Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli

Robert E. Lee and Abraham Lincoln both fought bravely on opposite sides of the Civil War. Both were convinced that they were doing what was right. Yet, no matter who won the war, slavery was evil before the war just as it was after the war. Hitler worked passionately for the evil cause that he espoused, just as Gandhi exerted his energies for the goals that he judged morally good. Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia abortionist convicted of delivering babies and then killing them, steadfastly pursued his goals while Mother Teresa worked with untiring zeal to save the lives of the destitute and abandoned.

We instinctively abhor what is morally evil and praise what is morally good. Within each of us there is implanted a sense of right and wrong. Yet, in a time of religious and cultural pluralism, people disagree in how they judge good and evil. And, thus, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to stand apart from the values that some are imposing on the whole of society.

To decry abortion is now labelled anti-woman. To uphold marriage as a union of a man and a woman is disparaged as intolerance. The rampant relativism of the day has tossed out the very idea of objective standards based on something other than one’s own freedom to choose for oneself.

Many people espouse the tenet that everyone has the right to his or her own moral values. This makes no sense. It is not logical to accept every system of ethics as equally valid. According to Aristotle, “the most certain of all basic principles is that contradictory propositions are not true simultaneously.” For example, a pro-life individual says that a baby in the womb is a person and has the right to life. Another individual arguing for women’s rights says that a child in the womb is not a person and does not have the right to life. Both statements cannot be true.

There has been a trend within secular society to agree on certain codes of acceptable behavior. Ever since the 1990s, business schools have been including in their core curriculum courses on ethics. Universities and businesses now publish codes of conduct for their constituents. However, right and wrong are not simply agreed upon social standards to guide us along the road of life. There are objective moral values independent of individuals’ preferences. Objective moral values guide the use of freedom. Personal freedom does not determine what is good and evil.

Ultimately, the question of morality implies the question of God. Is there a God? Are we responsible before him for our choices? Has God created us with a purpose? Has he given us any direction on the way to achieve the purpose of our existence? For the believer, the answer to all these questions is a resounding Yes.

In the absence of God, morality becomes a mere social convention. But, since God does exist, morality finds its source in him. “Contemporary writers in ethics, who blithely discourse upon moral right and wrong and moral obligation without any reference to religion, are really just weaving intellectual webs from thin air; which amounts to saying that they discourse without meaning” (William Lane Craig, “Can We Be Good without God?,” Reasonable Faith).

In giving the Ten Commandments, God has not imposed something on us that is extrinsic to our very being. God has created us in his own image and likeness. And, he has given us the way to become what we are meant to be. When the Ten Commandments prohibit selfishness, covetousness, promiscuity, lying, cheating, infidelity, hatred, discrimination, they are telling us to be truthful, faithful, compassionate, generous, honest, just, pure and loving everyone and to be like God himself.

Morality, therefore is not a mere human convention. It is not something totally subjective. Moral values reflect who God is and who we are to become. When we freely choose the good contained in God’s law, we are embracing what is best for ourselves and others.

A wise manufacturer provides a buyer’s manual so that the buyers use the product according to its design. When drivers follow a car manual, they keep the car running safely. In the Ten Commandments, God has graciously given us the guide to live life safely and happily. We can accept or reject them. But, our actions have consequences. Rejecting the objective standard of morality given by God leads to brokenness and disharmony. Freely and willingly making our choices in accord with God’s law makes us whole and happy.