I have been taking a class to learn about different worldviews so that I can better defend my own, and explain it to others. This week we learned about ethics, specifically Cosmic Humanist and Postmodernist ethics.

In brief, Cosmic Humanists believe in relativism. That is, there is no absolute standard. What matters is what's right for you, what's true for you, what's moral for you. No one can judge another person's actions because we are not them. At first glance, this sounds like a very liberating, convienient worldview. Of course, we Christians know better. Relativism has some inherant flaws. When people sever ethics from an absolute standard and create their own ethical system chaos ensues--or it would if the practice were carried out consistently. If there is no absolute moral standard, then everyone does what is right in his own eyes. If that person wronged me, then why should I not punish him as I see fit? After all, no one can judge what's right for me. You begin to see the problems with this worldview. How can you create laws that apply to everyone if each person creates their own morality?

Interestingly, in order to apply relativism consistently (which few if any Cosmic Humanists actually do), you have to apply it to other aspects of life as well as ethics. According to Cosmic Humanists, every person is a manfestation of God. Therefore, my Truth is all that matters to me. If I believe that I can get to Heavan by standing on my head and singing the alphabet backwards in Greek, well then I had better start learning Greek. An interesting philosophy. And yet, no matter how much I believe that I can breath water, if I try it, I will still drown. The fact is, there are absolutes. Some things apply to everyone, whether they want it that way or not, whether they believe it or not. Gravity for example. No matter how much I wish to jump to the moon, I simply cannot do it. Even if I disbelieve the concept of gravity, if I walk off a cliff, I will still fall.

If someone tells you that there are no absolutes, ask them if they're sure. If they say yes, then ask them if they're ABSOLUTELY sure. If you want to further explore the idiosyncricies and rediculousness (if that's a word) of relativism, read Nightmare Accadamy, by Frank Peretti. Parts of it are rather sappy. For example, the main characters are a homeschool family of a Mom, a Dad, and a boy and a girl, who are twins (and never so much as disagree, let alone fight). They live on a large farm with horses and whatnot, but apparently never have to do any actual work. Oh, and they are all (yes, even the kids) government agents. If you can get past that part, the rest of the book is very good. And it does an excellent job demonstrating the absurdities of relativism.

This is really long, so I guess I'll have to get to Postmodernist ethics later. If you thought Cosmic Humanism was wild, check out Postmodernist ethics and philosophy. That will really blow your mind. :)