Of Morality and the Conscience

There have been two major news reports relevant to the issue of morality that have really bothered me as of late.

One story comes from the Czech Republic where two young boys, ages 8 & 10, testified before a court that they were abused and cannibalized. According to the boys, they were locked up in cages, handcuffed, burned with cigarettes, sexually abused and had their flesh hacked of and eaten by their own mother. Police and court officials were horrified as the details of this case came to light.

However, the president of the Atheists for the Separation of Common Sense and Public Policy has cautioned against making moral judgments in this case. He stated, "Our society has progressed beyond the oppression of religious dogma. No one believes in a divine being arbitrarily handing out moral edicts from heaven anymore. Without a transcendent lawgiver, we have no basis or need for morality. Therefore, we have no basis or need for criticizing another's behavior. We may not like abuse and cannibalism, but we must accept it as a valuable form of self expression." **


The other story is about the Massachusetts high school which reported a rash of teenage pregnancies. According to officials at Gloucester High, at least seventeen girls, all of them under the age of 16, have become pregnant at one time. It was alleged that the girls, all unmarried and living with their parents, made a pregnancy pact. School officials became suspicious when the nurse administered at least 150 pregnancy tests in the last seven months, with several of the girls returning for multiple tests. Apparently some of the girls were continually disappointed until they finally tested positive. Further suspicion arose when it was discovered that many of the girls had no relationship whatsoever with the fathers of their babies. It seems that the girls gave little consideration to who fathered their babies. One of the fathers was a 24 year old homeless man. School officials, parents and community activists disagree over what caused the sudden increase of teenage pregnancies.

However, an Evolutionary Biologist from a neighboring university suggests that the girls have demonstrated a tremendous evolutionary advantage. The professor explains that mammals have a limited number of years suitable for reproduction, known as the breeding stage. By breeding very early in the breeding stage, humans and other primates can increase the total number of offspring per female by 27%, thereby maximizing the breeding stage and increasing the propagation of the species. The professor stated, "It is not necessarily to ascribe blame or guilt to what amounts to an irresistible and natural evolutionary breakthrough. **


Of course the president of the Atheists for the Separation of Common Sense and Public Policy and the Evolutionary Biologist were fictitious, but the other facts regarding both stories were what was reported in the news media. The question begs, however, to ask about the morality of those mentioned in the stories. Furthermore, If you are a moral person, you were probably sickened by these events.

There actually are some schools in this nation who refuse to teach morality because it has roots in religion, Instead, these schools teach the psychology of life and look at the importance of the self importance of the persons involved in a particular circumstance. When schools leave morality out, it is to proclaim that you don't need religion to solve problems.

The main problem with this train of thought is Michael Jacques. Jacques was the uncle of 12 year old Brooke Bennett whom he murdered. Furthermore, Jacques was a convicted rapist and kidnapper who was sentenced to 6 (THAT IS CORRECT…SIX!!!!) years for RAPE. He only served 4½ years, getting early parole because of good behavior. It was proclaimed that he was rehabilitated. OBVIOUSLY NOT. Jacques is also a father.

Without morality, society would simply observe this with no revulsion and merely have and attitude of bewilderment at the most. And that is essentially what a society bent on removing religion will end up as.

Morality DOES have its origin in religion. American society was started with Judeo-Christian principles that are specifically centered around the Ten Commandments.

I blogged about that before so I won't do it again here.

God designed law to be a mirror for us to examine ourselves. Furthermore, God has given each of us a conscience: "They show that in their hearts they know what is right and wrong, just as the law commands. And they show this by their consciences. Sometimes their thoughts tell them they did wrong, and sometimes their thoughts tell them they did right." - Romans 2:15

That being said, I'll bet that some of you non-Christians or non-religious people out there would acknowledge that you were disgusted by the two stories above. That is your conscience of knowing right from wrong and the moral implications of that knowledge keeping your morality in check.

As long as American society continues to promulgate a culture that devalues morality and promotes a cloudy, undefined system of justice, young boys will continue to be abused, teen girls will continue to be promiscuous, and rapists will never get the legal punishment they deserve.

Consider where you stand on morality. Make sure those whom aspire to political office are of the same mind.

**The above fictitious additions to the news stories were taken from the show "Wretched."