Mekelle Tenney
What constants exist in society today? I would like to think that we have principles, values, and ideals that do not change. Family, freedom, justice, and morality are constants that society should be able to depend on. Yet society, with the help of government, has successfully began to change the very ideals that we have come to depend on for stability.We used to be able to see choices as black and white, wrong and right. Now most issues are moving to the grey area where they are left to the interpretation of the masses.
A good example of this would be same-sex marriage. In just 30 years the percentage of American’s who support same sex marriage and the percentage that does not have switched, with the majority of Americans now in support. Because the masses have changed their minds society has now changed what is acceptable. Sociology defines this as the theory of social constructivism. The idea that everything is subject to change. So morality is defined not by principles but by the current generation. This way of thinking poses one of the biggest threats to freedom today.
There is no way for a society to change its foundation and still maintain the same outcomes. If we intend to maintain a society that values family, freedom, justice, and morality we cannot change the way we define them. These must be seen as society’s constants. We have to understand that some definitions do not change.
A great American once said, “Doesn’t matter what the press says. Doesn’t matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world — “No, you move.”
This is where we are currently at as a nation. The judicial system is telling us that we must accept same-sex marriage as right. Our job is to maintain a clear vision of right and wrong and continue to make a stand for it.
Ronald Reagan stated “They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what is morally right.”
As a nation we have to recognize that there is right and there is wrong. Morality is not dictated by the social construct of the masses, it is not defined by a government. Recognizing the need for universal constants is necessary to maintain a stable society.