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RE: Schools don't teach moral relativism.
"The appalling fact is that the teacher actually told my son his thinking was backward when he stood his ground and said stealing of any kind is wrong."
Oftentimes it is considered a sign of intellectual maturity in children, when they consider other things than rules and consequences to evaluate the merit of an action. This is not to say that one can't legitimately say that stealing is wrong regardless of the outcome, but the critical thought that is associated with questioning rules is what the teacher was probably trying to encourage. There are non-theistic ethical systems that attempt to justify the existence of such unbreakable rules, but they tend to run into some interesting problems. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deontology ) The teacher wasn't necessarily looking to promote a relativist standpoint, but offer another perspective on things.
I personally think that the child was right to steal, it doesn't offer me much comfort that the person who let the child starve to death is said to be doing something wrong. Granted if there were some form of reward for the child’s behavior in some far off future seeing the child’s actions as wrong is more justifiable. However, I don't see much reason to believe that such a system of rewards has made itself known enough for it to justify such a position.
RE: Schools don't teach moral relativism.
http://www.ladiesagainstfeminism.com/artman/publish/article_168.shtml
http://www.truthnet.org/Christianity/Apologetics/Morality1/
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RE: Schools don't teach moral relativism.
It's obvious how theism provides such a reference. Of course, you have also identified a big con of such a system (or the abuse of it, at least) in that people seek to justify all sorts of horrible things by claiming divine command
Even though I am a devout Christian (Just a sinner saved by Grace!), I was very careful to avoid any sort of theism in my comment, save perhaps my commentary on evolution. I agree with you about the 'abuse of the system', and I will tell you right now that abuse of the 'system' still goes on. Case in point: Fred Phelps. Using him as an example, he has forgotten that God loves us all, he hates Sin..but loves us all. We can all cite many examples, from the KKK, to Radical Islam, etc. The abuse still happens. There are theological reasons why, but that's off topic.
As to Moral Relativism not being taught in the public school system, I beg to differ. My son (5th grade) was in a teacher-led discussion based on a story they read in class. The class discussion concluded it was ok for the child in the story to steal food because he was hungry and the police were wrong for arresting him. The apalling fact is that the teacher actually told my son his thinking was backward when he stood his ground and said stealing of any kind is wrong. Her words to him were merely that there are exceptions to every law.
I now have a very confused 11 year old, who I (and my ex-wife) are trying to raise to at least have some idea of right and wrong. He has an idea that things aren't so black and white. We're both trying to ensure that he understands that things *are* clear-cut, and there are systems set up to handle the misfortunate. In this affair, unfortunately, my ex- won't stand up to the school system and rebut the teacher's viewpoint. Since I'm the non-custodial parent; I have no say, so I can't get involved at the level I would like to.
I have spoken at length with many parents, and even respected (both Christian and Non-Christian alike) parenting and eductation 'experts' over the years on how schools have changed. Most feel that the schools should be doing more to enforce an idea of right and wrong. The curriculum of the system does little to teach right from wrong, and in fact quite often it teaches that certain actions are 'just fine' depending on the circumstances. Stealing is wrong--I don't care about the reason, it is still wrong. If (as in the story my child read) you are truly hungry, and ask and are denied, then the person who denies you food is committing just as heinous a wrong as you. If you want to look at it from a Christian standpoint, you look at Matthew 22:36-40:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All of the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
The person who fails to serve the one less fortunate is just as great a sinner, (for failing to act out of love) in the eyes of God.
To put it in a non-theological view: the action of failing to help those less fortunate is morally reprehensible. This does not mean doing everything for them, but rather enabling them to be self-sufficient--barring any impediments to doing so.
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