“Why can’t I do it too — everyone else is?”

We’ve probably heard or said something like this before. It’s a pretty typical question when someone else is doing something we’re told not to do. We might respond to it saying that just because someone else does something doesn’t make it right. Hopefully, in time we come to understand the truth of this.

But questions like this might well persist into adulthood. Frequently, they are used as an attempt to justify going against some aspect of the Church’s moral teaching. This is especially the case when Catholics witness non-Catholic Christians living without the same moral teachings we have, or when society has become comfortable with certain forms of behavior.

It is especially prevalent regarding less popular, or more difficult teachings; like for example, divorce and remarriage, cohabitation and contraception, to name but a few. Added to this there is the nearly constant speculation that exists about the Church changing some of its moral teachings to better “fit-in” with the teaching of other Christian denominations or the modern world.

Even priests at times can feed doubt regarding the Church’s moral teaching because they themselves are uncomfortable with it. The pressure to conform to what everyone else is doing is very powerful and certainly not new. There is however, a very key point that seems to seldom be made, and yet is exceedingly important.

The Church’s moral teaching does not exist so that we can better fit in with what everyone else is doing.

It never has.

It does not draw its source from societal norms or what another religious group or even what some of the clergy are comfortable with or see as acceptable. God alone must be the basis for moral truth — as revealed in sacred Scripture or as taught by the Holy Spirit through sacred tradition.

In fact, the Church’s moral teaching is one of the hallmarks that has always set its members apart from others in society. Just look at how many times in the Gospels Jesus tells His followers that following His teaching will mean trouble for them: they will not be popular, they may be seen as “behind the times” or as troublemakers.

In the very first days of Christianity, St. Paul exhorts believers to be careful of this temptation to fit in (see chapters 4 and 5 of Ephesians as an example).

In addition, we have all the other early Christian writings, which, while not Scripture, nevertheless give us clear insight into what life was like for them and what they believed. It is rather remarkable that they didn’t seek to fit in with what everyone around them was doing morally, but clearly chose to live in another fashion altogether — even though they suffered mockery, misunderstanding or shunning.

Early Christians refused to adopt the morality of the pagan culture they found themselves surrounded by. Things which were seen as normal, common or acceptable for everyone else were not approved of by them.

Even issues which we might perceive to be more modern, like abortion and contraception were always and unapologetically rejected by those first generations of Christians as being incompatible with their faith, though they were commonly practiced by many people in the cultures those Christians found themselves in.

The fact that in our day some Christians have given in to a more secular approach to morality — even though it breaks with 2,000 years of consistent Christian moral teaching — in no way suddenly makes it acceptable because it is accepted by so many.

Perhaps in our own culture — one that resembles more and more the values and morality of the pagan culture Christianity was born into — it is good not only to be reminded of our beliefs, but also to emulate more and more the courage of those first Christians who cared more about being true to Christ than about fitting in with what everyone else was doing.