Father Richard Ho Lung, Contributor

That is the claim one of my beloved friends said to me privately. It led me to believe that many Jamaicans perceive morality as a purely private matter that cannot be legislated.

But I ask the questions:

Are we not able to tell a child what is right and wrong?

Are we not able to instruct high school students what is right or wrong?

Are we not able to tell adults they have morally violated the laws when they have done wrong ?

Furthermore, is the law of God written in the hearts of men and women?

I ask is there no such thing as universal objective truth?

Isn't it significant that in the New Testament, Herod "enjoyed" listening to John the Baptist's preaching, and that Christ stood before all and claimed to be the truth? Pontius Pilate, himself asked the question, "What is Truth?"

Is truth so evasive that nobody knows?

Right and wrong

There are teachers of truth who should inform about the truth. Truth should be able to strike a chord in the hearts of all men. It's not complicated arguments that need be taught? (But that depends upon the audience.) The simple statement of what is right and wrong needs be told, evoking possible discussion, but the simple statement of it ought to be enough.

On matters of morals, there are teachers of the truth who should inform about the truth. When it is simple it will strike a chord in the hearts of all. What is right about morality is that it can and should be taught by parents, teachers, and religious leaders in a straightforward way. Learned men should also, in a way, instruct by elaboration of the right and wrong in moral and spiritual matters and be able to explain in further detail the reason for a position being right or wrong.

Intuitively, all people know what is right and wrong. But most of us today believe we are too simple to articulate any position regarding morality, so fraught with sophistry is the media and educated people who teach falsehood in the name of truth.

Morality has to do with truth and a certain righteousness of life, a civilised way of behaviour. It is true justice exercised by all people towards another. It is God's ways, and in observing them live in the image and likeness of God in a loving and just way.

Subjectivity

In today's world, liberalism has robbed objective truth of its effectiveness. Everybody is being led to subjectivity or to try construct their own morality. In a weird society morality is not considered objective principles pertaining to all men and for the service of all. Everybody does what he wills which leads to selfishness without compromise.

For a liberal the driving principle in life is pleasure, self-satisfaction, and self-fulfilment. In some sort of accidental way the liberal believes that if each one of us fulfils what he desires, there is an organic pattern which will result.

In our amoral times, morality and authority have no role in modern man's thought. In the absence of morality, which requires great self-sacrifice, the push for money, power, popularity, recognition and personal honour overrides the virtues of patience, love, kindness, humility, gentleness, and meekness, justice and mercy.

Matter of choice

Without morality, however, anything goes. There is even death and all sorts of end as a matter of choice.

Thus abortion, euthanasia, prostitution, flexi-week, the legalisation of drugs, casino gambling are hurling forward as activities to be legalised.

All of this will bring death and sadness to Jamaica. We have opened the doors to death and sin by making morality as an arch-enemy. Without moralising, however, we will destroy our people and our land. God have mercy on us!