Romans 12:9 states “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil: cling to what is good.” But what is good? And what is evil? There is a universal standard for right and wrong, which is called moral absolutes. Karma does not describe ethics in a way that makes sense. Wealth cannot be a foundation for morally just standards. Once evil is accomplished, it is done and cannot be redeemed for any amount of good deeds. God’s nature, which is described in the Bible, is the basis of Christian moral norms. The imperative study of good and evil, right and wrong is called ethics.
In the world, there must be a standard for absolute right and wrong or there would be pandemonium. The standard for ethics is called moral absolutes, which is the belief that an absolute ethical standard exists for all individuals regardless of era or culture. In theU.S.if someone steals something, it is considered wrong and if caught that person will be punished. Anywhere someone goes, if someone steals something of value, that person will not be appreciated. Even if there is not an official standard for morality, people will not steal or do other things like stealing. Killing in any culture is considered wrong. In some African countries, if someone is killed his family will get revenge, if anyone is killed in the revenge the cycle will just keep repeating. It is the same in theUS, but not always with the same consequences. Murder deserves punishment. But the standard for morality is not relativism, which is the belief that morals are relative to the individual and the culture. The monumental problem with relativism is that anything could be considered good or bad, if judgment is relative to the situation. Rejecting moral absolutes in favor of “situational ethics” is nothing but an excuse to do as one pleases under the banner of morality. Consequently, there is right and wrong established everywhere.
Realistically, karma does not make sense. Karma is the total effect of a person’s actions and conduct during each phase of existence, determining the person’s destiny. Put simply, a person’s good deeds will outweigh a person’s bad, providing that enough are completed and thus providing a better place of destiny. The problem is who sets the rules for right and wrong deeds and who decides how many good deeds are needed to outdo all the incorrect ones. But what is good in the first place? Without God there is no judge, so who judges? In theUScourts, the judge does not decide if a person is not guilty just because he donated money to an orphanage. He decides if he is guilty on whether or not he committed the crime. Adolf Hitler according to this belief, and everyone else, acted morally and was not wrong when he gave orders that killed millions. David Spangler states with startling language: “Christ is the same force as Lucifer….Lucifer prepares man for the experience of Christhood…Lucifer works within each of us to bring us to wholeness as we move into the new age.” Because this would put God, who will destroy evil, on the same level as his arch enemy Lucifer, who will be condemned by God, karma is completely ridicules. Karma does not work, and can not work in life.
Wealth is not a standard for morality. This belief was created by Marx and Engels and is called proletariat morality, which is the ethical belief that whatever advances the proletariat and the cause of communism is morally good and whatever hinders the proletariat or communism is morally evil. The goal of basing moral standards on wealth is to eliminate all class distinctions, except for Stalin, Lenin and a few powerful others, who desired special privileges. V.I. Lenin stated “we, of course, say that we do not believe in God, and that we know perfectly well that the clergy, the landowners and the bourgeoisie invoked the name of God so as to further their own interests as exploiters.” According to Lenin, people will make mistakes, but the cause is worth the risk: “Even if for every hundred correct things we committed ten thousand mistakes our revolution would still be–and it will be in the judgment of history–great and invincible…” Does this means that killing ten thousand innocent clergy, nuns and others, according to Lenin was morally right? The bourgeoisie, or basically the rich are all hostile and will hinder the common cause, although they may have worked hard for their money and be giving some to the poor, but if they owned land they were considered rich and therefore were evil. Stalin forced this onRussia. While promoting elimination of all class distinctions, Stalin lived in a massive house with eight different stone rooms just for him to sleep in, sleeping always with his fear of being murdered as a hindrance for the common cause. Consequently, standards of good and evil are not something that can be based on wealth.
Christianity bases ethics on the attributes of God, which are from the Bible. According to the Bible, Christianity shows that humans should love as God loved. God’s attributes are perfect, holy, all knowing, just, faithful, merciful and He always keeps His promises. Matthew 7:12 states “Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them–this is the law and the prophets.” Throughout life, the life style people are attracted to is one that is filled with compassion and truthful. Because Biblical Christian ethics is firmly grounded in God’s character, Christians according to the Bible must be perfect, but that is impossible. Everyone is sinful from birth, in the beginning the world was perfect, but the first humans ate of a tree when they had been told no. Because of this, every generation was cursed with a sinful nature. Steadfastly based on God character, the standard for Christian ethics is to love, give and act as God does, revealed in the Bible.
Adding up good deeds will not outweigh bad ones as in Islam. The belief that just doing more good than bad is a high enough standard to live by does not hold snuff. If a person is violently murdered, a relative of that person would not agree. But how would people know what is enough good to even out the bad, and what would bad be. The Qur’an (23: 102-103) states about the day of final judgment “Then those whose balance (of good deeds) is heavy, they will attain salvation: But those whose balance is light, will be those who have lost their souls, in Hell will they abide.” Although Allah might know, there would be no way to find out till it was too late, if it was enough good. The strongest motivation for Muslims is the fear of Eternal damnation to hell. Sadly, the motivation is not love of Allah, but fear of his punishment. A boss of a business does not want his employees working hard, just because they are afraid of the boss, but because the employees want to please him. In conclusion, just weighing out right and wrong, as with Islam, is not a just standard for ethics.
What is believed about ethics shows up in a person’s actions and thoughts. Moral absolutes are the standards for right and wrong. Logical thinking does not agree with Karma. Standards for morality can not be based on wealth. Moral norms are based on the nature of God, which is the Christian’s view of ethics. No one is can do enough good to equal the wrong committed. Views about ethics widely vary, but if there is a judge the accounting will be final.
