TRUTH, TOLERANCE

AND THE THREAT OF RELATIVISM

Bishop Paul S. Coakley

In a homily delivered in the presence of the College of Cardinals just before the 2005 conclave which elected him as Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger spoke of the threats which the new pope, whoever he might be, would have to confront. 

Among the many challenges the Church faces at the beginning of the twenty-first century, Cardinal Ratzinger observed, is what he called “the dictatorship of relativism”. 

Relativism is the philosophical position that denies that there is any objective truth, that is, any truth that is true for everyone.  It claims that there are only subjective opinions: “What is true for you is not necessarily true for me.”  We can easily see the train wreck that is waiting just around the bend!

In fact, the human mind is constructed so that we not only naturally seek to know the truth, but that we are naturally capable of grasping the truth. 

IN ONE FORM or another, relativism has been around for a long time.  Jesus testified to Pontius Pilate that he had come to bear witness to the truth.  Pilate could only respond, “What is truth?” (Jn. 18:37-38).

Relativism is an assault on the very foundations of human society and discourse.  If there is no objective truth, what happens to honesty and integrity?  What is to be the basis of human relations and human action? 

By referring to the contemporary form of this philosophical error as the “dictatorship of relativism”, Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) underlined its power and aggressive nature. 

Relativism is a danger in both religious and secular cultures.  When divorced from truth, the truth that can be grasped not only by faith but also through reason, religion runs the risk of being hijacked by various forms of extremism and fundamentalism.  An irrational religious faith and fervor can quickly turn to violence in pursuit of its goals, as the world has witnessed all too often (even in our own day).

But relativism is also at the heart of the secular culture in countries like our own.  Indeed it is often adopted with a quasi-religious fervor.  In the secular form of relativism, tolerance has trumped truth.  Since it denies any universal or objective truth, tolerance of each person’s subjective opinions and behaviors becomes the ultimate norm and principle of moral conduct.  Nowadays it is practically the ultimate insult to accuse someone of being intolerant.  And it would be very intolerant (so the argument goes) to say that same

sex unions, human cloning, abortion, pornography, or any other affront to natural law is wrong!  Indeed we do owe respect to each person and ought to tolerate their right to hold their own ideas and opinions.  But that does not deny or do away with the need to evaluate and judge the truth of those opinions.

Commenting on secular culture which has adopted a relativist creed, Pope Benedict XVI said, “In such a society the light of truth is missing; indeed, it is considered dangerous and ‘authoritarian’ to speak of truth.”  Ironically, the so-called tolerance upon which secular relativism prides itself shows itself highly intolerant toward the claims of faith or reason that the truth can be known with certainty.

Tolerance is indeed a virtue, but divorced from the truth tolerance itself becomes one of the most aggressively intolerant and corrosive forces in society.

Published The Register 9-7-2007