Every Man Did That Which Was Right In His Own Eyes
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
This phrase, "Every Man Did That Which Was Right In His Own Eyes," appears five times in the Old Testament's Book of Judges: starting in 1:6; then 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; and ending in the last chapter - 21:25. Usually, it is prefaced by - "In those days there was no king in Israel" meaning there were no strong leaders who also carried moral authority because they lived according to the Law of Moses. When leaders are either wishy-washy weaklings or openly immoral, the people quickly learn that they can do whatever they think they can get away with. Story after story in the Book of Judges tell how the Israelites, who had received God's revelation of the Law through Moses, chose instead the path of "Situation Ethics" and moral relativism.
Just a few years before the era of Judges, as Joshua was reaching the end of his life, he challenged the Israelites - "If it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). The people replied - "we also will serve the Lord; for he is our God" (v. 18b). But it didn't take long after Joshua died for them to turn away from serving the true and living God, the Lord, and begin serving idols.
The birth of Jesus Christ ushered in a new era for mankind: the Incarnation signaled God's in-person revelation to us humans, setting us free from the bondage to sin. Later, however, with the Age of Reason, the notion arose that human reason can understand everything that exists, the earth, sun, moon, and stars, and this led to the notion that if an idea couldn't be grasped rationally or by our five senses, it wasn't real - it didn't exist: materialism. This period of time was accompanied by the notion of religious and political toleration: we should "live and let live," accepting other people whose beliefs differ from ours if they will also tolerate our beliefs.
But if beliefs can't be broken down into rational, logical steps, then rationalism and materialism would conclude that they aren't real, they're just imaginary. So toleration easily morphs into relativism: it doesn't really matter what you believe or even if you believe, it's merely a matter of personal preference and choice. If this is correct, then there are no moral absolutes, no right or wrong, no good or evil, simply what works for you - "whatever turns you on."
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In the last 75 to 100 years, the U.S. has changed from a nation where nearly everyone believed in Christianity and attended church regularly to being a place where the majority has no morals and no absolutes: "Every Man Does That Which Is Right In His Own Eyes." In the 1950s, when "In God We Trust" was stamped on our coins, President Eisenhower infamously said something to the effect - "Everyone should believe in the God of his choice, and it doesn't matter which one." But if truth and error, right and wrong really exist, then it does matter very much which God we choose to serve.
The past century has also witnessed the struggle between Western Judeo-Christian beliefs and atheistic socialism/communism. Thirty years ago when the Iron Curtain came down and the Soviet Union collapsed, it seemed that the West had won. But had Judeo-Christian beliefs really won? Or had harsh socialism merely morphed into a honey-coated secularism?
While the state provides you with food, housing, education, transportation, medical care, etc., you're lulled into thinking - "This is all fine with me, so why fight the system? Why not just go along to get along?" There's a saying - "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." But we're not flies, are we... or are we still rational creatures with free will that can resist the enticements of "free stuff" in order to hold fast to our beliefs in God, in truth and righteous, holy living.
As we're beginning to see, those who modern society deems deplorable or too troublesome or undeserving to take up space in nursing homes or too expensive to keep alive, the elite can pass laws that let them make a decision to eliminate by means of euthanasia: simply administer an injection or give them a pill, and it's over and done with.
As Christians, we must stand firm in the faith, be watchful and vigilant. Jesus said - "The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly" (John 10:10). A robber steals by assaulting you with brute force, but a thief uses stealthy means to steal from you without your being aware of it. The devil is such a thief: he often uses honey instead of vinegar to entrap us with excesses in food, sex, drugs, love of money, leisure, etc. Then we're trapped, we're hooked in compulsive-addictive behaviors. We've lost our faith and our freedom to resist.
St. Peter wrote - "Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Satan's power over mankind was broken by the Incarnation and the Resurrection, but we're still fighting little skirmishes, wiping-up operations with his demons. Stay strong and keep fighting!
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is among us! He is and ever shall be!
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