Posted on 08/19/2008 4:58:42 AM PDT by SJackson
We are constantly reminded about the destructive consequences of religion -- intolerance, hatred, division, inquisitions, persecutions of "heretics," holy wars. Though far from the whole story, they are, nevertheless, true. There have been many awful consequences of religion. What one almost never hears described are the deleterious consequences of secularism -- the terrible developments that have accompanied the breakdown of traditional religion and belief in God. For every thousand students who learn about the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials, maybe two learn to associate Gulag, Auschwitz, The Cultural Revolution, and the Cambodian genocide with secular regimes and ideologies.
For all the problems associated with belief in God, the death of God leads to far more of them.
So, while it is not possible to prove (or disprove) God's existence, what is provable is what happens when people stop believing in God.
1. Without God there is no good and evil; there are only subjective opinions that we then label "good" and "evil." This does not mean that an atheist cannot be a good person. Nor does it mean that all those who believe in God are good; there are good atheists and there are bad believers in God. It simply means that unless there is a moral authority that transcends humans from which emanates an objective right and wrong, "right" and "wrong" no more objectively exist than do "beautiful" and "ugly."
2. Without God, there is no objective meaning to life. We are all merely random creations of natural selection whose existence has no more intrinsic purpose or meaning than that of a pebble equally randomly produced.
3. Life is ultimately a tragic fare if there is no God. We live, we suffer, we die -- some horrifically, many prematurely -- and there is only oblivion afterward.
4. Human beings need instruction manuals. This is as true for acting morally and wisely as it is for properly flying an airplane. One's heart is often no better a guide to what is right and wrong than it is to the right and wrong way to fly an airplane. The post-religious secular world claims to need no manual; the heart and reason are sufficient guides to leading a good life and to making a good world.
5. If there is no God, the kindest and most innocent victims of torture and murder have no better a fate after death than do the most cruel torturers and mass murderers. Only if there is a good God do Mother Teresa and Adolf Hitler have different fates.
6. With the death of Judeo-Christian values in the West, many Westerners believe in little. That is why secular Western Europe has been unwilling and therefore unable to confront evil, whether it was Communism during the Cold War or Islamic totalitarians in its midst today.
7. Without God, people in the West often become less, not more, rational. It was largely the secular, not the religious, who believed in the utterly irrational doctrine of Marxism. It was largely the secular, not the religious, who believed that men's and women's natures are basically the same, that perceived differences between the sexes are all socially induced. Religious people in Judeo-Christian countries largely confine their irrational beliefs to religious beliefs (theology), while the secular, without religion to enable the non-rational to express itself, end up applying their irrational beliefs to society, where such irrationalities do immense harm.
8. If there is no God, the human being has no free will. He is a robot, whose every action is dictated by genes and environment. Only if one posits human creation by a Creator that transcends genes and environment who implanted the ability to transcend genes and environment can humans have free will.
9. If there is no God, humans and "other" animals are of equal value. Only if one posits that humans, not animals, are created in the image of God do humans have any greater intrinsic sanctity than baboons. This explains the movement among the secularized elite to equate humans and animals.
10. Without God, there is little to inspire people to create inspiring art. That is why contemporary art galleries and museums are filled with "art" that celebrates the scatological, the ugly and the shocking. Compare this art to Michelangelo's art in the Sistine chapel. The latter elevates the viewer -- because Michelangelo believed in something higher than himself and higher than all men.
11. Without God nothing is holy. This is definitional. Holiness emanates from a belief in the holy. This explains, for example, the far more widespread acceptance of public cursing in secular society than in religious society. To the religious, there is holy speech and profane speech. In much of secular society the very notion of profane speech is mocked.
12. Without God, humanist hubris is almost inevitable. If there is nothing higher than man, no Supreme Being, man becomes the supreme being.
13. Without God, there are no inalienable human rights. Evolution confers no rights. Molecules confer no rights. Energy has no moral concerns. That is why America's Founders wrote in the Declaration of Independence that we are endowed "by our Creator" with certain inalienable rights. Rights depend upon a moral source, a rights giver.
14. "Without God," Dostoevsky famously wrote, "all is permitted." There has been plenty of evil committed by believers in God, but the widespread cruelties and the sheer number of innocents murdered by secular regimes -- specifically Nazi, Fascist and Communist regimes -- dwarfs the evil done in the name of religion.
