THE COST OF VIRTUE

 

 

Sam and Pearl Oliner, both professors of sociology at California State University, are authors of one of the most highly regarded works on altruism, "The Altruistic Personality." The book was the product of the Oliner’s lifetime of study of non-Jewish rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust. They themselves had been hidden by non-Jews in Poland. (Dennis Prager, “Who Would Hide a Jew if Nazis Took Over America?” Townhall.com)

 

During an interview, Dennis Prager had asked them:

 

·       "Knowing all you now know about who rescued Jews during the Holocaust, if you had to return as a Jew to Poland and you could knock on the door of only one person in the hope that they would rescue you, would you knock on the door of a Polish lawyer, a Polish doctor, a Polish artist or a Polish priest?"

 

Although the Olinger’s are secular Jews, the husband responded:

 

·       "Polish priest." And his wife immediately added, "I would prefer a Polish nun."

 

Prager, who has been obsessed with the question, “who today would hide a Jew,” believes that, with the weakening of Judeo-Christian influence, fewer would be willing to risk their lives.

 

Why hasn’t today’s secularism shown promise of producing people with such moral fortitude? Secularism is committed to moral relativism, which denies the existence of any universal and objective moral laws. Therefore, we must make up the rules as we go along. Consequently, “goodness” and “virtue” have no independent existence apart from our creative efforts.

 

Although many agree that moral sentiments and judgments have been written into our DNA, secularists believe that blind purposeless evolution has done the writing. Why then follow the whims of chance, since it lacks both truth and authority?

 

The secularist appeals to “enlightened” pragmatism. By this cost/benefit proposal, what confers the greatest benefit to the majority (or to the elites) should be deemed moral. However, pragmatic reasoning has often proved to be self-centered, for one’s own benefit. Such a cost/ benefit analysis will inevitably conclude that we will be better off sending the Jews on their way.

 

For the pragmatist to live according to their personal sense of virtue is nothing more than self-righteousness. Why? Because, for them virtue is no more than a self-created, self-enhancing illusion, justified only by its benefits.

 

Humanist and author of The Humanist Manifesto II, Paul Kurtz, claimed that the pragmatic benefits are the only possible justification for morality:

 

·       How are these principles [of equality, freedom, honesty, morality, etc.] to be justified? They are not derived from a divine or natural law nor do they have a special metaphysical [beyond the material world] status. They are rules offered to govern how we shall behave. They can be justified only by reference to their results [benefits]. (Preamble)

 

Is there any reason to expect that such a morality will stand against genocide and the threat to one’s own family? The finger of the Oliners will once again point in the direction of the church and the convent where a higher Truth in honored.