Atheism, both morally and logically, is riddled, in my opinion, with problems. But (other than the fact that God exists, of course) its fatal flaw is this:
For atheists, there is nothing worth dying for.
Or rather, the idea that there can be something worth dying for is wholly and inherently irrational. Because if there is no life after death, then it only makes sense to think of ourselves above everyone and everything else. Naked self-interest becomes our only coherent option, especially when faced with the moral dilemma of choosing between our lives and the lives of others. In other words, atheism introduces a philosophy that suggests that death – my death, specifically – is the only truly unpardonable sin. The inevitable result of which is whatever might kill me – or more modernly, inconvenience me (abortion, anyone?) – must be killed.
If that seems harsh, I would agree.
But if atheism is taken to its logical end, as Fyodor Dostoevsky observed, then everything, ultimately, would be at least morally, if not legally, permitted – to include murder. That is because if there is no God, then there is nothing that is either inherently good or evil. It’s all a matter of circumstance. So although the mob might, on some level, value life today, who knows how it will feel tomorrow. The laws of nature and of nature’s God would cease to be self-evident.
Remove the Creator from the equation and the idea of inalienable rights vanishes like a fart in a windstorm. That isn’t to say that an acknowledgment of a creator automatically guarantees respect for individual rights. Man is fallible, after all. However, it does explain, at least in part, why genocidal despots tend to be atheistic. Absolutism requires absolute power. There can be no other gods before them.
Of course, atheists are rarely this selfish or immoral, but that’s most likely because they’ve inherited, among other things, a Judeo-Christian ethic—an ethic for which they undoubtedly take for granted. But whether they acknowledge it or not, American atheists are steeped in a culture that has drunk deeply from the waters of inalienable rights, mutual respect, tolerance, and civil liberties. But with the rise in secularism, not surprisingly, things are changing. Culturally, individuals on both the Left and Right want to lord over, not love, their enemies. The consequences of which have still yet to be fully realized. But, make no mistake, if we continue to deny heaven, not just in thought but in very deed, there will be no escaping the realities of hell.
If God doesn’t exist, then there is no such thing as universal morality. Take this fact lightly at your own peril.
Our ability to surrender our will to survive – indeed our most powerful instinct – depends, in part, on whether or not there are some things worth dying for. To argue that there is nothing worth dying for suggests there is also nothing really worth living for, either. And when there is nothing greater than ourselves to live for, it is impossible to care for anyone or anything that doesn’t serve our interests. People are either helping us to get what we want or are getting in our way.
In place of God, we end up worshiping ourselves, at least if we’re being rational.
Fortunately, atheists are rarely as rational as they lead people to believe. That, or, as their behavior demonstrates, they’re not really atheists.
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