As noted at the beginning, none of this proves, or even necessarily argues for, God's existence. It makes the case for the necessity, not the existence, of God. "Which God?" the secularist will ask. The God of Israel, the God of America's founders, "the Holy God who is made holy by justice" (Isaiah), the God of the Ten Commandments, the God who demands love of neighbor, the God who endows all human beings with certain inalienable rights, the God who is cited on the Liberty Bell because he is the author of liberty. That is the God being referred to here, without whom we will be vanquished by those who believe in less noble gods, both secular and divine.
Tell this to all who are supporting Obama, please.
this is a repost
Definitely worth reaching a wider readership.
right on the money!!
If the author(s) is certain or merely under the impression that a born-in-America atheist cannot live a Christian-valued or by-the-Golden Rule, etc. (Buddhism) life anywhere in the world (or vice-versa) today, then I am happy to vehemently disagree.
It is a total misconception and ridiculously inadequate representation of the belief systems of millions of American citizens and billions of people the world over to suggest that Atheism equates to an effective absence of perception of good and evil and/or beauty and ugliness if ugliness can be described as a perceived absence of the presence of beauty. In fact, it is an abuse of the power of suggestion because the author fails to present in any way, shape or form, any representation of an actual atheist’s personal viewpoint, be they American or not. After all, we are not the Infidel.
Because of this lack of concern or complete disregard for viewpoints other than the author’s, etc. own opinion(s), it is fair to say that the article’s stated OPINIONS border on religious bigotry and goes far to malign the deeply held beliefs of millions of responsible, patriotic, loving and good people who can be proud to call themselves good Americans and rightly so.
That is not at all what the author claimed.
It is a total misconception and ridiculously inadequate representation of the belief systems of millions of American citizens and billions of people the world over to suggest that Atheism equates to an effective absence of perception of good and evil
The author's contention (and it is true) is that, if there is no God, then there is no objective standard of good and evil. That's obvious - look around you at the varying opinions of mankind about what is good and what is evil.
The moral posturing of atheists who think atheism is morally superior to religion is one of the great comedies of our age.
My experience with Obama supporters, and dhimmirat voters in general,
is that they simply deny that those they support
are in favor of infanticide, socialism, fascism, and authoritarian control over the individual.
“They’re/he’s pro-choice, not pro-infanticide, that’s a distortion!”
“They’re Democrats! Not Socialists!”
Wow, you don’t read very well, eh?
They consider themselves “above the fray”, and the “default position” for which they don’t have to “have faith”.
The most arrogant people I know are atheists. And “conservative” atheists are the worst.
Every human is “wired to worship”. Leftist atheists worship the power of “society” and the state. “Conservative” atheists worship themselves.
As the author stated, without a Creator, there is no objective source for “inalienable rights”. Therefore, the state giveth, and the state taketh away.
You can’t be a conservative atheist.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
“secular regimes — specifically Nazi, Fascist and Communist regimes”
The Wehrmacht had “God is with Us” stamped on their beltbuckles, and Communism arose under the shackles of the brutal feudal czarist system...which was supported by the Orthodox Church. Stalin himself was educated in a seminary.
So, don’t let religion COMPLETELY off the hook...
Beat me to it :)
So?
In case you hadn’t noticed, the first word I used was “If” but I still disagree with the categorical descriptions, however many, enumerated in the article.
“...if there is no God, then there is no objective standard of good and evil.”
Again, I am happy to disagree with that assumption. However, I agree that a person’s believing in a benevolent god or creator does enhance one’s awareness of the difference between good and evil. I think it’s unfair to assume that non-believers are somehow ‘disabled’ in their capacity to develop the very same awareness.
“...look around you at the varying opinions of mankind about what is good and what is evil.”
Everything varies because it IS a world of difference. The difference between this and that or then and now. That’s just the way it is. I accept the simple fact that it’s always been and will always be a world of difference, be it dead or alive.
“Wow, you don’t read very well, eh?”
Sorry, “...-the bloody history of militant atheism” (title) just sort of jumped off the page a little more than the rest of it. Probably because I’m more keenly aware of the bloody history of Christianity, not to mention the myriad others throughout the history of the world.
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Got Mittens?
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