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Truth or Tolerance
The Dumbing Down of America By David Wood There is no doubt about it. If Jesus were physically walking the earth today He would be called the most intolerant, arrogant person on the planet. Think about it: A man walking around telling everyone that He is the only way to God. How intolerant! How exclusivistic! Although Jesus isn't physically walking the planet today, His followers are. Christianity has taken more heat than any other belief because of it's exclusive claims. In our culture today, truth is out and the new tolerance is in. As I have wrote elsewhere, tolerance no longer means what it has always meant. Today, tolerance means that you accept every view and belief as being equally true and valid. Relativism and the new tolerance are being taught in everything from high schools to the most prestigious universities. What this has caused is a massive 'dumbing down' of America, with college students and others having their core beliefs based on nothing but contradictions. As we will see in the following short segments, relativism and the new tolerance are nothing but dead-end beliefs that lead nowhere. We will also see that our culture of tolerance not only affects religious beliefs, but affects many different issues in society. Many of the following segments will be intertwined with very similar language due to the fact that all these issues are related to relativism, tolerance, and the denial of absolute truth. Moral Relativism Many Christians will automatically say that all relativism is false, no matter what the context is. This is a false view of relativism because there are issues in life that are indeed relative to each person. For example, maybe it is true for me that chocolate ice cream is the best, but it's not true for you. Or it's true for you that the Boston RedSox is the best baseball team ever, but it's not true for me. Issues such as these are indeed personal views and beliefs. There are things in life that are relative. Where relativism and tolerance leads nowhere is with issues of religion, values, and truth. First we need to know what absolute truth means. Absolute truth means that something is true for every person, all the time, and everywhere. Moral relativism says that there are no moral absolutes and no ethical right and wrong, as well as no absolute truth. Moral relativism can also be described as situational ethics. There are no moral absolutes, only moral choices made based on each persons situation. A good example of situational ethics is how some women view abortion. The relativist will say that abortion isn't absolutely wrong because not all women view abortion as being wrong. Hence, a woman considering an abortion will decide for herself what is morally right or wrong based on her situation..."Abortion wasn't morally wrong for me because of the situation I am in at home." The relativist says that truth is whatever I want it to be. In other words, it might be true for you, but not for me. As an example of the contradictions within relativism we can start with how he views truth. Although the relativist will say that there is nothing absolutely true, he wants us to believe that relativism is absolutely true. If he wanted to really hold to his own beliefs, he would have to tell everyone..."relativism is true, even though relativism teaches there is no truth." This is just the beginning of how relativism is self-refuting. In other words, the entire concept cancels itself out. If there is no truth, why would I listen to anything he has to say? Moral relativism says that there are just too many people that disagree with each other, so it's impossible that any one view is absolutely true. Different people from different cultures have different views of what is morally right, so there must not be any objective moral absolutes. First, just because people disagree with what is truth doesn't mean that truth doesn't exist. Second, it's quite possible that these people do not have enough knowledge about an issue to know what is true or false, which is why there are so many differing views. Is There Absolute Truth? Remember that absolute truth means that something is true for everyone everywhere at all times. Relativism and the new tolerance claim that absolute truth doesn't exist, not in moral circumstances and certainly not in religious beliefs. Our culture says that whatever you believe and whatever view you hold to is true for you, even if it isn't true for anyone else. I mean, we wouldn't want to offend someone by telling them they are wrong. That would be intolerant! Instead of the relativist searching out truth they instead search out opinions. To him there is no reason to search for truth because there is no truth. So while he tells us that every belief is relative (except relativism), he wastes his time by labeling people as "arrogant" or "exclusivistic". But what he fails to admit is that his own view is exclusivistic. He says that the only true belief is relativism, and excludes all other beliefs as false. So once again his belief refutes itself. It seems that much of what the relativist says is total nonsense. So for now let's ignore him and investigate if absolute truth really exists. First, let's look at what is not truth: Truth is not what works: This is just one flawed view of truth. This view says that just because something works, then it must be true. But it doesn't take long to see how this view is indeed false. Use the court system as an example. A person will tell a lie on the witness stand to make the outcome "work" in their favor, even though