I've been thinking... which would seem odd to those that know me well. I returned from a speech and debate tournament last night and tournaments always get me thinking. I watched the the final Lincoln-Douglas debate. LD debate pits one idea against another using logic, quotes, and examples to support a case. The LD resolution for this year is "I stand resolved that popular sovereignty more determines the legitimacy of a government than individual rights." Sometimes LD debates contain arguments about morals. How can morals be debated without a "mearsuring stick" by which things are decided moral, immoral, or niether?
I talked to a girl once who said, "We do not need to force our Christian morals on others. They need to decide their morals for themselves." I asked, "What about 'Thou shalt not kill'? Isn't that enforcing morality?"
"No, life is a right; not a moral." "What about 'Thou shalt not steal'?" "That is a violation of right to property." Moral: "the distinction between right and wrong" according to dictionary.com. Our discussion turned into a debate of rights and morals. Rights, people say, are inherent. I know man should always choose the right thing and follow his concientious but we live in a fallen world and we cannot always make the right decisions. That is why we need laws. If we decided our own morals, there would not be a right and wrong and therefore no need for a Savior. Then I thought, "Doesn't one need to have morals to respect rights? Could the people who wrote the Bill of Rights and the Constitution have decided what rights exsisted without some absolute moral standard?"
Laws are in place to keep up safe: even many which are not in the Bible. I do believe though, there are many laws which violate rights and hence, morals. Abortion, for example, is a violation to the right to life. If we Christians believe something is harmful to society, we need to say so and explain why. The girl and I went onto to argue about gay rights. "They have a right to decide who they love and whom to marry." Sex is not love. Caring for others and puting them above yourself is real love. Besides if "love" between a man and women is merely tradition, then why my gays follow the "tradition" of marriage? There are just some things our society blasts us with which don't make sense to me. Chuck Colson's article did make sense though in my funny little brain.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christianitytoday.com%2Fct%2F2004%2Fjune%2F8.72.html&h=a8c07
I may have opened a can of worms but I found this interesting and thought someone else might also.
I suppose my point is if you disagree with someone, do not be afriad to say so; and understand you may have to agree to disagree.
