In our Apologetics 101 class we first covered a general introduction to apologetics and tactics. We then discussed the issue of truth, and that’s what I’d like to take a look at today.
We started with a quote by Allan Bloom: “There is one thing a professor can be absolutely certain of: almost every student entering university believes, or says he believes, that truth is relative.” That’s how far we’ve come as a society. We used to be able to argue various beliefs, assuming that somebody had the truth and somebody was wrong. But not anymore. We hear things like “That’s just your truth.”
We then took a look at two definitions of truth. First is absolute/objective truth, whatever corresponds to reality. It is discovered, transcultural, unchanging, unaffected by emotions or beliefs, and knowable. For example, the shape of the earth was always around, no matter what people believed over the centuries. Secondly, there is something called relative/subjective truth in which each person or group of people has his/her own truths. It is created, specific to cultures, ever-changing, affected by emotions, not knowable. The second definition is the type that has swept through our society today. Think of preferences for ice cream flavos–nobody is wrong in having different likes.
We traced back this increase in relativism to a lack of belief in the existence of God. As people have become increasingly secular, relativism has flourished with several unpleasant side effects. First, people say there are no standards anymore outside of the individual, which leads to a disintegration in arts, morals, and philosophy. People are far more self-centered as well. In addition, people are unwilling to criticize with the result of dangerous ideas on the rise. There is an emphasis on pleasure – if it feels good, it must be right. Relativism also creates less confidence since people believe there is no meaning to life. If each person decides on his or her own morality, there must be a powerful institution like government to force people to behave a certain way. In addition, relativism rejects reason and argument in favor of emotional tirades. Political correctness raises its ugly head in this time of relativism. Then there’s multiculturalism, the idea that every culture is as valid as every other one.
I want to continue this discussion about truth in a future blog.
