Seldom does this writer disagree with Bradley Gitz, but he has gone off on tangent concerning morals and sin. Though the article which follows was written over a year ago, the issues of the day have not changed very much, if at all.

The writer of the Hebrew letter wrote to his Hebrew brethren, Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:7-13)

Bradley Gitz’s column on Tuesday December 11, 2012, in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette has the title Our Mutual Respect in which he writes that the morals of one deserves tolerance from others and no one should impose their morals on another person. Such a notion defies the essence of right and wrong. Constantly, the values of one are pressed upon others such as government having laws that punish those who fail to respect the rights of others. Private groups have rules and press those on members and require anyone that wants to be a member abide by those rules when they become members of the group.

Mr. Gitz then showed his true leaning. He wrote “That the Bible says something is wrong doesn’t necessarily make it so, nor make such assertions any more relevant for public-policy purposes than those from other sources.” Mr. Gitz, like so many others, refuses to accept the Word of God for its finality on morals which control all aspects of life. He is another example among many who think that man is wise enough to determine right and wrong independent of any outside source. And notice that he thinks that the Bible is no more relevant for public policy than other sources. What might be the identity of those sources and on what did the authors of those sources base their ideas?

Those who are honest concerning the present day will have to agree that the opening verses describe well the behavior of many people of the Republic of the United States. The people have turned from God’s ways, principles and morals and have created nothing but misery for themselves and those around them. Undoubtedly, they do not believe that when the Bible says something is wrong, it isn’t necessarily so.

God’s people had a problem staying faithful and continually tried to invent ways to live and behave. Isaiah wrote Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:7-9)

Those verses apply to all men and women of the present day just as they applied to that day and age. As long as mankind has existed on earth, humans have tried to find ways to live that counter God’s instructions. They preach tolerance and are the most intolerant to anyone who even suggests that what they believe and do are wrong.

Sin is no longer sin and that is readily seen in Mr. Gitz’s article where he writes, “If parties A, B and C each wish to live in distinct ways and those respective ways impose no burdens on others, then there is no reason others should prevent them from doing so.” Mr. Gitz fails to countenance that all behaviors, right or wrong as the case may be, inevitably affect everyone to some degree, more or less, whether in close association or remote. It can be summed up very simply, “Monkey see, monkey want to do whether it is good behavior or bad.” That is exactly the way all societies behave and ours is no different. 

An explanation should be made for the reason Mr. Gitz says that because the Bible says something is wrong doesn’t necessarily make it so. Where does Mr. Gitz find his moral foundation for public policy? The answer should be interesting in view of the fact that morality begins with God and when all things are finished, God’s word will still rule the day.

© 12-11-2012 DEC