"What Does Man's Sense of Right Mean?"

Think about it.

In every person of any age at all, there is a notion of right.  That is to say that whether the person is a narcissist, a sociopath, an eccentric, a humanitarian, a humanist, a creationist, or an atheist there is within that person a sense of something that tells that person that this is the way you should behave.

That is not to say that such is the same for the humanitarian's sense of right and that of a sociopath will be radically different.  Still in all, there is that instinctive sense of right and wrong, a standard of some sort.

Why?  Why is it that there is within each of us some sense of standard by which to measure right or wrong behavior?  Some would argue it is a product of material naturalism.  Others would argue that it is a product of divine creationism.  How would you answer the question?

There is however another attendant question.  It goes like this.  Why is there such a common threat which runs through the various cultures of mankind?  For example, there is a sense in most people of behaving for the greater good.

There is a universal though unwritten sense within people of the need to care for infants.  Only the hard hearted among mankind do not respond to the pitiful cry of an infant.  Yet, there were those Canaanites and others who sacrificed infants by placing them in the red hot hands of an idol made in the likeness of their god Moloch. 

Why would people do such a thing?  The simple answer was that they thought that by doing so their god would be appeased and thus any anger that might interfere with their having a fruitful harvest would be appeased.

There are other universal standard which are found in the preponderance of mankind.  Other examples would include but not be limited to the following.

Property – the unit of ownership, that is to say the unit that owns property may be the individual, the family, or even the village but there is some sense of owner/non owner.

Murder - how murder is defined may differ but murder is seen as being wrong

Justice – though standards may be different there is a sense of justice

Family – though the family structure may differ (polygamy) the structure of the family is present.

Love – not the self centered love that demands fulfillment but the giving of one’s best to another.

Ancestors - how it is expressed may differ but there is respect for one’s fore-bearers is present.

Children – Again how it is lived out may differ but the care for children is prevalent in culture after culture.

Self-sacrifice – the example would be the sacrifices of a parent for a child.

To be sure there are others.

Now comes the question.  How did these and other universal standards come about?  And for the material naturalist who embraces the premise of “survival of the fittest” maybe you could answer the question as to how such could be more than a questionable theory (as opposed to a law)?

 The question deserves an answer when you consider that some of the items listed above property ownership, justice, family, etc. would seem to militate against such being true.  If this notion is not true, then how many other of man’s good ideas are not to be trusted?

The writer of the Proverbs, King Solomon of Israel observed this two times in his writings.

"There is a way which seems right to a man, but its ends is the way of death" (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25, NASU)

Continuing the question that deserves an answer then is this.  When you push the answer out to its logical conclusion, just where do you find yourself?