What is the right question to ask?

     Judges 21:25 says, "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit."  This occurs between the death of Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, and the time of the judges.  Of this time, Wesley wrote in his commentary, "What wonder was it then, if all wickedness overflowed the land?"  I can't help but think of this passage as I read about and hear discussed the events of this week in our country.  One of the editorials in today's edition of USA Today discusses the issue of same-sex marriage in terms of "who is it going to hurt."  I get from the editorial that Justice Kennedy, who is considered by many the "swing vote" in the Court, used this principle in reaching his decision.  I don't really want this post to be a discussion of that Supreme Court ruling as much as I want to consider the idea of "who does it hurt." 

     The question of "who does it hurt," bothers me.   As I see it, that question leads us back to the days between Joshua and the judges in which people did what was right in their own eyes.  I suppose as long as no particular group was "hurt" by an action, then it could be called "OK" to do.  However, for this to work, there has to be someone who decides who, if anyone, is hurt and by how much.  It seems to me that using this question to determine a course will only lead to confusion, chaos and ultimately a sliding standard (what doesn't affect someone today, may tomorrow, etc).  As I look back over the lines that I just typed on the screen I have to ask myself "Isn't that what happens when each person gets to decide what is right for him/herself?" 

  It seems to me that there has to be a better way to establish what is right or wrong.  Is it possible that there is a moral absolute?  Is it possible that some actions are right and some are wrong regardless of what people might think of them?   I know that I am begging the question here, a bit.  The Bible, though, talks about right and wrong in terms of absolutes.
  
 Isaiah 5:20    
             
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!          

2 Corinthians 5:10                   

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.  
         

1 Peter 1:23                    

Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

     To see the world in terms of moral absolutes, in my opinion, allows for more certainty and confidence.  It provides hope that even when evil is having its day, right will win out.  As I see it, moral absolutes point directly to God.  The absence of moral absolutes, seems to me, to leave God out of the picture.   What does all of this philosophizing mean?   I think simply this.  No matter what others may say, some things are always inherently right and some are inherently wrong.  Though we might like the ability and authority to determine the rightness and wrongness of actions, that prerogative is purely God's.  He determines the nature of all activity.   Our best course of action is to follow what he has already set out.  With regard to doing something, don't ask yourself whether or not anyone will be harmed by what I do.  Ask yourself is what I am about to do the right thing to do. 

     Thanks for reading and have a blessed day...