Thursday morning, I noticed something while perusing The Daily Campus; another fantastically errant diatribe from Russell Allsup. I knew immediately that I couldn’t sit idly by without speaking my peace.
Russell wastes no time in chastising modern culture because it “promotes the philosophy of moral relativism, or nihilism.” To liken moral relativism to nihilism is, quite simply, wrong. Moral relativism essentially says that while there are basic standards for “moral” behavior, they are not absolute.
I’ll give an example in honor of the recent series finale of my favorite TV show. In ancient Rome, slavery was a societal norm, thus a moral relativist might consider it moral within its own context. I’m certainly not saying this was a good thing, but that is basically what moral relativism is. Nihilism is simply the belief that there is no meaning, morality or purpose in human life. Nihilism is also, as any fan of “The Big Lebowski “can tell you, exhausting, and nihilists are cowards. Don’t worry, Donny.
My biggest qualms with Allsup’s article were not over philosophical semantics. He insists that he is not trying to condemn anyone, yet he repeatedly states, or rather preaches, that there is “only one correct position” (moral position, not to be confused with…uh, well anyway). Though he does state that he is in no position to condemn anyone, the rest of the article smells a lot like condemnation to me.
The biggest irony I find is Allsup telling us that our sex lives are certainly lacking if we don’t do things the way he thinks we ought to. So I’ll see your North Pole metaphor, and raise you one about cross-country skiing. Allsup’s pulpit-perched rambling is a bit like me telling someone that they have bad form at cross-country skiing. I’ve never been cross-country skiing, and I’d be terrible at it if I tried, so I’m not going to tell someone who skis cross-country that they’re wrong.
If you want to wait until marriage to have sex, that’s your choice, and it’s totally cool with me. If you’re in a committed relationship but not married and feel comfortable having sex, then go for it. If you go out every weekend and meet a stranger whose shadowy silhouette seems irresistible to you after six Jack and Cokes, then by all means, live adventurously!
My point is that sex is indeed a very personal choice; so much so that I don’t think most people want an opinionated stranger (and I realize that I, too, am an opinionated stranger in many ways) telling them how it should be a part of their lives based on what he believes. I guess if there is in fact some higher moral authority to dictate every aspect of how people ought to behave, then next time that moral authority, be it God, Allah, The Force, James Brown or whatever, may want to pick a better-informed spokesperson.
Russ Lindell is a senior International Studies major. He can be reached at [email protected].
