Those not Catholic or Christian can still heed Catholic Archbishop Georg Ganswein’s recent warnings about moral relativism’s ills. Examples of this are seen in Europe and in backlash last week against Vice President J.D. Vance. As an idea and way of life, moral relativism leads to a soul’s rot, first ambivalence followed by not believing anything worthwhile.

At a conference in Lithuania, Ganswein first articulated the dual work of faith and reason. Despite those believing that reason cannot be in harmony with faith, Ganswein said a dimming of either leads to “pathologies and the disintegration of the human person.” Ganswein further explained that reason is inherently truthful, while relativism weakens freedom as “an expression of weak and narrow-minded thinking… based on the false pride of believing humans cannot recognize the truth and the false humility of refusing to accept it.”

Ganswein spoke on a continent demonstrating chronic symptoms of relativism’s disease, equivocating about its identity. Europe contends with perhaps an insurmountable tension between its classic roots on one hand, and on the other an uncontrollable mass migration fused to a liberalism hyperaggressive in throwing off traditional order. Whether this amalgam is tenable is both a political and existential question. It appears Europe is either unable or unwilling to consider a change in course.

As for a potential solution, President Trump’s “America First” ethos could be compatible in restoring Europe. Nationalist enthusiasm is a vitality that can have positive effects culturally and perhaps economically. Europe may instead point to two world wars fueled by nationalist grievances, evidence that it grapples with past guilt. But what Europe also lacks is a strong interior faith still dynamic in the United States. It is not a coincidence that a large part of MAGA and Republican support comes from the churchgoing who believe in their country, bringing to mind the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps’ motto, ‘Pro Deo et Patria’ (“For God and Country”). If Europe has faith in God it could find belief in itself, self-respecting and not self-loathing.

If Europe lacks principled beliefs, those espousing noble ones still meet backlash. While moral relativism superficially treats all views equally, the reality is those with conservative views are subject to more scrutiny. One example is Vice President Vance, who also has a history of pointing out Europe’s sclerosis. On Oct. 29th, Vance said that he hoped his wife will be “somehow moved by the church” and convert to Christianity “because I believe in the Christian gospel.” Usha Vance, an accomplished attorney, grew up in a Hindu family but attends Catholic services with Vance  while raising their children Christian. The backlash was swift, perhaps by those angered with mere mention of the Christian gospel. Vance replied, writing on X about his wife that “She is not a Christian and has no plans to convert, but like many people in an interfaith marriage -- or any interfaith relationship—I hope she may one day see things as I do.”

The point to emphasize here is not primarily about interfaith marriage. It is the last part of Vance’s quote that subtly retorts relativism’s hostility to persuasion, its inability to civilly deal with another’s core values. In stating “I hope she may one day see things as I do,” Vance speaks not just for Christianity but more importantly for belief in general, whether it be religious belief or other principled views that animate. What is increasingly despised is having conviction that what made you as a person is worth living for, forming a moral constitution. Those who cynically mock do not have an interior belief worth showcasing to others. The idea that the source of someone’s very creation informs their choices, and that this existence is worth proclaiming and sacrificing for, is anathema to Leftist thought. In parts of the West, what can follow from this loathing is a disregard for life.

Only the Left can twist a statement of deep religious belief into a sexist attack, distorting a man’s love for family and hope for eternity into paternal ridicule. Between conservatives and radical liberals, who is more cogently able to deal with another’s beliefs while living up to their own? The answer to this concerns Ganswein and Vance.

Alan Loncar is an attorney in Macomb County, Michigan.

Image: Gage Skidmore