“As for the new ideologies,” he warned, “the newly invented Wrongs and
Rights, does no one see the catch? If there is no real Wrong and Right, nothing
good or bad in itself, none of these ideologies can be better or worse than
another. For a better moral code can only mean one which comes nearer to
some real or absolute code. If there is no objective standard, then our choice
between one ideology and another becomes a matter of arbitrary taste. Our
battle for democratic ideal against Nazi ideals has been a waste of time, because
the one is no better than the other. When there is no objective Right or Wrong,
each race or class can invent its own code or ideology just as it pleases.”
Soon after this fellow British novelist George Orwell gave us a warning of
a dystopian future – 1984 – a world of moral confusion sliding into groupthink
and absolute control of people’s lives.
Since then we have careened from the drug-addled ‘60s to today’s angry
protestors who tolerate only one distorted view of the world. All of this has
tracked a downward spiral in church (temple, synagogue and mosque) attendance and a rising hostility to religion throughout much of the world. The pagans are still very much with us.
But still Christmas comes. Hearts are forever touched by twinkling lights,
a spirit of good will for all, and a sense that God still is born into our hearts
every day – in spite of all the Santa Claus commercialism and denial bent on
drowning out the story and the carols.
Doubt and cynicism forever linger. Hope remains the eternal gift.