MADISON — Abortion. Euthanasia. Pornography as art. We are constantly debating issues we know to be objectively wrong. Yet, time and again in our discussions, we hit a brick wall: “Well, that’s what you believe, but don’t force your opinions on me.”
At a recent talk at the Bishop O’Connor Center in Madison, Patrick Madrid demonstrated not just how to get past the brick wall, but how to dismantle it altogether.
That brick wall is moral relativism. Though it appears under many a benign guise, most frequently tolerance, it is anything but benign. Far from being a plea for “why don’t we all just get along,” moral relativism can lead to and support immoral practices.
Photographs that are pornographic in hideous and violent ways are exhibited as art in public museums. A newborn baby is left to die on a hospital counter in Los Angeles because he was born at 19 weeks and nothing is done to save premature babies until they reach 20 weeks gestation.
“That happened because of moral relativism,” Madrid said, because of a worldview that says we have to allow evil, because saying “that’s wrong” is considered intolerant.
“We are living through a culture war,” Madrid stated, and we are called to actively use our minds in the combat.