More Slippery Slope of Moral Stupidity

The Christian Post has an opinion piece by Albert Mohler, Jr. on the controversy over the Boy Scouts and a lesbian den mother. It regurgitates all the usual canards about the rights of a private organization to discriminate against anyone they choose. These arguments have long been the bulwark for discrimination, regardless of any "legal" foundation one can hide behind. Slavery and Jim Crow laws are obvious examples. Just because it was legal to kidnap people from Africa and sell them as slaves or treat people of color as second class citizens does not mean it is something Christians should follow. Legal does not make something correct or just.

More troubling and sloppy is this little gem:

Oddly enough, this rather bizarre form of thinking is indicative of a larger cultural pattern. Sexual relationships are off-limits for moral judgment. What is left is a far smaller sector of moral investigation. Once sexual behavior is removed from moral scrutiny, what will be next to be declared off-limits. 

It is dishonest to suggest that sexual relationships are off-limits for moral judgment. There are plenty of norms, mores, and laws regarding sexual behavior. Most involve acts that are not consensual, such as rape, pedophilia, and coercion. Mohler is demanding that his obsession with homosexuality be shared by everyone, especially other Christians. In Leviticus, homosexuality is described as something that offends God, but does not harm other people if consensual between adults. That makes it an issue between someone and God.

Adultery, on the other hand, hurts other others and destroys relationships. Preoccupation with homosexuality is a clever distraction from adultery, the most common form of sexual misconduct. Since God saw fit to list adultery as part of the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai, it is safe to say that it is as offensive, if not more so, than homosexuality. Jesus also condemned adultery in no uncertain terms.

Mohler also pretends that diet has been elevated to morality.

As one observer recently noted, our society is exchanging moral concern about sex for moral concern about diet. We are not sure that moral judgments should be made when it comes to sexual behaviors, but when it comes to free range chickens and excess carbohydrates, the moral categories kick in.

There are legitimate reasons to prefer animals that are not subjected to cruel conditions in factory farms. Given the obesity epidemic, there are legitimate reasons to be careful of sugar intake. To suggest that diet has risen to the level of morality by most people in our culture, however, is disingenuous.

I cannot find evidence of the same level of concern and outrage by Mohler and other culture warriors about our culture of greed and worship of materialism. Perhaps he thinks that worship of God and Mammon is possible, regardless of what Jesus taught.

Jesus set the bar on how we are to treat others very high. We are to love them as we wish to be loved. The Lord also said that it is not good enough to avoid hurting others. He will treat our neglecting the needs of others as the same as if we neglected Him. Culture wars in the guise of morality are a clever way to blind ourselves to the standards of behavior Jesus set for us.