Two Levels of Right and Wrong

I have often heard debates about whether or not there is any absolute standard of right and wrong.   This may be an over simplification, but one side seems to claim that what's right is right, what's wrong is wrong, and it applies to all people at all times.  The other side is more prone to claim that what's right and wrong depends on the situation, time, and people with no (or very few) absolute standards.  This argument seems to mostly come up in religious vs. secular discussions.

Another example of this kind of dichotomy is the contrast between legalism and license (not to be confused with licentiousness).  Legalism is the view where your status with God depends on your ability to follow God's commandments, laws, and ordinances.  License (sometimes referred to as liberty) holds the view that your standing with God depends less on what you do, but is mostly based on where your heart is.  This issue seems to pop up mostly in the faith vs. works debates between different churches such as Evangelicalism and Mormonism.

A similar discussion involves defining Iron Rod Mormons vs. Liahona Mormons (also see here).  Iron Rod Mormons are those who view the gospel as taught by the scriptures and General Authorities to be a sure path, while the Liahona Mormons tend to view Church teachings more as guidelines to help them figure out their own path.  Among LDS themed blogs I've seen this distinction made over and over again.

I am no philosopher or theologian and don't believe I'm qualified to speak of these issues in any more depth than I already have (and I'm most likely already in over my head), but I do feel qualified to speak on how I view all of this.   One problem I've always had in choosing which side I feel is more correct is that it seemed both sides were true in some respect or other.  While I've always more closely identified with the absolute-right-and-wrong-legalistic-iron-rod side of things, I've also always seen lots of value in the other side.  In a way I felt someway at odds between these two different positions.

Recently, I've noticed in the scriptures places where both sides are featured.   As a result, I'm coming more to the conclusion that these are actually false dichotomies.  It's not an either or proposition, but both are important and correct within their own respective spheres of influence.  I've come to refer to this insight as "The Two Levels of Right and Wrong."  While I may be late in coming to this realization, I'd still like to share what I've learned.   In future posts I'll go into more detail about what all of this actually means (don't want to turn these posts into novels after all).

Stay tuned.