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Cultural relativism has significant weaknesses as a tool for ethical persuasion. Ac-
cording to cultural relativism, the ethical evaluation of a moral problem made by a
person in one society may be meaningless when applied to the same moral problem
in another society. Cultural relativism suggests there are no universal moral guidelines.
It gives tradition more weight in ethical evaluations than facts and reason. For these
reasons, cultural relativism is not a powerful tool for constructing ethical evaluations
persuasive to a diverse audience, and we consider it no further.
The three great religious traditions that arose in the Middle East—Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam—teach that a single God is the creator of the universe and that human beings
are part of God's creation. Each of these religions has sacred writings containing God's
revelation.
Jews, Christians, and Muslims all believe that God inspired the Torah. Here is a
selection of verses from Chapter 19 of the third book of the Torah, called Leviticus:
You shall each revere his mother and his father, and keep My sabbaths. When
you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges
of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not pick your
vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for
the poor and the stranger. You shall not steal; you shall not deal deceitfully or falsely
with one another. You shall not swear falsely by My name. You shall not defraud
your neighbor. You shall not commit robbery. The wages of a laborer shall not
remain with you until morning. You shall not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling
block before the blind. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your
kinsfolk. Love your neighbor as yourself. [9]
The
divine command theory
is based on the idea that good actions are those aligned
with the will of God and bad actions are those contrary to the will of God. Since the holy
topics contain God's directions, we can use the holy topics as moral decision-making
guides. God says we should revere our mothers and fathers, so revering our parents is
good. God says do not lie or steal, so lying and stealing are bad (Figure 2.4).
It is important to note that the divine command theory is subscribed to by some, but
not all, Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Fundamentalists are more likely to consider holy
topics authentic and authoritative. Most sects within these religious traditions augment
holy topics with other sources when developing their moral codes.
1.
We owe obedience to our Creator.
God is the creator of the universe. God created each one of us. We are dependent
upon God for our lives. For this reason, we are obligated to follow God's rules.