what they are saying is a lie. Truth is not what feels good: This is another subjective position. This view is found among New Age, psychic hotlines, and also among the new tolerance group. Basically it states that anything that feels good must be true, and anything that feels bad is in error. But anyone that has received bad news in his or her life knows that the bad news doesn't feel good, even though it is the truth. In short, feelings and truth do not go hand in hand. Truth is not found in intentions: This simply means that someone will say something is true just because his or her intentions are good. Problem is, if something were true just because a person intended it to be true, that would mean that all sincere statements ever spoken would be true. At one time, people believed and taught that the world was flat. Although these people "sincerely" believed that, it wasn't the truth. Another example is atheism. An atheist can believe in all sincerity that there is no God, but his intentions and sincerity have nothing to do with the truth. Many times, sincere people are sincerely wrong. Many people are offended at the thought of Christianity claiming to have absolute truth and that it is intolerant to say that all other beliefs are false. On the surface, this sounds like a compassionate view. But the question remains, is it a true view? When speaking with people about Christianity, I have had people tell me how close minded I am, how intolerant I am, etc. So, are Christians close-minded? If a Christian says that his view is correct, does that make him intolerant? Obviously if you say that your view is absolutely true, that means that all others are false. Sometimes I would be called ignorant because I was so "close-minded", but am I to remain open-minded to all beliefs when all reason says there can only be one conclusion? People that hold to relativism and the new tolerance come across as if they are always open-minded. In reality, always being open-minded is one of the most close-minded positions of them all. Why? Because it eliminates any absolute view from consideration. If a person is really open-minded, then shouldn't they be open-minded to the view that absolute truths are possible? If a person claims they are open-minded, then shouldn't they be open-minded to the possibility that only one belief is true? If only one view can be true, am I to remain open-minded to all other views? While people claim to be open-minded, those that believe that all views are equal and true are not only close-minded but also empty-headed. To hide from anything truthful is not open-minded. This is why relativism and the new tolerance never gets anywhere. You can’t ever reach a true answer to your questions because there are no true answers. And even if you were to find the true answers, using reason, you can’t talk about them because then you would be intolerant and close-minded to other beliefs. Relativism and the new tolerance do nothing but confuse and avoid true answers being found to real questions. Another problem with accepting every belief as true is that a person could never learn anything. To him, there are no absolute right and wrongs, no absolute truths. But a part of learning something is moving from a false view to a true view. But that would be impossible for him because there are no true views. The new tolerance teaches that we shouldn't say any view is false because we could offend someone. The relativist knows that truth is exclusive because truth excludes everything false. So to keep from hurting someone's feelings, he will believe anything, even if it's a lie. Even a half-truth is still a whole lie. While college professors teach their students that they shouldn't offend anyone, they neglect to tell their students that relativism and the new tolerance is the most offensive belief of all. It's offensive to any thinking person and falls apart logically and philosophically. Students are taught they should see every belief as equal and true, unless that belief claims to have absolute truth. Then they are taught that absolute truth doesn't exist, but that relativism is the absolute truth. The relativist will say..." It is absolutely true that this is true for me, even if it isn't for you." Do you see a problem with that statement? He is saying that truth can only be relative, and that it is absolutely true for him. But, he can’t say that. He has contradicted himself. How can he say that something is absolutely true for him when he doesn't believe in absolute truth? All that relativism does is spin you around in a never ending circle, an infinite regress with no true answers. Relativism is an easy convenient belief system because in it, you can never be wrong. So it doesn't matter if a belief is the truth, as long as its true to him, he can say that he is right even when he is wrong. Also, the relativist and the follower of the new tolerance are really intolerant themselves. Think about it for a moment. When someone says that my view is being intolerant of other views, that person is being intolerant of my view! Relativism can only be subjective, never objective. Because when one is objective, the possibility exists that truth can be found, but that's impossible for a relativist because there is no absolute truth. The fact of the matter is that if Christianity is true, then all non-Christian beliefs would be false. In reality, an atheist’s view is just as "narrow-minded" as the views of the Christian. The atheist will say that his belief is true, which means that all others must be false. Related Reading:
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