You Asked: Isn't Morality Just a Social Construct?

As a part of the Unbelievable series, we have made a way for listeners to text in questions concerning the sermon. Another set of questions that came in regarding last week’s sermon essentially asks: Isn’t Morality Just a Social Construct? Here’s the heart of the question explained a bit more…

True, morality seems to exist among humanity. But morality is not absolute. Morality, is rather a social construct that exists to prolong the human race. It is evolutionarily beneficial for the human race to be moral.

We’re going to try and address this question in three ways.

First, if we resolve to say that morality is not objectively true, God and evil cannot be hated as they are by people, namely by evolutionists. On Sunday, we posed the question: How can a good God allow pointless evil and suffering? That question cannot be realistically/honestly asked if both God and evil do not exist. Regarding God, if he does not exist, there’s no point or possibility to be angry at him. Regarding evil, if there really is no such thing as objective evil, our anger and our tears (produced by the effects of evil) are also reduced to an evolutionary development that is not rooted in anything certain.

Second, if we resolve to say that morality is not objectively true, will it one day be possible for morality to endorse currently perceived evils? We currently believe that murder is morally wrong. But will it one day be morally acceptable to kill your neighbor because it would benefit the survival of the human species? If over time, the world agreed that certain groups of people are hindering the progress of humanity – perhaps those who are left-handed, or those who do not achieve a 3.5 GPA, or those who have disabilities – would it be okay then, in this view, to simply kill them all off and it be morally acceptable at that point in the natural selection process of evolution? (I’d certainly be a goner!) Didn’t Hitler and his lackeys believe they were doing something good for the human race when they decided to kill of the Jewish race? If the whole world joined them at that point, would it have made it right?

Third, morality exists and it necessitates a moral-law-giver. All of us, even the person who opposes God and upholds Darwin, would say that Nazi Germany was detestable. This sense of morality within humanity doesn’t just evolve. While we would protest Hitler’s actions, we wouldn’t necessarily scoff the same way at the lioness who eats her own cub – which happens. Why? Because we’re not just animals. We were made in the image of our Creator. We were given a sense of right and wrong. We were given an intellect to be able to even wrestle with these kinds of questions in the first place. We were given an appreciation to discern between good and bad art. We like getting dressed up and enjoying a glass of wine with good friends. We makes jokes. We mourn. We feel, deeply, when someone we love wrongs us. We have the ability to love!

These are not evolutionary constructs. No, they are complex distinctives of created men and women  that are derived from a Divine Creator. And this Creator has created humanity with purpose and out of love. We are not an accident or a mere composition of molecules. The fact that we’re asking these questions at all give us a sense that there is more to our lives than just evolutionary mechanisms without purpose and reason.  We’ll end with the words of the atheist turned Christian, C.S. Lewis:

“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of “just” and unjust”?… What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?… Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too—for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies…. Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple.”

We hope this was somewhat helpful. Thanks so much for your questions. If you have more, feel free to leave comments or message us directly.

Photo Credit: jef safi \ ‘pictosophizing via Compfight cc