Yesterday on a friend’s Facebook wall, there was a Christmas conversation, regarding Jesus Vs. Santa, (an epic smackdown for the ages, which I will leave for another day). As the discussion turned to morality, one of the participants wrote:
“I think it’s parents’ responsibility to teach their kids Right from Wrong, but I think you can do that without bringing religion into it.”
That sounds rational, and it seems sensible, but when you dig a little deeper, there are some major cracks in the foundation.
For non-religious parents desiring to impart such critical Truths to their children, the questions springs up: Where does that idea of Right and Wrong come from? What do they use as a moral measuring stick?
The laws of the land? That would mean that Right and Wrong change as you cross borders; that Truth can fit into a Passport folder. It would also mean that no unjust laws currently exist in America (or your current home); nothing in its governmental structure or practice that could be considered immoral or in the least bit corrupt.
The parents themselves? I’ll admit, my wife and I pretty together and on-the-ball most of the time, but some days we have trouble figuring out what side dish to make for dinner. I’m not entirely sure we should be allowed to construct an entire Moral System for our kids.
Books or T.V. hosts or self-help tapes? Two words: Jerry. Springer. Do I really have to explain further?
The point friends, is that there is a beautiful, powerful, inescapable truth, found as we seek to pass on to our children what designates Right from Wrong, as we search for a reliable moral compass. There is simply no way we can claim such things to be attainable, to be remotely find-able, without, in the process, finding something that nonreligious folks often say is simply beyond reach.
If Truth is to be grasped, (and to be Truth, it needs to be unchanging and absolute and rock-solid), then that Truth cannot be called a feeling, or an intuition, or a code, or a reached compromise.
Moral Truth can have no other name, than GOD.
I will leave the actual defining and discovering of that God to you, (though I will offer some suggestions if you ask).
So yes, as my friend’s friend correctly stated, you can teach Right from Wrong without bringing religion into it… I’m just not sure you can do it without God.
