{"id":7501,"date":"2010-04-09T07:22:09","date_gmt":"2010-04-09T13:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/?p=7501"},"modified":"2010-04-09T07:22:54","modified_gmt":"2010-04-09T13:22:54","slug":"commentary-what-classifies-as-moral-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-what-classifies-as-moral-law\/","title":{"rendered":"COMMENTARY: What classifies as moral law?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/commentary_465296222_923931289_620407938_8310392301.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-7502\" title=\"commentary_465296222_923931289_620407938_831039230\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/commentary_465296222_923931289_620407938_8310392301.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"286\" height=\"206\" \/><\/a>By Paul Kokoski<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Western world is increasingly succumbing to the  prejudice of\u00a0 \u201cpolitical correctness\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>More and more we live in a time and  situation where pluralism and tolerance are irreconcilable with absolute truth,  the highest values. Laws are constantly being changed or newly introduced in  order to satisfy the will of citizens in lieu of and without respect for\u00a0  the \u201cnatural moral law\u201d. This can only lead to anarchy.<\/p>\n<p>It is not  possible here to present philosophical proofs for the existence of\u00a0  God. Nonetheless, by way of simple logic, when we speak of something like the  world in terms of its richness or\u00a0 plurality we also affirm the existence  of\u00a0 the world; the \u201cmany\u201d presupposes the \u201cone\u201d. By similar arguments one  can deduce that there must also be universal concepts of \u201cbeing\u2019, \u201ctruth\u201dand  \u201cgood\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The universal good cannot be something ambiguous without also  being relative. If it is relative one might justifiably speak, as did Heinrich  Himmler, of the altruistic morals of the Nazi regime which is nonsense. The very  fact that we discuss the common good\u00a0 proves that a criterion for the  \u201cgood\u201d ought to exist. We see that virtually all families accept as \u201cgood\u201d the  concepts of fidelity, gratitude, honesty while viewing acts of betrayal,  ingratitude, falsehood as bad.\u00a0 It is clear then that a universal approach  toward good and evil is necessary.<\/p>\n<p>For the relativist, however, there  is only tolerance. But why should tolerance count for anything unless it has as  its foundation some other value. Such a tolerance that is \u201cblind\u201d ends up  becoming a form of intolerance for that which actually gives tolerance its true  value: convictions. Similarly, one\u2019s convictions would have no value unless they  were oriented toward a higher good. Upon this reference to truth is based the  dignity of the human person.<\/p>\n<p>The relativist admits to no supreme  criterion\u00a0 that would allow him to distinguish between a good and bad  conscience. For him, individual and societal actions are subject only to free  will. The result is anarchy &#8211; the law of the jungle &#8211; which is no law at  all.\u00a0 Domination and manipulation become the rule. In the 20th century we  have seen two World Wars and the proliferation of\u00a0 terrorism. We are also  witnessing the\u00a0 growing\u00a0 acceptance of evils such as contraception,  in-vitro fertilization, euthanasia, cloning, embryonic stem cell research,\u00a0  homosexuality\u00a0 and abortion. Such tyranny &#8211; man\u2019s inhumanity to man &#8211;\u00a0  is the inevitable result when there is no lawful consensus regarding the true  nature of the human being.<\/p>\n<p>Plato has already said that God alone has  supreme authority over man. Christ also confirmed to Pilate: \u201cyou would have no  power over me unless it had been given to you from above\u201d (Jn 19,11).\u00a0 Both  the limits and legitimacy of man\u2019s power come from God and are expressed in the  natural moral law which is engraved in every human heart and established by  reason. Even when that voice has been silenced by so many alternative views of  life in our highly secular and materialistic world, it continues to echo in our  hearts.<\/p>\n<p>When a government or any democratic majority approves a law  that contradicts this order, and in doing so marginalizes some resisting  minority as being \u201cfundamentalists\u201d, it is the duty of every human being to  oppose it. While claiming to be respecting of one\u2019s freedom of choice, such  lawmakers are really only leading people away from the true freedom which the  natural law provides.<\/p>\n<p>If the dignity of the will is to replace  the dignity of the human person it will even be possible to imagine breeding  slaves, by genetic manipulation, who are fully in agreement with their condition  as slaves. The important distinction here is that for the relativist this is not  a crime.<\/p>\n<p>Is this not a time for us all, especially lawyers and  politicians to reflect on the concept of the natural moral law?<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the management and staff of Dominica News Online and its parent company.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Paul Kokoski The Western world is increasingly succumbing to the prejudice of\u00a0 \u201cpolitical correctness\u201d. More and more we live in a time and situation where pluralism and tolerance are irreconcilable with absolute truth, the highest values. Laws are constantly&#8230;","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>COMMENTARY: What classifies as moral law?  - Dominica News Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-what-classifies-as-moral-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COMMENTARY: What classifies as moral law?  - Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Paul Kokoski The Western world is increasingly succumbing to the prejudice of\u00a0 \u201cpolitical correctness\u201d. 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Laws are constantly...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-what-classifies-as-moral-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-04-09T13:22:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-04-09T13:22:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/DNO-Logo-Square.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-what-classifies-as-moral-law\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-what-classifies-as-moral-law\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cf13c57fb23f5f3f17888628ce87bed\"},\"headline\":\"COMMENTARY: What classifies as moral law?\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-04-09T13:22:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-04-09T13:22:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-what-classifies-as-moral-law\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":684,\"commentCount\":9,\"articleSection\":[\"Commentary\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-what-classifies-as-moral-law\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-what-classifies-as-moral-law\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/features\\\/commentary\\\/commentary-what-classifies-as-moral-law\\\/\",\"name\":\"COMMENTARY: What classifies as moral law? 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