Mary Davis reviews a BBC Radio 4 programme in which a group of twenty-somethings share their thoughts about morality
According to a recent Savanta ComRes survey on morality for the BBC, the thing that is most likely to define what you think is right and wrong is your age, rather than your background or whether you have a religion.
I was intrigued as soon as I heard this trail on Radio 4: a diverse group of young people would be debating what it means to live a good life and trying to come up with nine ‘moral maxims’ to live by. Diverse in terms of race, religion and background – but, as students and recent graduates, all the same age. Why Nine Truths rather than Ten Commandments? ‘Why not?!’ said radio and TV correspondent, Sima Kotecha, who chaired the discussion.
The topic was divided into three mini-debates, each tackled by a different panel of young people who had to present their three summary ‘truths’ at the end of the evening. The participants were passionate, amusing, honest and respectful of each other.
Authenticity – what does it mean to be your true authentic self?
First up, that slippery concept, authenticity. In my view, the topic of authenticity is far too focused on self to be a sensible starting point for a discussion about truth, morality and humanity. However, that’s where it began. For these twenty-somethings, authenticity seemed to be a combination of expressing your real emotions and beliefs – and a ‘what you see is what you get’ genuineness. In other words (putting it negatively), not repressed and not fake.
The panel described when they felt they were at their most authentic. For a young Muslim graduate, it was when he prays for something he really wants; for a single mum studying politics, when she allows her young daughter to ‘be who she wants to be’. A female digital media student said that she’s only her ‘true self’ when she’s alone. She said that, as an African, she often has to put on her ‘white voice’ to survive and fit in, and twist herself so that others relate well to her.
Identity – who are you?
While the first group went off to come up with their three ‘truths’, the second panel of five students and recent graduates started on the topic of identity. They agreed that labels – for example, female, British, Muslim, middle class, left wing – are unhelpful. (Although, ironically, the members of the first group all opted for labels as they described themselves and their views.)
This panel agreed that our identity is more to do with our opinions and ideas, with the life experiences we’ve had, with the personal characteristics we value and with our personality. Sima Kotecha introduced the idea of British values. The suggestion that British values might include things such as freedom, equality and diversity produced murmurs of scepticism from the audience. They felt these values were not exclusively British and that British society is very far from living up to these aspirations.
Morality – what is right and wrong?
The final panel discussed: Where do we get our moral code from? How do we work out what’s right and wrong? Are religions a help? Is it difficult being religious in an increasingly secular society? Should those who have no faith accommodate views that come from a God they don’t believe in?
Organised religion was generally seen as negative. A non-practising Sikh felt that religion informed his views but didn’t shape him. His was basically a ‘do unto others’ type of morality but without the dogmas and practices of formal religion. When the atheist on this panel was asked, ‘Where do you get your moral code from then?’, his reply was honest, ‘I suppose it’s whatever I want it to be.’ ‘Is there an absolute right?’ ‘Absolutely not.’ The audience laughed at both answers, though it wasn’t clear whether they were laughing because the comment was sharp and witty – or because they saw the deep logical flaw in a relativist position being so absolute.
The results
Each panel of five young people came back with three ‘truths’ on their topic – statements about humanity and rules for living. These are the nine they came up with:
What does it means to be authentic?
• We are the most morally concerned generation but we are reckless because we are free. [The thinking was that today’s young people care if their employer has a policy on mental health, for example, but recognise that they are less disciplined than previous generations.]
• Our life has been a string of different experiences. We don’t know the journeys that others are on. No judgement. But at some point we may walk away.
• The cost of authenticity is the sea of judgement.
Who are you?
• Identity is not the boxes people put you in.
• My pain is worth more than your reading. [I’m still not sure what this meant.]
• Identity is who you are in the present.
Religious vs secular morality
• Love is at the forefront.
• If you’re not taking any action, how can you take the right action? [This was about the pros and cons of neutrality.]
• Are right and wrong absolute? Absolutely not.
Hmm. Those truths are not going to change the world – but expecting them to come up with Nine Truths to rival the Ten Commandments in under an hour was asking a lot…
As I listened to the debates, the verses from the end of the book of Judges kept coming to mind: ‘In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes’ (Judges 21:25).
These young people were passionate about integrity, meaning, acceptance, justice – yet the arbiter of morality for most of them was what they themselves felt was right. ‘All the people did what was right in their own eyes.’ Without a higher being or someone greater than yourself, without a God, then there’s not really much alternative.
Worshipping integrity and authenticity almost inevitably results in egotism and a rejection of logic. Several of the young people expressed the opinion that we should not judge anyone else – and yet, if someone held an opinion which didn’t fit with theirs, they said they would ‘cut them off’ or say ‘you can’t be part of my life’. That may be authentic – but it is not logical.
It reminds me of God’s question to Jonah: ‘And should I not be concerned about Nineveh … in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left’ (Jonah 4:11). God was concerned about those 120,000 Ninevites who were so confused – and is surely as equally concerned about the millions of confused people today.
Final thoughts
The young people in our churches are growing up in a tough world. Believing that there is a God is unpopular. Loving and serving Jesus as the one true God is deeply unpopular. Daring to put your head above the parapet and suggest that, when it comes to something like abortion, not everyone agrees with the prevailing opinion will probably mean being ostracised by at least some people.
Attempting to defend the Bible’s view on marriage, homosexual practice, same-sex marriage is only for the brave. Taking part in ‘first contact’ evangelism at university, putting yourself out there in front of your peers and discussing hot topics takes real courage. We must redouble our prayers and continue to encourage and equip the young Christians in our churches and families.
Perhaps an even greater challenge is how our churches reach this generation of young people. They are like the ‘sheep without a shepherd’ in Mark 6:34.
Jesus had compassion on them – just as God had been concerned for the Ninevites. Each generation has less knowledge of the God of the Bible than the one before. Are we ‘talking their language’ enough in the way we present the gospel to them? When we meet an unbelieving twenty-something, do we talk to them about authenticity, identity and what it means to live a good life? Do our churches do that as we present the person of Jesus and his promise of salvation? Are we living those truths out in our neighbourhoods and places of work?
The shepherd-less sheep in our society desperately need the wonderful truths of the gospel. They need to see how Jesus is the one who is truly authentic, how He is the one who shows us what perfect love is. We need to communicate the wonder and beauty of having the identity as a child of God, and the perfect freedom that comes from loving and serving Him.
NINE TRUTHS
BC Radio 4
7 November 2019, 8.00 pm
Available for a year on catch-up at https:// www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000bncc
Mary Davis is a freelance editor, wife of CJ, member of St Nicholas Church, Tooting, in London (where CJ is the minister) and mum of three.
