Lyles: Absent standards of morality, people choose self-interests

I hope you are sitting down when you read this, because once again Amy and I pretty much agree about this fundamental cultural issue.

I agree with Amy that racism is subtle and complex and that too many people give it lip service while acting in ways that perpetuate it. The racist behaviors at Poway Unified School District are a prime example about which I will devote a future column. But hypocrisy grounded in politically correctness extends beyond race. It also encompasses gender, sexual orientation and faith, to mention several.

Amy and I also agree that this hypocrisy extends beyond the media, although I believe the greatest hypocrisy in this regard is among those on the left. The further left you look, the more visible the duplicity.

I shook my head when Apple CEO Tim Cook threatened to withdraw employees from Indiana because the religious freedom law they passed posed a vague threat to gays, while Apple simultaneously expands its operations in Iran where people are imprisoned and killed for being gay (or Christian). Walmart CEO Doug McMillon was similarly two-faced by doing the same thing in Arkansas as Walmart expands operations in China where gays are similarly persecuted. Feigned outrage about the indefinite possibility of someone choosing whether to cater a wedding while turning a blind eye to the reality of people being imprisoned or killed for their sexual orientation (or their faith) is absurd, yet the media makes darlings out of these and other pretenders.

More than half of adults in this country say they oppose abortion. During the time it takes to read Amy’s column and mine, more than 600 women will have been subjected to forced abortions (against their will) in China and several hundred will have been forcibly sterilized without anesthesia. Where is the outrage? While I agree with Amy that racial (or gender) bias may be part of the reason for American apathy regarding such issues, it is not the entire answer.

A couple of decades ago a newspaper editor told me, “People care most about what is going on in their own back yard. Then come regional or statewide concerns. People care even less about national issues and are generally disinterested in events in other countries unless the issues involve someone they already know.” Most people, including journalists, don’t care about what’s happening in China simply because it is in China. Race may play a small role, but Americans are equally as disinterested in the abuses in Ukraine, or the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina, all of which involved Caucasians. The emergence of a narcissistic culture, alongside America’s growing embrace of moral relativism have only increased this dynamic.

It is amazing how few liberals — especially black liberals — make an effort to stop the carnage in Chicago where blacks are murdered by other blacks by the dozens almost every weekend. The most plausible explanation is that liberals only speak out when their own selfish special interests are in play. However, none of this should come as a surprise. It is the inevitable result of the secular progressive movement.

Without universally accepted standards of morality, people are choosing standards that serve their selfish best interests rather than the common good. Prejudice and bias in all their forms are merely a means to achieve selfish ends. The Judeo-Christian culture upon which our country was founded and is spurned by liberals today will re-gain its appeal as progressive initiatives continue to lead to increased prejudice and people realize that a society based on “love your neighbor as you love yourself” is our final answer.