I remember visiting a person and discussing the moral implications of abortion. My interlocutor held the position that abortion ought to be legal because a child is not considered to be living until the child is outside the mother’s womb.
So I proceeded to ask who has the authority to decide when a human person is to be considered a human person. Thinking for a moment he responded by saying it’s simply the secular law. “So, who is the lawgiver or law creator then? And by what authority does the lawgiver decide that a law is objectively just?” I asked. He responded “It just is?” What an odd answer.
The Crux of the Matter
I wish to discuss 2 questions in brief:
- What is secularity?
- Are secular values objectively always true and what is the standard by which we decide if they’re true?
Let’s start with the first question.