The answers depend on one ’ s perspective. According to the universalist
position, we need to identify those rules that apply across cultures. A universalist
might try, for example, to identify acts and conditions that most societies think
of as wrong, such as murder, treason, and theft. Someone who takes an extreme
universalist position would insist that cultural differences are only superficial, that
fundamental notions of right and wrong are universal. Some religions take universal
positions — for example, that the Ten Commandments are a universal code of
behavior. But Christian groups often disagree about the universality of the Bible.
For example, are the teachings of the New Testament mainly guidelines for the
Christians of Jesus ’ s time, or can they be applied to Christians in the twenty-first
century? These are difficult issues for many people searching for ethical guidelines.