Whatever happened to absolute truths? Why is everything gray now?

Answer 1

Without a belief in God there's no basis for morality.
Truth is absolute.
When a wreck occurs at a 4way stop, 4 bystanders tell four different stories about what they see. They all think they perceived the truth. In fact, only one thing truly happened.
Everything isn't gray! We choose to believe it is.
Truth is absolute but men deny God so there's no basis for the truth.

Answer 2

There is no such thing as an absolute truth. There is no black or white. It's whatever a person believes. Tell me, why is something good? Because people have been brought up like that. Why? Because in the beginning, the majority of people would make a decision and it would be kept as such. Why is something bad? Because the lesser people chose that and it since it wasn't what the majority wanted, it was deemed bad. Everything is gray because it never had color.

EDIT: Didn't notice autumlovr's post. I pretty much agree with him/her.

Answer 3

There has never been absolute truths. In the past it may have seemed that there were absolute truths only because a small part of the world was known to you and those who made the "rules" of truth.
I guess all I can say with certainty is that the more I know, the more I know I don't know.

Answer 4

Absolutes probably went out because of the Information Age. Now, we understand the world is more complex than we mere humans can ever understand because there's so much information at our fingertips.

We now know that we'll never know everything.


What's interesting is that many here equate being Christian with being moral. I can tell you that's far from the truth. Just look at the history of my people (the Eastern Cherokee,) and see what many of its followers did. I was raised Baptist, and was practically shunned after my parents divorced. They didn't even like me because I was half Native. If the Christians had a monopoly on morality, I wouldn't have to keep reporting on the child-molesting priests all over the state of Connecticut. Just saying...

Answer 5

Nothing happened. People are just realizing that there are very few absolute truths and most things in life are in the shades of gray. So our perceptions have changed. Not the truths.

Answer 6

Because we are becoming more educated and aware of the world of color around us. We do NOT live in a black and white world where everything "seems" to be a clear cut issue which it never has been really. What made it SEEM easy and so black and white is that most of our soceity was suppressed. Men dictated the way things were going to be and that's the way it was. And only white men with money had power or rights. Women, children and black folks weren't even recognized as anything other than chattel (property) in recent history of this U.S. We had a war to overcome the slavery and women didn't have any personal voice or power nor could they vote in their own country till 1920's. We still have a long, long way to go to recognize and respect our children as people and to protect them sufficiently with our laws.

While those in control and in power lived their black and white lives, the rest of the society was disenfranchised from any power or rights to live any other life other than what roles they were assigned.

We've since fought for human rights and recognition in our society and grown brains, some have died, many have sufferred and still do to be counted and to have the right to live life afforded the same freedoms and rights.
Life IS NOT SIMPLE NOR IS ANYTHING IN IT ABSOLUTE.

The only absolute truth might be somebody's absolute perception of it. The fact is that each of us is only one color. There's billions of others.
That's a lot of complications, a lot of color and a lot of light to deal with, but it beats the hell out of being blind.

Answer 7

Absolute truth exists only in the realm of childhood. When we reach adolescence, changes in the way our minds operate allow us to see that life and ethics are a bit more complicated than they seemed when everything was either "good" or "bad."

It's a frightening time to live through, this change, and a number of people cling to the childhood ethics of absolutism because the alternative is too terrifying to contemplate.

Answer 8

Not all of us are in the gray area! I cannot live with gray areas in my life! I am too much of a realist for this. Plus, I do not strive to please anyone anymore and so, I want absolutes!

I think the reason everyone sits in the gray area is because they will not have to defend their stance! Plus, most all can accept the gray areas whereas, standing firm can get you blasted with words! Even so, I would much rather be blasted than a hypocrit or, a no brainer!!

Answer 9

Part of the fault lies with a man of the cloth. His name is William Sloan Coffin and he is the "father" of the school of situational ethics where nothing is black or white, but just varying shades of grey. He taught at Yale University many years ago and was the main reason why William F. Buckley wrote the book, "God And Man At Yale" which was a rejoinder to the stuff that Coffin was peddling. Since that time he became Pastor Emeritus at the Riverside Church in Manhattan which is considered the most liberal congregation in NYC and has been so for most of my life. In my childhood the joke around Brooklyn was that Riverside Church was so liberal, some of the congregation didn't even believe in God.
Coffin trained a lot of "disciples" and they have achieved tenure at a lot of universities to pass on his nonsense. I think he should have been tried and convicted for crimes against humanity.

Answer 10

Truth (like beauty) is in the eye of the beholder. Your perception of the truth is often very often different from the next person's. It's often a matter of perspective. So, truth is what you perceive it to be. There are very few absolute truths. Gravity, perhaps, and death. And with space travel and cryogenics, even they are in doubt!