But other moral choices are made less poorly today than they were then.
No, I’m not writing this post to make a point about any particular moral issue. Instead, I want to make this one plea. Especially to pastors and other (hopefully) moral leaders:
When addressing a moral issue, stop using the calendar on the wall as part of your argument. Today’s date has nothing to do with it!
When people say “but it’s 2015!” to excuse bad behavior, my response is usually something along the lines of, “It’s also Monday. What’s your point?” The day of the week means as much as the year on the calendar does.
By the way, this plea to the calendar to enforce a moral argument doesn’t just flow one way. While libertines (like Lady Mary) use it to excuse bad behavior, it’s also used by self-righteous moralists (like granny) when they complain about “kids these days,” the “modern church” and “back in my day.”
Insisting on the moral superiority of “the way things used to be” is no better an argument than condescendingly explaining “the way things are today.”
One Simple Request
Whichever side of an issue you’re on, feel free to bolster your argument by appealing to logic or scripture—especially scripture (properly contextualized and interpreted, that is). Or, better yet, use both. But I have one simple request to make of you today.
Stop pointing to the calendar to make your moral arguments!
If it was wrong then, it’s wrong now. If we were wrong about it then, show me how we got it wrong and I’ll be more than willing to change.
The calendar is a helpful tool when planning a birthday party. But it is woefully inadequate for making moral decisions.
Morality has no expiration date.
