Some think that moral relativism is synonymous with progress. A moral relativist thinks that there are no moral absolutes. Rather, according to them, morality is a subjective choice that varies from one society to another. I would argue however, that the opposite view which holds that there are absolute moral rules is progressive whilst moral relativism is regressive.
The discussion itself, however, is not new it is as old as the Bible. The Torah relates that after the Israelites had settled in Shittim they began to commit acts of sexual immorality with Moabite women and they also started to worship the Moabite god known as the Baal. One of the main modes of worship for this particular idol was defecating in front of it. According to the Torah all things in this universe are a mixture of positive and negative. As such the food we eat is partly made of nutrients that are absorbed into our body the rest of the food however is discarded through the digestive process and becomes feces.
On a much higher level a similar process takes place. God created the universe and within it there are areas which can be elevated and there are aspects that should be discarded. The clearly Torah delineates these two facets of the universe using the medium of positive commandments and negative commandments. The Torah is very clear about what is moral and what is not. It clearly defines areas that are good as distinct from those that are evil. After making the distinctions clear the Torah implores us to follow the path of good and to keep away from negativity and evil.
The concept of defecating as a mode of worship symbolizes the confusion between good and bad, areas that can be elevated and those that we should discard. Due to their sudden association with the retrograde world of the Moabites the Israelites fell back into a mindset of moral relativism. With this way of thinking they could not see the infinite difference between worship to the one God in the Tabernacle built by Moses and the worship of the Baal through defecation. They could not differentiate between the sexual act within the context of marriage and free-love with Moabite women.
The fact that even after witnessing the miracles that God had performed for them in the dessert the Israelites were still able to fall into moral relativism speaks to its seductiveness. The concept that there are no rules and that there is no such thing as wrong and right talks to our most basic and animalistic instincts. It was the philosophy of the ancient world that we humans have a hard time denying. When, as the Torah relates, one of the Jewish leaders publicly took a Moabite women into his tent to cohabit with her even Moses could not recall the law that applied to that man. Moral relativism clouds the thinking to the degree that even Moses was unable to think clearly.
This is the main danger of moral relativism it confuses us to the extent that it paralyses us. Not only do we not know the difference between good and bad, we also are unable to act when we must to stop others from getting hurt. Moral relativism allows the despots and thugs of this world to get away with despicable and terrible behavior.
One of the Torah’s main achievements was to pave a progressive move away from a philosophy that gave comfort to our bestial desires. It did this by giving us a system that defined the difference between good and bad, moral and immoral, ethical and unethical. The argument that elevates moral relativism as a more advanced way of thinking than the type of absolute morality the Torah offers could not be more wrong. A quick look into the Torah proves moral absolutists are in fact the real progressives.