By David Hegg
A friend forwarded me a news article from one of the curated news sources he subscribes to. The topic was a take-off from President Donald Trump’s remark, “The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino.” The authors enlarged on how they took that statement with one of their own: “Once forbidden vices – weed, gambling and porn – are no longer confined to back alleys or the desert … They’re ubiquitous, digital and spreading at a pace that has outstripped social and regulatory guardrails. Governments didn’t turn a blind eye to most of this. They encouraged it. We’re scaling sin in real time.”
Mind you, this didn’t come from a religious organization. Nor was it a stump speech by a conservative decrying the ethical and moral slippage of society. It came from Axios, a modern American news website known for concise and straightforward reporting. The last line in their introduction – we’re scaling sin in real time – set my writing mind on fire.
The simple but monumentally important question is: How do ethical norms drift so far out of their lane that what was once forbidden or at least considered wrong, unwise and shameful is now labeled acceptable and even applauded?
The answer is simple. Ethical standards have historically been firmly grounded in authoritative sources. Many of these standards come pre-installed on the human hard drive. For example, a child doesn’t have to be trained to be upset when someone takes away their toy. But it is also the case that the human hard drive can be affected by the viruses of passions seeking pleasure in harmful ways. These viruses can seriously erode the human conscience and its ability to warn and guard us from doing what is evil. So, how do we infuse our minds and hearts with an authoritative set of beliefs that serve as an ethical foundation that builds a righteous society?
For all of history, religion has been the place that brings the ethical standards of our Creator into the realm of human existence. It is not an understatement to suggest the “scaling of sin in real time” is a direct consequence – and a deadly one at that! – of our deciding God is, at best, a life-coach rather than the eternal, inerrant source of ethical and moral foundations.
Alexis de Tocqueville, the French political scientist, is best known for his work on political and social conditions, which he wrote after touring our country in the 1830s. In “Democracy in America” he stated religion was necessary to human liberty because it imposed responsibilities as well as privileges. This meant people looked not only at their own lives but also took responsibility for the lives of their neighbors, given that their actions had repercussions for all. He realized no one should truly live for their own pleasure if doing so harms society at large.
He was also correct in believing Democratic societies allowed their citizens to chart their own course in life and even be obsessed with personal freedom. But he also taught that religion was essential, as it would mitigate selfish, materialistic passions by balancing rights with duties, both of which he correctly saw as coming from their Creator.
Lastly, de Tocqueville determined that religion was necessary for human liberty because he saw it springing from human nature. Since religion – an understanding that humanity was relying on and thus, responsible to God – was innate to human nature, religious belief preceded any government’s purely temporal claim in human obedience. Religion was God’s governmental ethic before governments existed, and historically, good government recognized and built itself on the standards God had previously revealed.
So, what does all this mean? Simply this. When mankind decides they have loosened themselves from the ethical and moral standards of God, as revealed in the Bible, they have really replaced his standards with their own. This has happened and is happening all around us. And, to grab a phrase from the Reagan years: “Are we better off now as a nation than we were when the biblical morality of ‘fear God and love your neighbor’ was both accepted and applauded as best for our nation?”
Axios didn’t say it, but their article presents the reality that our post-Christian world no longer grounds ethical and moral standards in bedrock truth. Rather, we are seeing unrestrained impulses, desires and a re-defined “freedom” becoming the pillars of a malleable ethical foundation. Our culture is calling evil good and demanding that we all applaud it.
But there is hope. The One who rules the universe is still there and continues to work through those who love Him, love their neighbors and even love their enemies. Let that be us!
Local resident David Hegg is senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church. “Ethically Speaking” appears Sundays.
