What do you say to a family member or friend who calls you a bigot for respecting the sanctity of marriage? How do you respond to someone who says, “Abortion is wrong … for me”? Is it possible to show love to a neighbor without appearing intolerant of their lifestyle choices? Is morality just random rules from religion? Dr. Edward Sri equips us to engage relativism with truth and love, appealing to both the head and heart, in his new book, WHO AM I TO JUDGE?: Responding to Relativism with Logic and Love.
Relativism is undermining Christianity. Pope Emeritus Benedict once said, “We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one’s own ego and desires.” And Pope Francis called relativism “the spiritual poverty of our time.”
Sri explains how to address relativism, why Catholic morality is all about love and making a judgement is not judging a person’s soul, and how, in the words of Pope Francis, “relativism wounds people,” in his latest book. He addresses real freedom and real love, sharing truth with compassion, and why “I disagree” doesn’t mean “I hate you.” Sri also presents the Catholic moral tradition in a way that’s captivating and compelling, especially to young people, many of whom think of morality as a bunch of arbitrary rules from religion, assume each individual should be free to make up his own morality and balk at the slightest hint that someone might be trying to tell them what to do.
In WHO AM I TO JUDGE?, Sri encourages us to face the truth about ourselves — our faults, weaknesses, our sins — in light of the truth about God’s unwavering love for us. Indeed, the Catholic moral life is the pathway to human flourishing. Only by living the way God intended for us, by living in union with Christ, can our hearts’ deepest desires be fulfilled.
“Too often our culture confuses love with moral relativism, and it is a dangerous misunderstanding,” says Jennifer Fulwiler, author of Something Other Than God. “In this much-needed book, Dr. Edward Sri shows us that true compassion can never be separated from moral realities.”
