While discussing ancient history and modern civics with my children a few weeks ago, I tried to explain to them why some people do such evil with seemingly no guilt on their part. Why do they have no moral compass?
It came to me: without faith, there can be no evil. And it is really evil that offers the alternative of good.
Lately I have recognized that true evil is done by those who do not have faith. The act of faith is a recognition that man is not the framer of good and bad; there is something bigger than man.
You can never know what is good without recognizing evil. That is where your personal moral compass develops.
All the truly horrific acts, and the petty wrong ones as well, have been perpetrated by those without true faith in something bigger than themselves. Throughout history, those without faith – including those liberal progressives I grew up around – are the ones without a moral compass. Those without real faith develop a strong desire to impress their world view on you, without a respect for the sovereignty of your own thoughts. They lose their moral compass and with it, a part of their humanity.
Throughout my life this has been a constant question tugging at the back of my brain: why does everyone recognize bad and good?
The answer, I think, is that not everyone does.
In our great country, that great experiment built upon Judeo-Christian values and practices, however, the majority has a strong moral compass afforded to them by their faith. If we lose that faith as a people, we will lose an ability to recognize evil, differentiate good, and eventually we will lose ourse
lves along with our moral compass.
