"T.R. Fehrenbach: No personal sin in the New Morality"

Excerpted and Adapted from: San Antonio EXPRESS - NEWS, Saturday, June 9, 2007.

"This is a tale not of two cities or two nations, but of two moralities.

"Once upon a time, there were moral and immoral people in the land.

"There was one morality for all, and those who didn't observe it, however defiant, knew they were being bad.

"That's not quite true today.

"The creation of a newer morality has abolished personal sin and guilt.

"The Old Morality, which I shall call the traditional Judeo - Christian, might be summarized by Chapter 20 of the Second Book of Moses, as the Ten Commandments.

"These Ten Commandments are not purely Hebrew or Christian; most human societies -- Asian, Indo - Eurpopean, Greek or Roman -- adopted something similar.

"The Hebrews were unique only in their monotheism, not in jealous gods.

"However, until very recently anyone who broke the Commandments, however willingly, usually considered himself or herself unrighteous or wrong.

"They [the Ten Commandments] were the gold standard of social conduct.

"Which takes us to the New Morality, which goes more or less like this:

"The moral person must be concerned for the economically challenged and socially marginalized -- that is, the plight of the poor and problems of minorities, as well as dangers to the environment.

"If one is moral in this way, much must be forgiven.

"Theology is irrelevant; sexual mores immaterial.

"The New Morality is a form of religious tinkering and will no doubt spark a counterreformation.

"I have no problem with the social Gospel, which is inherent in Christianity.

"Except that it is absolutely no excuse to discard the old Commandments."