Karl Marx has been credited with the observation that capitalism is destructive since freedom of choice inevitably leads to wrong. Are trends in America, the bastion of world capitalism, proving him right?
I'm no fan of Marx, yet certainly postmodern definitions of morality in America, of right and wrong, seem increasingly hard to find. The airwaves are filled with politically correct confusion on the left and dogmatic ranting on the right. Issues of morality are bounced from one side to the other. And in the end, America's actions increasingly proclaim a rising sense of moral ambiguity.
Seems to me our society is hungry for those who do not steal, who don't bear false witness and who honor their parents. It’s hungry for corporations that treat their employees fairly, that do the right thing even if the media isn’t watching. It’s hungry for men and women who don’t cheat on their taxes... or their spouses. It's hungry for more people like Desmond Doss, who follow the conviction of conscience.
Could it be that the time is ripe for individuals that go beyond the rhetoric to follow the practical good sense in a profound set of 10 principles some people call the Moral Code? Could Adventists be well known in their communities and in their places of work for those kinds of values?
What do you think? Are we mentoring our children to be moral leaders in their churches, communities and corporations? As a church, are we modeling anything that America wants or needs? How do we stand for the right without becoming moral bigots? Let's talk at www.gleaneronline.org.
Our world doesn’t want to be preached to. It really doesn’t welcome legislation or "morality police" to force it into a false shell of external propriety. But when Ellen G. White described "the greatest want of the world," she saw people who were "as true to duty as the needle to the pole…who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.” Marx's equation missed an essential element. Freedom of choice, coupled with the principles and power of Christ, inevitably leads to right.
