolute-truth-7 . 2 . Dennis Prager , “‘ Does It Do Good ?’ vs . ‘ Does It Feel Good ?’ Left-Right Differences : Part III ,” DennisPrager . com , June 9 , 2015 , https :// dennisprager . com / column / does-it-do-good-vsdoes-it-feel-good-left-right-differences-part-iii . 3 . Zig Ziglar , “ If you will be hard on ...” AZquotes , https :// azquotes . com / quote / 815000 . 4 . Bill Pratt , “ What Is the Law of Non-Contradiction ,” Tough Questions Answered , December 28 , 2011 , http :// toughquestionsanswered . org / 2011 / 12 / 28 / what-is-the-law-of-noncontradiction . 5 . Timothy H . J . Nerozzi , “ Biden admin agencies refuse to answer , ' What is a woman ?',” Fox News , April 4 , 2022 , https :// foxnews . com / politics / biden-agencies-define-woman . 6 . EWTN , “ Democrats Think Men Can Get Pregnant ,” YouTube , May 28 , 2022 , https :// youtu . be / mh0eyPJ4VaU . 7 . Michael Robinson , “ No Uterus , No Opinion ? Should Men Have a Voice on Abortion ?,” LifeNews . com , Mar 1 , 2019 , https :// lifenews . com / 2019 / 03 / 01 / no-uterus-no-opinionshould-men-have-a-voice-on-abortion . 8 . B . Nathaniel Sullivan , “ Contending for the Recognition of Absolutes , Part 9 ,” Word Foundations , 2017 , https :// wordfoundations . com / 2017 / 04 / 02 / contending-for-therecognition-of-absolutes-part-9 . 9 . “ 21 Quotes by Margaret Sanger that Will Probably Make You Sick ,” FP Student Action , November 20 , 2017 , https :// tfpstudentaction . org / blog / margaret-sanger-quotes . 10 . B . Nathaniel Sullivan , “ A 3½-Minute Presentation that Will Rock Your World ,” Word Foundations , https :// wordfoundations . com / mcdowellontolerance . 11 . Wikipedia . 2022 . “ Topf and Sons .” Wikimedia Foundation . Last modified June 3 , 2022 . https :// en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Topf _ and _ Sons . 12 . “ C . S . Lewis > Quotes > Quotable Quote ,” Good Reads , https :// goodreads . com / quotes / 19967-of-all-tyrannies-a-tyranny-sincerely-exercised-for-the-good .
© 2022 by B . Nathaniel Sullivan . All rights reserved .
18 THE RENEWANATION REVIEW