The Importance of Core Beliefs

One of the main reasons (among many) I think the discussion of morality and ethics is so important is because core beliefs are, obviously, the primary influence on our behavior--toward individuals and the larger society. It has been said that if you don't believe in something you'll fall for anything. To a degree I think that's what Dennis Prager meant in the preceding article when he writes

In the Judeo-Christian value system, God is the source of moral values and therefore what is moral and immoral transcends personal or societal opinion. Without God, each society or individual makes up its or his/her moral standards. But once individuals or societies become the source of right and wrong, right and wrong, good and evil, are merely adjectives describing one's preferences. This is known as moral relativism, and it is the dominant attitude toward morality in modern secular society.

Although it certainly existed beforehand, relativism in our country became much more widespread and accepted after it was embraced by the youth culture during the 1960s "ME" generation, which rejected traditional mores in favor of the credo "If it feels good, do it." I believe that many of our society's current ills have resulted from this paradigm shift. It's difficult to understand how the belief that "everything is relative" still has ardent proponents since it is obviously, an exercise in self-contradiction. And yet moral relativism is pervasive in our culture, and particularly rampant in our universities. Young people are taught that the value of one idea over another is completely in the eye of the beholder. The problem is that ideas have meaning (and consequences). I'll have more to say about this later.