Home Summary Table of Contents Read Chapter One Online How to Order About the Author For Speaking Engagements Book Reviewers Only Objections and Answers Donations Your Questions or Comments Humor Protecting the Environment Truly Helping the Poor

Objections and Answers Since the publication of the book Society at the Crossroads, a number of questions have arisen in the public's mind about its main thesis, which is - "ethical relativism causes the moral decline which in turn causes social dysfunctions." However, ethical relativism, which asserts the unprovability of equal rights, cannot itself be proven, although equal rights can. Some of the more common questions are posed and answered below: 1. I don't know anything about matters ethical; that's too abstract for me. I'm only a layman. Answer: You may be a layman but we all have opinions about what ought to be, about "shouldness." To avoid the issue on grounds of ignorance is a copout; face up to it. Believing in ethical relativism is no less abstract than believing in ethical rationalism. It's a simple choice you can't avoid, so choose carefully. The issue isn't beyond normal abilities to think and reason. Actually, the proof of equal rights is so simple, it has been overlooked since the beginning of recorded history. If society tells potential criminals and other social deviates that their contemplated victims have no provable rights, those potential criminals will become actual criminals; such a society must expect a high rate of crime and other forms of social deviation. 2. You can't prove anything ethical; it's all a matter of personal opinion. Answer: If that statement can't be proven true (which it can't), then it is useless. Don't hold it. It can never be proven true and actually it is worse than useless because it is socially disruptive. On the other hand, equal rights can be proven true: since accuracy (truth) requires that we all should treat things as they are, then we all have the right to be free to treat things as they are, but since we must treat (deal with) things - they completely surround us and are unavoidable - then all that we need say is that we all have an equal right to be free. Q.E.D. That's a proof, simple though it may be. Not only is ethical relativism false and deleterious, but it is held by only a small minority of people throughout the world today, and it has been held by few people in the past (although their reasons for holding it were wrong). 3. Everyone already agrees with equal rights. A proof isn't necessary. Answer: Not so - a. The support for equal rights is more verbal than real, otherwise we wouldn't have such social dysfunctions as a high crime rate, extensive hard-drug use, heavy taxation and poverty, considerable violence in entertainment, and widespread family & school dissolution. b. We shouldn't project our views upon others. We shouldn't assume that others automatically have our views. c. History is written in blood. Unfortunately, it has been characterized more by Genghis Khan than by Jesus. d. The twentieth century just past saw much more deprivation of equal rights than all the previous centuries put together. e. Many westerners - Americans especially - embrace the view that equal rights cannot be proven true (i.e., ethical relativism). f. Many people may assume equal rights, but its public defense is getting increasingly sporadic. In America, the Fourth of July has become an occasion for picnics and firecrackers and is not even officially celebrated on July 4th. g. A proof of equal rights is stronger than a mere opinion in its behalf. 4. I can always justify whatever I believe to be true. Answer: You certainly can attempt to do so, but belief is not automatically truth. Can you prove your attempt at justification, or is your "justification" merely your belief only? Read the first chapter for free!