From Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Friday, May 14, 2010
By Holly Bowen, Staff Writer

Robert P. George of Princeton University said the philosophy of moral relativism is overtaking the thought patterns of too many Christians, and classical Christian higher education institutions like New Saint Andrews College are critical to renewing their culture.

George, who is Princeton’s McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, spoke about the need for Christians to stand up for their values and their rights to hold them at NSA’s 13th commencement ceremony Thursday night at the Moscow Church of the Nazarene. A record 44 students graduated from NSA this year.

George said too many Christians have “fallen into the abyss” of moral relativism, which says differing values and beliefs should be tolerated and even embraced because there is supposedly no absolute, universal moral standard. People in higher education are especially susceptible to it, he said, and it’s deeply entrenched in American culture, “particularly in our intellectual culture.”

George said the evil and injustice perpetrated in the world today is helped along by the tendency to appeal to the self-willed conscience – doing what feels good or brings the least guilt. He called it the self-perceived “right to manufacture your own universe.”

But he said authentically understanding what conscience is means doing the opposite of defining one’s own values.

“(Conscience is) a stern monitor,” George said. “It’s not the permissions department.”

He said many politicians, even those who have been publicly supported by prominent Christian leaders, have embraced moral relativism when they show support for issues like the ability to choose abortion, have same-sex marriage and receive comprehensive sex education.

George, one of the coauthors of the pro-life, pro-traditional marriage and pro-religious liberty “Manhattan Declaration,” said Christians are obligated to obey the law except when the law leads to “grave injustices.” He said if the law calls for immorality, “then we know where our obligation lies.”

“Any human law is under judgment of a higher law,” he said.

He said morality isn’t all about what people shouldn’t do – he said it also has affirmative moral duties. For example, he said Christians must stand with the victims of injustice and speak up for those too weak to defend themselves.

George said every Christian must support the pro-life cause and “combat the injustice of legal abortion” while protecting the dignity of women and their unborn children. But he said people’s level of involvement in the issue understandably depends on their individual circumstances. He said each person has something he or she treasures that God wants them to sacrifice for a greater good.

Recalling Jesus Christ’s famous words, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven,” George told the NSA graduates to sacrifice what is necessary to follow in the footsteps and values of Christ.

NSA and its board of trustees presented George with their Disciplina Christiana Award for Distinguished Christian Service to Public Life during the commencement ceremony.