Relativism makes the world go 'round

People seem to have an ongoing vendetta against the concept of relativism yet, at the same time, use versions of it to get by from day to day. Strong practitioners of religion and philosophy are the only ones that have more than a vague idea of what the concept really means, and people that campaign against it of course (like President Bush, in a recent conversation with the Pope).

My problem is that relativism doesn't get any credit for actually helping the world to function. I'm going to be very general here and say that Wall Street doesn't really function on Christian values and, if it did, our economy would be nowhere near what it is today. That's not to say that we're completely without ethics or principles, but the relative truths that make charging more for a product than what it's actually worth a viable business practice are what they are.

Religious convictions notwithstanding, Americans for the most part work their 9 to 5 jobs and practice their various religions on the specified holy days. If all of us suddenly dropped our relativist attitudes, however minor or mild they may be, and started doing missions trips and helping out the poor instead, the country would pretty much grind to a halt. Relativism makes it possible to live one's life while still maintaining some semblance of confidence in our ability to make a difference; we can't possibly be saving the world every waking moment. We have to believe from time to time that it's okay to take care of ourselves, to entertain ourselves, to do things for the sake of doing them regardless of who might be hurting in the meantime.

The "dictatorship of relativism" that the President recently mentioned may be standing grossly in the way of Christian progress but the people of America don't seem to think it a harsh master.