My Opinion
It's about time for Americans to heed GOP's moralizing

Values and morals. Those two words have really caught on lately. Those mean Republicans led by Newt the Nasty are trying to jam their evil Christian values down our throats.

Well, it's about time.

Finally, politicians are getting up enough nerve to admit that perhaps one code of morality might be more valid than another. After decades of "anything goes," this country needs to sit down and think about those two words -- values and morals -- and what they really mean.

Just do what's right for you. Find your own path. For a lot of Penn Staters, and Americans for that matter, that's the morality of choice. People figure out what they believe, and they just go with it. I have to admit, that is a pretty convenient set of morals to hold.

Think about it. If everyone can choose his or her own morality, no one can ever be wrong. Life would be a Scantron test on which everyone gets a perfect score. Ah yes, live and let live. What a wonderful world it would be. But if you subscribe to this view, you are only fooling yourself.

Not to sound like Mr. Spock, but the "anything goes" moral code is quite illogical. It just doesn't make sense. As soon as you can admit that any group of values is valid, you have lost the right to pass judgment on what is right and wrong, or if one set of actions is better than another.

For example, what if you found an elderly woman struggling with a bag of groceries? You could help her carry the bag up to her apartment, or you could laugh at her as you walk by. Which action is more moral? Which is the better action to take? Hmmm. If you can't answer those questions, please stay away from my grandmother.

Well, that moral dilemma was just too simple. What about the practice of aborting baby girls in India? Granted, not everyone in India does that, but some believe it is morally justifiable. Hey, it's their culture, right?

Is that moral or immoral? Do we have the right to judge? Of course we do. Killing a baby because of its gender is wrong -- I don't care what you say.

Well, I don't infringe on the rights of others, so stop judging me. That's a pretty good argument. As long as a person doesn't hurt anyone, no one has the right to pass judgment on that person. Nice try. The fact that you think I don't have the right to judge anyone means that you are judging me.

Of course I have the right to judge you, and you have the right to judge the things I do. The Northern abolitionists judged the South when they said slavery was wrong. The South complained that the Constitution protected slavery. African Americans weren't even considered total humans, let alone Americans. But abolitionists were right, Constitution or no Constitution, some things are just plain wrong.

Wow, that's kind of like abortion. The Constitution allows it, and according to abortion rights activists, the procedure doesn't hurt anyone. If you are pro-choice, you can choose your own morality. But you see, I just don't view it that way.

The Democratic Party is solidly pro-choice. A Democrat who is pro-choice is saying I can't force my views on a pregnant woman. Abortion is a personal choice, a choice left to the individual.

Many Republicans take a different view. Abortion has to be right or wrong. The fetus is either a human being or it is not. There can't be any gray area of doubt. You can't be pro-choice on murder, theft or rape. Why can you choose on abortion? Until you know for sure what the fetus is, you are only guessing whether abortions are right or wrong. With millions of abortions being performed each year, that idea scares me. It scares a lot of Republicans as well.

Throughout this column, I've hinted that I believe in an all-inclusive set of morals that should govern us as humans. I believe that morality doesn't come from individuals. I don't even think it comes from constitutions -- they come from man as well. Quite clearly, it comes from God.

It has to. The human race cannot determine its own morals. If man chooses that murder is immoral, then he can change his mind when the situation presents itself.

But Tony, I'm an atheist. Well, you still must have a moral code, even if you don't believe in God. You say you don't have a moral code? Well, that's a moral code in its own right.

If you don't believe in God, I'd have to assume your morality comes from man, or the laws he makes. The thought that your morality belongs in the hands of politicians, judges or a group of animals that has included Hitler, Stalin and Richard Nixon should cause you to lose sleep.

Again, thanks to the GOP, morality is in the headlines and on the editorial paages. Those espousing "Christian values" have just as much right to fight for what they believe in as atheists, Hindus or socialists do. And believe me -- they will.

And like I said before, it's about time.