Dr. Ravi Zacharias, hailed by many as a modern-day C.S. Lewis, defended absolute truth and disputed the logic of moral relativity to a full house Saturday night at Kingsbury Hall.
He argued against the theories of such writers and philosophers as Marx, Kant and Nietczche saying, "Pluralism may be a good thing, but if it is extrapolated into moral relativism, then you are on the knife-edge of destruction."
Quoting writer G.K. Chesterton, he said, "...by rebelling against everything, he [the moral relativist] has lost his right to rebel against anything."
Zacharias also spoke about the effects of secularization on society during the speech.
"There is a very thin line between that which is sacred and that which is profane...when secularism has had its way, in the end what will happen is it will leave a society completely bereft of shame," he said.
One of the highlights of the evening came in a question-and-answer session with the audience.
One man asked about what he perceived as a conflict of morality in President Bush's judgments regarding the war in Iraq, and the potential killing of innocents.
Zacharias responded, "When you make decisions for a world where killing is already going on, you ought not to then think that by intervening in the situation it is creating killing. Sometimes intervention is needed to stop the killing."
He said, "I say to you very kindly, sir, your question is a very good one and a very painful one. There are no simple answers, but put yourself in this situation: If you walked into a room where your mother or your sister was being raped, and your only choice was to disable the man who was raping them, or to let him continue raping them, what would your choice be? I think President Bush reads the situation that sooner or later, he'll be fighting that battle either here or there."
He added, "There is one thing more important than life and that is the upholding of truth-and we may have to pay the price."
Supported by ministries all over Utah (including four ministries from the U campus) Dr. Zacharias' Saturday night appearance comes as the first of a three-part lecture titled, "In the Pursuit of Truth."
Giving speeches on both Saturday and Sunday nights, he will wrap up the series Monday night at the Weber State University Ballroom, highlighting the topic, "The Loss of Truth: The Crumbling Moral Foundation."
He is the author of several books, including "Can Man Live Without God?" and "Deliver Us From Evil."
For more information on his upcoming lectures, go to www.standingtogether.org.
scosman@chronicle.utah.edu
