Is your ethical judgment actually based on taste?

In his recent magisterial and book, The Rise Triumph of the Modern Self, Carl Trueman makes the point that in the absence of an agreed ‘sacred order’ ethics become simply a matter of taste. This explains the difficulties evangelical Christians face understanding and responding to the changed attitudes of contemporary society, for example in respect of human sexuality or assisted suicide.

The supremacy of ‘taste’ in contemporary ethics was made evident to me last month when there was extensive coverage of the annual dolphin hunt in the Faroe Islands. Some 1,400 dolphins were corralled into a bay and then speared to death. My initial reaction was one of distaste. I like dolphins, know that they are sentient and intelligent creatures, and have a deep-rooted opposition to whaling as a result of the Save the Whale campaigns of my childhood. The reports led to strong calls for this annual hunt to be banned.

Ephemeral taste

I realised that my initial ‘taste’ reaction needed to be interrogated by Scripture. These dolphins were not members of an endangered species. In creation, God gave mankind dominion over the earth. After the flood, he gave us the right to take animals for food. Although the Old Testament law declared whales and dolphins unclean, because of their symbolic association with the chaotic sea monster, the gospel declares all food clean. The slaughter of the dolphins was no worse than that of millions of animals in British abattoirs every week. Unlike many of these, they had certainly enjoyed a ‘free range’ life. In an episode of ‘Clarkson’s Farm’, three ewes that had not conceived were sent to slaughter. As they were taken away Jeremy was moist-eyed. However, the programme ended with him enjoying a shepherd’s pie. God has given us meat to enjoy, and it is hypocritical to condemn the hunting of dolphins, but not the slaughter of sheep.

Taking our lead from Scripture

If, as Christians, we are to understand and address the many ethical issues that we face in our post-Christian culture we need to take our lead from Scripture not just from taste. We need the truth of God’s word to correct our tastes. As Bible-believing Christians our understanding of the demands of the truths will often be out of line with the taste of the unbelieving world around us.

This is especially true at this cultural moment regarding human sexuality. Little more than 50 years ago public opinion found same-sex relationships distasteful. Today affirming a gay lifestyle is a matter of good taste, and those who refuse to do so will be characterised as phobic. Relentless positive media presentation makes it hard to resist this pressure. Both ITV’s Granchester and BBC’s Vigil recently depicted gay relationships with such sympathy as to imply that only the most hard-hearted would question their right to find love.

If we are to stand against the cultural tidal wave that threatens to overwhelm us, with many denominations affirming same-sex relationships, it is vital that we help each other to base our convictions on truth and not taste. In our fallenness we inevitably find some Biblical teaching personally distasteful. Where this is the case we need to pray that God would reform our tastes to accord with His word, which reflects His holy and perfect character.

Several years ago a member of my church was from the Faroe Islands. He showed me his holiday photographs, which included the annual whale hunt. I couldn’t help expressing my distaste. He rightly corrected me. If we are to stand firm we need to be willing to correct one another when our ethical judgments are based on nothing more than ephemeral taste.