Close the edifice donated to universalism at Turtle Bay, and pass out cell phones to all leaving.
An essay on the UN and moral relativism by Jamie Berk and Dr.Manfred Gerstenfeld as published by the JCPA.
The Moral Relativism of the United Nations
Filed Under: Anti-Semitism,Israel
No 118, 3 Shvat 5776
- Moral relativists justify immoral practices. Such justifications can lead to extreme implementations of moral relativism, for example, equating the values of the Nazis with those of the Allies, indirectly justifying the Holocaust, or justifying it by stating that the Holocaust was understandable in the context of German culture at the time.
- UN member states are legally committed to the idea of universal equality. The United Nations, its affiliated organizations, and its representatives have, however, become a repeat abuser of moral relativism. This key tool to undermine human values is particularly used in actions against Israel.
- Instead of looking inward and ending their own abuses, UN member states, led by the Arab bloc, use the United Nations as a global forum to demonize the lone democracy in the Middle East, applying a radically different moral standard to Israel than they do to their own policies and actions.
- The UN General Assembly, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and UNESCO all extensively apply moral relativism to Israel. The superfluous existence of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) embodies moral relativism. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon implements different standards for Israel than for other countries.
The United Nations, its affiliated organizations, and its representatives pervasively and recurrently employ moral relativism to attack Israel. Moral relativism is a key tool used to undermine human values. According to a Stanford University definition, moral relativism “is associated with an empirical thesis that there are deep and widespread moral
disagreements and a metaethical thesis that the truth or justification of moral judgments is not absolute, but relative to the moral standard of some person or group of persons.” Philosopher James Velleman defines moral relativity as occurring when: “There is no universally valid morality, only moralities plural, each having merely local validity.”
Many use moral relativism to accuse Israel of alleged “crimes.” States often do so while whitewashing their own behavior, which is often similar in nature to their accusations against Israel or even far worse. They frequently also ignore or whitewash elements of the huge criminality inherent in large parts of the Muslim world. This may include mass murders, racial and other discrimination, extreme abuse of women including honor killings, as well as slavery, incitement, and other major violence.
Once one accepts the principle of moral relativism as legitimate, one is on the road to structurally undermining democracy and core human values. The application of double standards is a broader concept than that of moral relativism. Whereas the latter strongly emphasizes values, the use of double standards does not necessarily focus on them.
Moral relativists justify immoral practices. Such justifications can lead to extreme implementations of moral relativism, for example, equating the values of the Nazis with those of the Allies, indirectly justifying the Holocaust, or justifying it by stating that the Holocaust was understandable in the context of German culture at the time.
The United Nations Charter, the organization’s founding document, was ratified in June 1945, only a month after the Allies declared victory over the Nazis in Europe. The second paragraph of the Charter’s preamble proclaims, “We the people of the United Nations determined … to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.” Similarly, article 2 of “Chapter I: Purposes and Principles” of the Charter states, “The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.” Yet, in the case of Israel, this founding principle seems to not apply.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. Article 1 of the UDHR asserts, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
