The Futile Judgments of the Amoral

Fightin Words ^ | September 21, 2009 | Walter Scott Hudson

[Walter Scott Hudson]

Let us approach the question from another perspective. Much as injustice against black slaves is used to discredit the men who wrote and signed the Declaration and Constitution, hypocrisy is also used to discredit advocates of social conservatism. Whether due to divorce, infidelity, homosexuality, or some other moral violation, guilty politicians, preachers, and commentators are called out for violating the family values they otherwise advocate. Often, the argument against such offenders extends to the principles they support. We are led to believe, because a man gets a divorce or has an affair, he may not credibly argue in defense of marriage. That is an exercise in ad hominem attack, assailing one’s character instead of their argument. Indeed, the value of marriage depends in no way on anyone’s conduct. So it is with the principles evoked by America’s founding fathers. Whether all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights depends in no way on the conduct of the men who found those truths to be self-evident. That anyone fails to live up to the ideals they articulate proves only they are human. The only “unfinished business” of the Constitution is to ensure its principles remain vigilantly guarded, not degraded, undone, or transformed.

[bitterohiogunclinger]

“I gather this from the pompous attitude exhibited by those who revel in moral failure as if it discredits morality. Indeed, the opposite is true; an acknowledgment of moral failure affirms the relevant moral principle.”