Is There Absolute Moral Truth?

The other day, I heard a statistic that two-thirds of Americans do not believe there is absolute moral truth. Many today believe that because we are a highly technological society that “old outdated principles” should be disregarded. Many believe that the laws observed and articulated by our Founding Fathers need to be dismissed in favor of more progressive ideologies. Never mind that our system of government has sustained a free society for 230+ years.

There are those who feel moral laws that underpin our free society are equally antiquated and to be disregarded. For these mooring-less Americans there are no moral absolutes. There are no laws that protect and preserve freedom.

Why Universal Laws Matter

Let me explain why laws of the Universe do exist and why they do matter.

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) discovered 3 Laws of Planetary motion which we still use today. We wouldn’t have been able to go to the moon or Mars or anywhere else in space without a knowledge of Kepler’s 3 Laws of Planetary Motion.

Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1726) discovered 3 Laws of Motion. Without an understanding of Newton’s laws, we wouldn’t be flying airplanes around the world. Countless technologies have been built around the laws Kepler, Newton and others discovered.

Can you imagine saying,

“Those guys are antiquated and from the oppressive, misogynistic era of the 1500’s and 1600’s. We don’t need their observations. We need something new and progressive! Our technology is far beyond theirs. They never even foresaw space or airline travel! We need something new and modern for our modern times and modern problems!”

Go board a plane flown by a pilot who doesn’t understand or work in harmony with those laws. You’ll be eating your words as you plummet to the ground.

Universal Laws Exist Outside Human Influence

Kepler and Newton did not invent these laws. The laws already existed. Kepler and Newton simply discovered them and stated them clearly so that scientists could go forward and create new innovations and technologies.

Principles or laws do not change over time. They remain constant regardless of what mankind chooses to think, believe, say or do. A societal temper tantrum doesn’t change them. A majority vote won’t change them.

Like Newton and Kepler, the Founders spent years studying thousands of years of history, economies and the rise and fall of civilizations to distill laws or principles that govern freedom. The laws they discovered might be called The Laws of Freedom.

As far back as Adam & Eve, Noah and Moses, God gave mankind certain laws that govern happiness. You might call them the Laws of Happiness. Over thousands of years people and civilizations who obeyed these moral codes lived happier, more well-adjusted, productive, and safer lives. Those who disregarded basic moral laws did so at their own peril.

Universal Laws Don’t Sway with Our Beliefs

Whether we choose to believe, accept, or see that there is absolute moral truth and absolute principles that govern freedom, is irrelevant. These laws or principles do not change across time. They aren’t up for a popularity contest. We don’t get to vote on whether they’re right or wrong and expect them to budge — not any more than we could vote on Kepler and Newton’s laws and make the smallest change in them. The fact is these laws simply ARE IMMUTABLE and there are CONSEQUENCES for operating in ways that work in opposition to them.

When you operate in alignment with these laws, they lead you to freedom and life. Work contrary to them and you end up in captivity and death.

Only a fool ignores them. Like a child donning a Superman cape and jumping out a second story window, we will fall if we foolishly ignore or fight against the Laws of Happiness or the Laws of Freedom. Just like gravity for the child, these universal laws that govern happiness and freedom are timeless and the violation of them has severe consequences.