Christian morality: absolute?

Bill Hamilton (hamilton@predator.cs.gmr.com)
Wed, 11 Jun 1997 09:31:20 -0400

I think we have arrived (have been there for some time actually) at the
irreducible disagreement, with me and other Christians on one side, and
Russell Stewart and Pim van Meurs on the other side. The Christian
position is

"Universal moral absolutes exist, but are not always observed"

Russell's and Pim's position seems to be

"Universal moral absolutes do not exist"

Sometimes Russell and Pim have claimed that the fact that Christians have
not always observed an absolute moral standard shows that such a standard
does not exist. This conclusion seems unjustified to me. Let me propose
an analogy. Most of us recognize that safety belts in cars have saved many
lives and therefore are good. Russell's and Pim's argument seems to me
analogous to claiming that because a few motorists have gone berserk and
used the safety belts in their cars to strngle someone, that safety belts
are not valuable safety equipment in cars.

Bill Hamilton
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William E. Hamilton, Jr, Ph.D. | Staff Research Engineer
Chassis and Vehicle Systems | General Motors R&D Center | Warren, MI
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