Posted on 12/01/2001 10:28:24 AM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
By Gary L. Morella
I have a question for those who believe that the atheistic worship of the state is to be recommended over an appreciation of a "higher" or "natural" law as the foundation for the rights that government ought to secure for the common good.
Natural law can be readily appreciated in the American experience, given the preamble to the Declaration of Independence: "When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary ... to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them ..."
Natural law is something above power or force that gives content to the notion of justice. This notion suggests that there is a higher law by which the positive law of the state is to be measured and judged. Slavery was ultimately abolished in America because of the recognition of this "higher law."
Thomas Aquinas sets the most famous variation of this approach in his Summa Theologica. His natural law is a participation in the wisdom and goodness of God by the human person, formed in the image of the Creator. It expresses the dignity of the person and forms the basis of human rights and fundamental duties. This was the approach later used by Martin Luther King, Jr. in his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," which contains references to Aquinas.
Simply put, what has state worship done for us lately? We only have to look at recent history for an answer. We saw the deaths of six million Jews and 20 million Ukrainians in the concentration camps and gulags of Hitler and Stalin, respectively. Today, we see the killing of 40 million innocents in what should be their safest place of refuge, their mothers' wombs.
If the state is the final arbiter of the law, the sole dispenser of rights, we're in big trouble, given the lessons of history. The state can easily take these rights away with catastrophic consequences. This is inevitable when each man is a universe unto himself, courtesy of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which ignored a very important question: What happens when each citizen's "personal universe of rights" collides with another's? In the absence of some absolute, immutable, higher law, knowable through reason and not just faith, we're left with anarchy.
But more to the point, the traditionally recognized goal of a respected political regime is the common good. Does killing our children when they're most vulnerable and promoting aberrant behavior that leads to physical ruin meet that goal?
The fact is that ignorance of the necessity for human law to be rooted in the natural law has led to the major ills plaguing society today. This has nothing to do with theocracy. It has everything to do with common sense and the rule of right reason. This is obvious to any Christian who knows that God's supreme gift to us was the opportunity to choose him freely.
Interestingly, those decrying theocracies have no problem accepting a "state religion of amorality," which is promoted by demagogues who won't stand for any opposition. This is the current state of affairs in a "politically correct" but "morally bankrupt" America for which we can thank the example of the former "adolescent-in-chief," whose main claim to fame was making the country more comfortable with its vices.
But what does that have to do with atheism? There are plenty of atheists who oppose statist tyranny, just look at Ayn Rand.
I have a few atheist and agnostic friends. I can assure you, they do not worship the state. I think your confusing them with democracts.
That disease is called mysticism...
It is the root source for all death and unhappiness in conscious humans...
We will eventually eliminate the disease of mysticism...
Only then will true happiness for conscious beings exist on this planet...
You mean people have agendas on FR ;-)
I've got two friends who are atheists, I'm going to have to ask them monday why haven't they done anything for me, starting with my yard.
And of course, I simply posted it as titled, as per FR guidelines. (I like the headline, of course. It garnered the desired effect.)
Does it apply to me? I believe that the atheistic worship of reason and individual rights is to be recommended over an appreciation of any "higher" law. Regards.
The author is totally confused. In his ignorance, he imagines that if someone doesn't worship his way, then by default he must worship the state. This is nonsense. Athiests, by definition, don't worship anything. The author's confusion reminds me of the infinite confusion of creationists, who imagine that accepting the evidence of evolution implies worship of Darwin. No point in debating with people like that. They're fouled up beyond anyone's capacity to straighten out their thinking.
It is impossible for a state to use God's word as a tool to impose it's will on others. God gave the gift of Free will to all men, and to subvert it amounts to taking that which is not yours. God also gave his moral code. It is embodied in the 10 commandments, summarized by Jesus in 2. A state that does any more sanctioning than can be justified by the commandments that govern the relations of men is immoral and has sinned in the eyes of God. Most importantly, when done in the name of God, it amounts to bearing false witness.
God came to the world to bear witness to Himself. He did not come to conquer, establish a state, or to have men establish a state in His name. He told those that would follow Him to bear witness, so light would shine in the eyes of men and give glory to God. There are atheists that are moral folks in the eyes of God, just as the holders of some other religions are. If they are in the dark they will likely remain there w/o light.
Atheism is is not fundamentally immoral, it is simply darkness. Darkness will do nothing for you at all.
Exactly.
This will come as a surprise to those in the nation's army 1933-1945 whose uniform included
a belt buckle with the words "Gott Mit Uns" (God Is With Us).
That's just an inflamitory, derisive statement and absolute falsehood.
Agnostics--no opinion!
Athiests--negative..anti-God-Truth!
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