I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8 " Moral Absolutes vs Moral Relativism."

I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. ~Psalm 40:8

There is nothing more polarizing than that of Judea-Christian values from those of secular humanists.  And there is nothing more polarizing than those values of "conservationism" in faith from those who are classified as "liberal" in faith.  Let us remember what Yeshua (Jesus) stated about the end days of the Church of Laodicea. Let us look at the history of this area:

Laodicea
The city is located in the Lycus River Valley together with Hierapolis and Colossae.  This valley is a natural route of travel from east to west. The city was founded by the Seleucid king Antiochus II and named for his wife Laodice about 260 B.C. Laodicea was an important city, built where three main trading highways across what is now Turkey, met. Its strategic position made it an excellent place for trade and banking and it became famous, notorious even, for its wealth and self-sufficiency. It was a famous banking center, and is mentioned by the Roman writer Cicero as a good place to change money. When it was hit by an earthquake Laodicea refused the offer of funds from Rome and set about rebuilding the city using its own resources. Unfortunately, though it was near the cross roads, it was not close to a good water source, but there was an aqueduct which brought water from the city. If any of you have read Robert Harris' wonderful novel, Pompeii you will know all about Roman aqueducts. Unfortunately, Laodicea's aqueduct seems not to have been very good, and the water delivered to the city was often tepid and dirty. Hierapolis, nearby was famous for its hot springs, and neighboring Colosse had a cool clear stream of excellent drinking water, but Laodicea just had a tepid dirty flow from the aqueduct. Eventually, Laodicea was abandoned and the city relocated nearer to the springs. Laodicea was also famed for its medical school which produced an excellent eye ointment, and for its woolen and clothing trade, based around the black wool of the local sheep breed.
Lukewarm in Laodicea
"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth" (Rev 3:14-16)

The water supply in Laodicea was tepid and disgusting, and Jesus picks up on that image and says the same thing about the church. There is no beating about the bush here, Jesus finds the church unpleasant and He is about to spit it out, to reject it. Obviously, given their water supply situation the Laodiceans would understand this image perfectly - they knew all about spitting out unpleasant things. The threat to spit the church out reminds us of Jesus' words to the church in Ephesus in the first letter to a church. These words are pretty chilling when you remember that there is no church to speak of in Ephesus and Laodicea nowadays...

As you go on in the scripture ...You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Verse 17

This description would obviously come as a surprise to the people of Laodicea, because they had a pretty high opinion of their church. They thought they were rich. They thought their church was doing fine - just like their city at the time of the earthquake, they thought they were self-sufficient. But Jesus's diagnosis is very different: he says the church is wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

Getting to the point of this article..... In the truest sense of Judea-Christian values system G-d/ Hashem is the source of moral values.  With this belief / value system and therefore what is moral and immoral transcends personal or societal opinion.

When we have a Godless society then that society makes up its own moral standards.  When societies or people become their "own source" of what is "right" and "wrong" and "good" and "evil" then they are merely adjectives describing ones preferences.  G-d is totally left out of the picture!!   It then becomes the same lie that was sold in the garden to Eve.  This is what is known as moral relativism .  Moral relativism is the view that ethical standards, morality, and positions of right or wrong are culturally based and therefore subject to a person's individual choice. We can all decide what is right for ourselves. You decide what's right for you, and I'll decide what's right for me. Moral relativism says, "It's true for me, if I believe it." It is a godless system of beliefs.

While these "Judeo-Christian" standards continue to be the foundation for "civil law", most people hold to the concept that right or wrong are not absolutes, but can be determined by each individual.

Moral relativism means that murder, for example, is not objectively wrong – you may feel it’s wrong, but it is no more objectively wrong than your feeling that some music is awful renders that music objectively awful. It’s all a matter of personal feeling. That is why in secular society people are far more prone to regard moral judgments as merely feelings. Children are increasingly raised to ask the question, “How do you feel about it?” rather than, “Is it right or wrong?”

Homosexuality is not objectively wrong.But it is all a matter of personal "Feeling".  According to G-d's word it is wrong.

Moral absolutism—the belief or theory that there are absolute standards against which moral questions can be judged—suggests that morals are not determined by societal or situational influences.  G-d gave us the 10 commandments which by the civil laws are created.

That is why our culture has so venerated the Ten Commandments – it is a fixed set of God-given moral laws and principles. But that is also why opponents of America remaining a Judeo-Christian country – people who advocate moral relativism – want the Ten Commandments removed from all public buildings. The Ten Commandments represents objective, i.e., God-based morality.

There is a problem though.  Many confuse or assume that situational ethics is the same thing as moral relativism and therefore regard situational ethics as incompatible with Judea-Christian  morality.They mistakenly argue that just as allowing individuals to determine what is right and wrong negates moral absolutes, allowing situations to determine what is right and wrong also negates moral absolutes.

This is a misunderstanding of the meaning of moral absolutes. It means that if an act is good or bad, it is good or bad for everyone in the identical situation (“universal morality”).

But hardly everyone is the same as every situation. An act that is wrong is wrong for everyone in the same situation, but almost no act is wrong in every situation. Understand?  Let me explain, Sexual intercourse is good within the context of marriage. It is sacred. However, when violently coerced, it is rape!! Truth telling is usually right, but if, during World War II, Nazis asked you where a Jewish family was hiding, telling them the truth would have been evil.

So, too, it is the situation that determines when killing is wrong. That is why the Ten Commandments says “Do not murder,” not “Do not kill.” Murder is immoral killing, and it is the situation that determines when killing is immoral and therefore murder. Pacifism, the belief that it is wrong to take a life in every situation, is based on the mistaken belief that absolute morality means “in every situation” rather than “for everyone in the same situation.” For this reason, it has no basis in Judeo-Christian values, which holds that there is moral killing (self-defense, defending other innocents, taking the life of a murderer) and immoral killing (intentional murder of an innocent individual, wars of aggression, terrorism, etc.).

By accepting the doctrine of moral relativism, those who could obtain power could justify state-sponsored murder and plunder by pointing out that since morals don't really exist and are merely a product of one's class or upbringing, there is no moral argument against the state version of murder and plunder.

This is the dangerous ground that the United States and churches are walking in.  2 Timothy 4:3 tells us For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  Are we becoming that church of Laodicea?