BLOG: Absolutely Absolute (and the scourge of relativism)
It should not come as a surprise that someone such as President Joe Biden dismisses America, her founding, and her principles so quickly, making statements entirely contrary to the Constitution. It is not shocking that he has and will continue to act and make statements that are not only dangerous but inflammatory and anti-American. It is also not a shock that these statements, often incoherent, are at their core nothing more than fanning the flames of his base intent on the destruction of America. However, I am not surprised when I hear something so absurd, and I still try to stop, breathe, take a moment, and determine how we arrived here.
This week was just such a moment. In a speech this week, where the President provided numerous inaccuracies, intentionally misleading misinformation, and outright lies, he also made a statement that provided the answer. President Biden's speech this week stated, "…But no amendment, no amendment to the Constitution is absolute." This statement shocked me, but maybe not for the most obvious reasons. Yes, your rights as codified in the Amendments are absolute and must be protected at all costs. Yes, any infringement upon a right that clearly states "shall not be infringed" is, at its very essence infringing it. Yes, his "actions" do little more than inconvenience law-abiding citizens. At the same time, his base grows more emboldened in disarming those in most need of protection.
“Yes, any infringement upon a right that clearly states “shall not be infringed” is, at its very essence infringing it.”
However, this is not what bothered me the most. What bothered me was the use of the term "absolute" in a context that something "absolute" is a negative. In other words, the President appeared to be saying that nothing is "absolute." It was here that I paused, and I realized a few things. These were brought into context by this very same speech about eliminating your second amendment rights under the guise of "gun violence prevention."
For context, I am in my forties and grew up in an area and time with experiences that are very foreign to modernity. The world I knew as a child no longer exists and has not for decades. A conversation about these changes could be lengthy about the changing of America and why it has run headlong towards the very belief systems that led to people escaping their countries to come here in the first place. It is not prudent to get into that lengthy conversation now; however, President Biden's language is core to the problems. Unbeknownst to him, he provided the problem and the real solution to not only what he terms "gun violence" but to most social ills we are seeing.
The key to the solution is provided in his disparaging words about absolutes. His hatred of absolutes is adherence to relativism. Everything is relative. Stated another way, "Nothing is absolute." Relativism is the scourge that will eventually destroy this country. I know this appears to be hyperbole at first, but it is the battle we are fighting. You could say evil is the actual battle we are fighting, but relativism is evil's favorite tool.
The year 2020 has been the most remarkable example of the nation's turn toward relativism coming to its final fruition and how relativism leads to the creation of the current "Woke" religion. In the last 13 months, we have learned that nothing is concrete or sacred, and things are only situationally ethical. It is why "mostly peaceful" protests can go on for months with no response from so-called leaders. Then one event of trespassing can become a terroristic action and an "insurrection." To be clear, neither is acceptable; however, when leaders facilitate the paying of fines for one group of criminals while simultaneously charging others for the same actions to the full extent of the law, this is a picture of relativism. It is situational ethics. Wrong is absolute. Criminal behavior is absolute, and the punishment for the crime should be equally just and absolute.
Yet, we know this is not the world in which we live. It is why so-called medical experts can state that they change their recommendations according to how people will behave and react. Placing restrictions on how you want the public to act rather than on the actual "science" is relativism. It is why they must silence opinions and voices of dissent and why you cannot hold honest, intellectual discourse. It is all relative, and it is all situational. People seem surprised when so-called leaders break their draconian edicts in plain view and without shame. The issue at its core is relativism. It is difficult to understand that the mandates that destroyed your business destroyed your way of life and your ability to see dying loved ones don't apply to the person creating the policy in the first place. It is difficult but understood in the context of relativism.
Morals, values, beliefs, and even reality are challenged in this modern age as being relative to the times in which we live. The Bible is an ancient document with no relevance to the contemporary era. The Constitution is a dusty writing that must be a living, breathing document to apply to the modern age. Relativism and its ties to Progressivism is not simply a belief in the evolution of things or incremental improvement to an old system. Instead, this is the belief that the old must be torn down, destroyed, and eliminated to build the wonders of the current age from scratch.
So, Mr. President, it is true that I have little respect for your destructive policies. However, I have a high degree of respect for the office you hold and, by default, for you in the role of President. In this spirit, let me offer some suggestions for your current goal of preventing gun violence. As a law enforcement officer, and with this being on a law enforcement site, I want to offer practical solutions. First and foremost, may I say that the solution is NEVER to sidestep the Constitution or infringe upon citizens' rights. The answer lies in stepping away from your current belief in relativism and returning to a belief in the absolutes of morality and justice.
As the President, you have the power to do something in this arena. National calls to prayer, awakenings, and adherence to morality have started with leaders standing up and beckoning people back to foundational, absolute principles. After deciding to base decisions on absolutes, bring the government systems into line with these truths. The Justice System must start to demand absolutes be reinstated. It should be no surprise that juveniles who commit numerous violent crimes steal vehicles and guns and then do not even get charged because of "relative" factors, that gun violence will grow and get worse. Morality, right, wrong, and equal justice under the law is not "relative" constructs.
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
The crime must be punished. If you want to curb gun violence, please step away from getting inanimate objects to behave and instead hold actual people accountable to a higher standard. The further we move away from the idea of judging people by the "content of their character," the further we will go down this road of increased violence. The entire American ideal is at stake. The further we step away from the foundations of liberty and justice, the more we guarantee our eventual demise as a nation.
Mr. President, let's get back to these foundations of morality and ethical behavior. It is the only way to forge a society that punishes wrongdoing while guaranteeing the rights of its Citizenry. As John Adams wrote, and I often quote, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." These are facts, and as such, they are absolute. They are grounded in truths and, like the rights of the People, must absolutely be absolute.
This Blog Post Appeared first at OnTheBlueLine.com. All Rights Reserved. 2021