The Right or Wrong Side of Everything

 

 

 

“DOMA, folks, is on the wrong side of history”

 

Senator Robert Wyden (D- Oregon)

 

 

 

Did you ever wonder why or how people end up in a certain political party or philosophy? Mostly, it because they believe their views are on the right side of history. For example, some on the Right may think the Left many times practices secular, revisionist behaviors. On the other hand, some on the Left may think the Right are inhabited by old white guys who are Troglodytes, stuck in the 1950's. And every year, those two viewpoints keep drifting further, and further apart from each other.

 

My opinion on this does not really matter. However, I have some observations. My belief is the great dividing line is nothing more than moral relativism. In particular, the moral relativism of two of our cornerstone documents - the Holy Bible and our Constitution. Many on the Right believe these two documents are sacrosanct; many of the Left believe these are "living documents" that can change with the times.

 

Who is right on this issue? Let us first look at the Bible. Many on the Left point to the inconsistencies in the Old Testament. Many Bible scholars agree the characters portrayed in the Old Testament were less than perfect. The series The Bible (Now on the History Channel), does a good job in showing many of the heroes of the Old Testament as flawed - as flawed as many of us are today. However, there is nothing flawed about the New Testament. The New Testament reconciles the Old Testament. If you believe what the Bible says in the New Testament, that "every word in God breathed", then the Bible stands on its own authority. If you do not believe that, the Bible becomes just a book of stories.

 

Our Constitution was written to be a very simple document. Unlike today, where bills have to be hundreds, sometimes thousands of pages long which very few can understand, our Constitution was purposely made to be short and sweet. It did have provisions to be amended, and has been so in our history. However, with or without the amendments, it is fairly straight forward. So much so, that even the least educated among us can understand its meaning. For those who believe this document was created to be timeless, it stands on its own authority. Those that believe it to be dated, or even obsolete, it is just an old yellow piece of parchment paper.

 

Okay, I lied. I do have an opinion on this issue. I believe that God's law trumps man's law. I feel strongly about absolute truth. The enemy of absolute truth is moral relativism. The laissez-faire, do your own thing, philosophy never leads to good outcomes. We need a strong moral compass to keep us pointed in the right direction. I believe in hating the sin yet loving the sinner. I don't believe in the parsing of words to justify bad behaviors. For example, murder is murder, regardless of the age of the person or fetus.  I believe marriage is for man and woman and yet I believe in the civil rights (civil unions) for all people under our Constitution.

The next time you wonder of you are on the right side of an issue, ask yourself this one simple question: What does your gut say? If it feels right at your core, if it feels right in your soul, it is most probably right. If you need to convince yourself, or justify your feelings or actions, it is probably not. Yesterday, today and tomorrow, this is how I decide on which side of the great divide I make my stand.