Universal Truth

What inspires, motivates, urges us to do something? In a broader sense, what do we believe in? Where do/did our beliefs come from? Do we ever think about these questions, or are we relatively pleased with our day-to-day existence and would rather not be plagued with existential questions?

Life does go on. The new day seldom differs from the day we just left. The future - tomorrow , next week, next year - seldom presents monumental decisions or life changing choices. But every now and then we come flat up against situations which demand our attention and which require an examination of our beliefs – beliefs that have guided our lives up to the moment. A friend, a loved one, a parent, a child lingers on the edge of death. Our finances collapse. We are diagnosed with a life-threatening cancer. Divorce, rejection, regrets, loneliness, old age force us to examine our beliefs – the beliefs that have guided and directed our life. These beliefs have made us who we are and have directed our future efforts. But now events beg the question, “What are my beliefs? Do they provide hope, relief, and support in the current situation? And do they properly guide my future both now and on into eternity?

Let me examine two basic sources of vital beliefs. One source is myself. I can believe that my experiences, my knowledge and my importance as an individual give me all that I need to define and guide me through a successful life. I will define my own existence. No other person has the right to challenge my beliefs or the actions that spring from my beliefs. I am not simply one among many. I place myself first in my belief line. I will define the level of power, sex, money and pleasure that flavors my life.

The other source is plural, not singular. That source combines and distills all that history can teach us. That source allows us to examine various beliefs and to witness the results, good or bad, that they have produced. If we accept this source to be the foundation of our beliefs, then we must read history. We must have gained the knowledge to recognize virtue and righteousness in human affairs. We must allow humility to rule over pride and accept beliefs that we don’t agree with.

In the physical sciences we have objective reality. Two plus two does equal four. Newton’s laws, Maxwell’s laws, Einstein’s laws are universally true. They are accepted as true because thousands of individuals have discovered and verified these laws over time measured in centuries. This is a perfect example of pluralism being the source of true beliefs. Bob Smith, my next-door neighbor, didn’t source these true beliefs last weekend in his garage.

But objective reality does not exist in the pursuit of philosophy, equality, justice, equity, love, hate, religion, government, and the law. There is no hard and fast reality here. Is equity better than equality? Is abortion murder or not? Is socialism better than democracy? Is forgiveness better than getting even? These are subjective pursuits and the beliefs that sponsor them vary from person to person, from nation to nation, and from age to age.

Let’s talk about what happens when there is no universally accepted morality. What happens when there is no overarching set of rules, commandments and inspirations that guide our daily lives. What happens when there is no collection of natural or God inspired ethics and morality that channel us away from evil and towards the good? What happens when the most recent collection of secular ethics is all that we have to point us in the right direction, if in fact it provides any overall direction? What happens when each of us defines our own morality and the beliefs that define our actions and lives?

The most obvious example of the lack of a universal belief is at the nation or state level. Look at Stalin’s Russia, Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany, Hirohito’s Japan, Mao Zedong’s China, Castro’s Cuba, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, Ho Chi Minh’s Vietnam, Idi Amin’s Uganda, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, Sayyid Ali Khamenei’s Iran, Kim Jong-Un’s North Korea, Bashar al-Assad’s Syria, Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe and Muammar al-Qaddafi’s Libya. This list covers only the last hundred years. These failed states all have one thing in common: their leaders had no belief in a universal and righteous morality – you can call it a God. Their only belief was a singular belief in themselves. There was no outside moral influence that governed their actions, 

Another example of this lack of belief is the dysfunctional family. The family is truly the foundation of a society. The family’s children will grow up to define, run and inform society. They should learn their basic set of ethics and morality at home. If there is no belief in a universal truth, or in God, and then no belief communicated to the kids, the kids will learn the current secular ethic, the mean streets ethic or no ethic at all. I believe that the ever-rising level of dysfunctional families is a direct result of the lack of a universal belief in God and the resultant lack of moral training. 

Let us assume that most of society’s members believe in themselves. Their beliefs and the actions that result are not to be questioned. This is their truth. Now put two of these people in a room. Sooner or later their conversation might advance past the weather, the best restaurant, and the Chicago Bears. Now they will start to disagree about the beliefs that control their lives. Now add ten more people. Now add the neighborhood’s people, add a state’s worth of people, add a nation’s worth of people or the whole earth’s population. They are all right. You are wrong. My truth dominates. You can’t question my truth. With just two people, the result is an unresolved disagreement. With nations the result is often war. The simple truth is that as the number of people firmly convinced of their own truth increases, the level of chaos increases. The law, judges, courts, the Constitution, established truths have no meaning because everyone has their own truths which can’t be questioned.

Human nature, being what it is, how do you convince someone that there are universal subjective truths and that they can be known? First in this process is the identification of universal truths which apply equally to all mankind.  Throughout history there have been attempts to find and codify these truths. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and hundreds of latter-day philosophers have made valid and worthwhile attempts. None have gained lasting and universal belief. Time, place and random events occurring in this earthbound stage defy human attempts at universality.

These truths can’t be the product of the human intellect or human emotions. If so, there would be countless millions of “truths” each reflecting the individual’s own point of view. Again, chaos.  These universal truths must spring from a supernatural author, a timeless author not conflicted by the various wants, needs, vices and virtues of human nature.  Such an author must be unique, all knowing, all just and the creator of humans and their nature. I call this author God and his universal truths are available in the Bible.