by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
Society treats morality in an arbitrary fashion. Racism is condemned in the strongest of terms (rightly so) while openly practicing adultery and fornication is considered normal and acceptable. People use vulgarities as a regular way to talk, while the same people will craft a list of the politically correct terminology for the rest of us. People can be brazenly naked and immodest, openly rail against parents, engage in debauchery and drinking parties … but don’t you dare mistreat an animal! Ours is a culture in which the egg of an eagle or the home of a spotted owl is more valuable than a child in the womb.<\/p>\n
“Arbitrary” means that something is subject to one’s own will. The only thing that matters is one’s own personal discretion – on a societal level “arbitrary” is still subjective, but takes on more of a mob mentality. The mob decides what is right and wrong and then intimidates and punishes any who differ. The bottom line is that there are no real, substantive standards by which anything is judged other than our own capricious desires.<\/p>\n
Jesus provides the solution to these problems. Not only does He provide the standard, He saves us from our sins and cleans up the mess that we made. Now, as much as at any time, we need to be proclaiming the gospel. Truly, the good news is here, and it will free us from the shackles bound upon us by a world that doesn’t know the extent of its own blindness.<\/p>\n
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you<\/em>” (Matthew 5:10-12)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Doy Moyer Society treats morality in an arbitrary fashion. Racism is condemned in the strongest of terms (rightly so) while openly practicing adultery and fornication is considered normal and acceptable. People use vulgarities as a regular way to talk, while the same people will craft a list of the politically correct terminology for the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-42689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-morality"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":91643,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-god-immoral-for-killing-the-canaanites\/","url_meta":{"origin":42689,"position":0},"title":"Is God Immoral for Killing the Canaanites?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Judge of All the Earth God is the Judge of all the earth. He does not kill anyone arbitrarily, and when He does take a life out of this world (Genesis 15:16), it is always just and right. If God commanded the killing of the Canaanites,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28000,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-source-of-morality\/","url_meta":{"origin":42689,"position":1},"title":"The Source of Morality","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 2:12-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Where does the concept of right and wrong come from? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Why are some things \u201cright\u201d and other things \u201cwrong?\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul points out that the Gentiles were able by nature to know right from wrong - Romans 2:14-15 II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Where morality doesn\u2019t come from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67263,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/morality-without-godliness\/","url_meta":{"origin":42689,"position":2},"title":"Morality Without Godliness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Kings 6:24-31 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some people have a pretty good sense of morality and yet are not interested in following God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For example, not all atheists are immoral people \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But there is a problem with the consistency of their moral standards. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jehoram \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jehoram was not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93721,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-why-gods-judgment-through-the-bears-was-righteous\/","url_meta":{"origin":42689,"position":3},"title":"Notes on Why God\u2019s Judgment Through the Bears Was Righteous","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Bento (based on an AI-generated list) The \"children\" were not little kids The Hebrew word \u05e0\u05b0\u05e2\u05b8\u05e8\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd (na'arim) can refer to: young men, servants, military trainees, adolescents, or adults (e.g., Joseph at 17 is called a na'ar). The same word describes Ishmael as a teenager, David as a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92496,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-meant-by-a-law-unto-themselves\/","url_meta":{"origin":42689,"position":4},"title":"What is meant by “a law unto themselves”?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What does this part of Romans 2:14 mean? I highlighted the part I don't understand. Romans 2:14 KJV \"For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.\" Answer: \"For when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19579,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-care-about-the-bible-but-dont-you-see-the-cruelty-in-killing-animals-for-food\/","url_meta":{"origin":42689,"position":5},"title":"I don’t care about the Bible, but don’t you see the cruelty in killing animals for food?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am not concerned as to what the Bible says or not about animals, it contradicts itself. However, I am looking at human behavior and their attitude toward meat.\u00a0 We don't really care where it comes from, as long as it is cheap.\u00a0 We don't see the torture, abuse,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42689\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}