Do you consider yourself to be a good person?
(Music ♪)
What makes one person stand out
as being a good all-round individual,
while another is labeled as a degenerate?
We live a society with laws.
Yet what is legal today in some instances,
was illegal in years gone by.
Likewise what is illegal today,
such as smoking marijuana or euthanasia,
depending on your geographical location,
could be legalised tomorrow.
Does it make sense to you
that the definition of good
has moving parameters?
The media and western society
generally refer to this as progressiveness,
and whether you realise it or not
we are standing on a sea of change.
Experimental legal systems
can sway one way or the other
and the only boundary in place
is public opinion.
History is littered with
examples of dictators,
corrupt governments and military coup d'état’s
making up the rulebook as they go along;
From Napoleonic France, to Nazi Germany,
to the Russian Bolshevik’s and even further afield
as far as Kim Il-Sung in North Korea
and the Argentine Junta.
Yet, in an almost undetectible way to the average citizen,
for almost a century
democratic governments have been shifting the goalposts
and redefining morality based on public emotion,
guided by the influence of Western media.
Today we often hear moraility described
as something that seems right to the individual
and that the judgement of right and wrong
stems from the most basic of human emotions.
Today's ethical approach on morality states
you are free to choose
what is right and wrong… within reason.
Of course there is no set standard
for what constitutes “reasonable”.
So what direction is your moral compass pointing in today?
French philosopher Joseph de Maistre famously wrote,
“Every nation gets the government it deserves”
and with everyone today doing what is right in their own eyes
a stable, consistent and reliable source of law
seems no longer possible.
For the vast majority of mankind
we've grown up in a country
based on principles and standards
founded on biblical laws.
It is these laws which originally defined morality.
Whether you grew up in the heart of the Punjab
or in Booneville, Arkansas,
your country and its legal system,
at one point in time,
would have been influenced by Biblical values.
This law was written for our benefit,
not on legal size paper but on tablets of stone.
They were not intended to be changed,
for without them we would lose our anchor
in a storm of human reasoning.
Many today argue they were done away with
and yet the author of these laws
lived them as an example for us!
The description below includes a link to our free booklet
The Ten Commandments.
Ths booklet is available online or in print free of charge
and describes the rationale
behind each of the Ten Commandments,
proving that the relevance of these laws
is just as strong now as the day they were first issued.
So I ask you again, do you consider yourself to be a good person?
What if you are good only half the time?
Is it reasonable for you to break some, but not all laws
and what kind of judgement would you
expect to receive if that was your line of defense in court?
Most would agree that the last six of the Ten Commandments should be kept.
The fifth seems reasonable enough
but how often is this the case in the family home?
The Sabbath Day - what is that?
How often do you hear God’s name used purely as an exclamation mark
for emphasis in day-to-day conversations?
If we are not to make images of God to worship,
then why do most Christian churches hang a cross
or an artist's rendition of what Christ looked like
for them to be repeatedly kissed, touched or prayed to
and finally what are what are your priorities in life?
If there is a law and there is a judgment,
then what is your conviction?
I’m Jonathan Riley for Tomorrow’s World Viewpoint.
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To access articles, telecasts and booklets from Tomorrow's World
visit our website TW Canada dot org.
The origin of life is a much debated topic
with no lack of passion for those on either side.
Can mathematics help us better understand the value and probability of life.
Click here to learn more about the probability of life.