The Stop Sign, Part 4

The Stop Sign, Part 4

There, he thought…he had actually used that word, the one he dreaded to say because saying something is ‘absolute’ meant it came from somewhere outside of himself though his college education in science had forced him to believe that nothing existed that could not be tested. He knew that the only source of absolutes was God but God had been far from his mind since entered the education field.

Lifting his eyes, raising his eyebrows toward Lynch, he said: “Is that the answer you wanted?”

The class, though anxious to leave the hall and get to another room, sat in their seats as though they were glued in them. There was little movement except the turning of heads from the professor to their classmate who had suddenly become the focus of attention, something they thought a little strange since few had given Lynch much notice. Now they looked at Billy and began to wonder about him. What gave him the strength to stand up to a professor? Wasn’t he concerned about getting a lower grade?

Lynch, still standing as the other students sat and gazed at him, kept his eyes on the professor.

“Thank you professor, that is part of the answer I was seeking,” said Billy. “Can you tell me, tell us (motioning with his hands), what might be the source of this absolute value? That is…during your course lectures you have repeatedly said that all of what we see…reality. . is the result of time + chance. In such a situation of happenstance, there doesn’t seem to be any way for something to be absolutely true. It seems to me that anything we say and anything we do would be like a toss of dice. Who can truly say that something like an absolute exists when the word itself may simply be an expression of some interesting, chance connection in the brain?”

The class was stunned to hear such a thing. Many of Billy’s classmates had not given such thoughts any consideration before this moment. They had failed to see that the idea of evolution was more than biology; it was more than physics or chemistry. There was more here than they had realized and they remained in their seats, not so much concerned with their next classes but wondering where this face-to-face discussion was going to lead.

Professor Wilson, himself somewhat stunned by the student’s courage and intrigued by the ongoing expression of Lynch’s mind, looked down from the audience. His head bowed, as though in deep thought, he moved toward the chalkboard and picked up a new, three inch piece of chalk. Slowly, and with as much care as possible, Wilson slowly wrote three big letters on the board. G-O-D is what he wrote, with a broad white underline for emphasis.

“That is the source of my, of our, absolute statement(1),” said Wilson.

Dan Schobert, W9MFG@charter.net


Note

(1)In a recent national survey conducted by the Barna Research Group, people were asked if they believe that there are moral absolutes that are unchanging or if moral truth is relative to the circumstances. By a 3-to-1 margin (645 vs. 22 %), adults said truth is always relative to the person and the situation. Among teens who were polled, 83% said moral truth depends on the circumstances, and only six % said moral truth is absolute. Born-again Christians were more likely than others to accept moral absolutes. George Barna, head of the research group, noted that substantial numbers of people who call themselves Christians believe that activities such as abortion, gay sex, cohabitation, drunkenness, and pornography are morally acceptable. “Without some firm and compelling basis for suggesting that acts are inappropriate, people are left with philosophies such as “if it feels good, do it,’ ‘everyone else is doing it,’ or ‘as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, it’s permissible.’” Barna went on to say that based on these findings the church is in trouble and that failure to address this issue at its root, and to do so quickly and persuasively, will undermine the strength of the church for at least another generation and probably longer. (cited in Church Around the world, May 2002, from Tyndale Publishers)