Cultural Relativism Harms Young People

Jesus answered, "… Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" John 18: 37c- 38a

For Pilate, Truth became the road of political expediency. Today, Truth slides on a scale of public opinion. It becomes nothing more than grains of sand in an hourglass, falling into a pile only to be turned upside down again. No wonder our young people live in a “ ...whatever...” world. For them, everything is in flux.

The human mind needs the guardrails of absolute truth, as surely as children thrive under acceptable rules of conduct rapidly followed by swift justice for infractions. How can the average or below average young mind handle complex evaluations otherwise? Without parameters, every “if/then” situation becomes nothing more than a throw of the dice with no ceiling, no standardization, no moral frame of reference. The fabric of our present society is riddled with dropped stitches and flaws due to years of cultural relativism for whatever reasons. Political pressure, public pressure, misguided do-gooderism, and simple ignorance have all had their hand in ill-equipping our children for entry into the fast world of our national economy.

A friend of mine manages these kids in the food service business. He sings his woes to me. Because the economy is so good, young people can choose to switch jobs instead of developing personal job skills. My friend tells me how his employees are incapable of making change even when every price, sale tax included, has been rounded to the nearest quarter. How walking in their personal “style” prevents them from moving quickly and with purpose. How speaking in an intelligible dialect is an affront to their sensibilities. And you can forget writing altogether, because spelling and the standard formation of letters are nonexistent. Even showing up for work is a matter of personal choice. Not only does the need for personal change never occur, it isn’t even considered for future contemplation.

Because the economy is so healthy, there is a glut of available jobs. It is possible to move from one entry-level job to another if fired for not showing up for work. Currently, there is no need to develop a better personal work ethic. If some work related problem arises, these young people are ill prepared to deal with it. They choose the method of problem solving they have been taught – the path of least resistance - and simply move on to the next situation. After all, everything is in flux and relative. Our own economic good fortune has become the course of their downfall. But what happens when, not if, the economy eventually declines?

A dynamic economy requires absolute truth. Hard facts are required. Your product either works or it doesn’t. It is available or it isn’t. Planes are on time or they aren’t. Customers are there to be satisfied, even the ones that are intent on being dissatisfied. When the music stops, someone is going to be left without a chair.

Which gets us back to the revolving door of employment young people are currently enjoying. The current system of relativism has left them sorely prepared for life. The only entrepreneurs among this group are criminals. Does this mean society can “tsk, tsk” while saying, “We did everything we could” while continuing to deny the existence of absolute Truth? The evidence speaks louder than words.

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. Psalm 14:1

One only has to look into the eyes of the lost lambs behind the service counter to know this culture of relativism has sacrificed Truth for political expediency and we are drenched in the blood of innocents.