I have wondered since I
was a kid: what is the problem with being non-Christian? This past year, I have
put a lot of thought into such a question, and have developed a thorough answer
(or lack thereof). There is a political and a moral answer, and I will focus
now on the moral answer.
On a personal level, a
majority of Americans hold the impression that being a Christian is a condition
for being a good and moral person. And what evidence do we have for that now?
There isn’t much; I’m sure all of you know multiple people in your lives who
you would label as good people, yet they do not hold a devout faith. ‘Atheist’,
which you may label me as, has become such a derogatory term. However, most of
you know me personally. Would you label me as angry and violent, or respectful
and kind? Would you label me as ignorant, or open minded? Would you label me as
depressed, or happy? Would you label me as being influenced by an evil Devil
such as Satan, or being a freethinker? (Though if you consider the original
meaning of the Hebrew word ‘satan’ as a ‘general adversary’, then yes, I am a
satan against Yahweh, but I digress).
One of the most prevalent arguments for Christianity is that without an objective morality as decreed by a supernatural God, then what stops you from doing bad things? How can anything even be considered to be ‘bad’ without an omniscient Lord who defines what is ‘sinful’? What motivation is there to be a kind and loving person without the will of serving a righteous God and pursuing the reward of an eternal Heaven?
So, to the Christians reading this, you mean to tell me that without your faith, you would feel nothing would hinder you from beginning to lie, cheat, steal, and/or harm? With these questions, you are implying that you don’t find sufficient value or meaning in the life that you are living in the culture of our earth? You do not find sufficient meaning or value in your family (parenthood for some of you), romantic love, your friends, your career aspirations, your hobbies/interests, art/music, sports/entertainment, hiking/skiing/snowboarding, humor, literature, traveling, or anything else in your perceivable and interactive life? Without your faith, you would be willing to throw that all away by committing crime, losing the respect of your loved ones, and losing your freedom/rights to education and to partake in the activity of our culture?
I don’t believe that for a second. Otherwise, why would you involve yourself with such distractions of a secular career, activities, and entertainment? Why pursue an education in science or technology if the Holy Bible contains everything you need to know? Why strive to find the romantic love of another person when you can have the perfect love of a Lord and Savior? Why listen to emotional music with lyrics telling a story of romance and love between a man/woman? Why play competitive sports to feel the pleasure of an adrenaline rush? Why surf the web for funny posts/videos when you find true happiness in the relationship with an intervening deity? Why sit down and watch a movie with friends when you could be reading the Gospel or out preaching it to others? Why have most Christians not CONSECRATED themselves to solely serving the Lord God? My theory is because they do not want to; that’s no fun.
From my observations, Christians do find meaning in the perceivable reality of the culture of our society that has been developed on this earth. If not, then I am sorry for you.
In other words, as Sam Harris would reinforce, without the supernatural duty to serve a God’s will, there is plenty enough reason to be a good person in the pursuit of our well-being, in terms of our own personal well-being and looking out for the well-being of our fellow human species. Every human being has the innate desire to be happy and respected, which comes with the behavior of being kind and respectful toward others.
My discussion of morality continues on the next post, but I split it up so that readers may respond to this line of reasoning separately.One of the most prevalent arguments for Christianity is that without an objective morality as decreed by a supernatural God, then what stops you from doing bad things? How can anything even be considered to be ‘bad’ without an omniscient Lord who defines what is ‘sinful’? What motivation is there to be a kind and loving person without the will of serving a righteous God and pursuing the reward of an eternal Heaven?
So, to the Christians reading this, you mean to tell me that without your faith, you would feel nothing would hinder you from beginning to lie, cheat, steal, and/or harm? With these questions, you are implying that you don’t find sufficient value or meaning in the life that you are living in the culture of our earth? You do not find sufficient meaning or value in your family (parenthood for some of you), romantic love, your friends, your career aspirations, your hobbies/interests, art/music, sports/entertainment, hiking/skiing/snowboarding, humor, literature, traveling, or anything else in your perceivable and interactive life? Without your faith, you would be willing to throw that all away by committing crime, losing the respect of your loved ones, and losing your freedom/rights to education and to partake in the activity of our culture?
I don’t believe that for a second. Otherwise, why would you involve yourself with such distractions of a secular career, activities, and entertainment? Why pursue an education in science or technology if the Holy Bible contains everything you need to know? Why strive to find the romantic love of another person when you can have the perfect love of a Lord and Savior? Why listen to emotional music with lyrics telling a story of romance and love between a man/woman? Why play competitive sports to feel the pleasure of an adrenaline rush? Why surf the web for funny posts/videos when you find true happiness in the relationship with an intervening deity? Why sit down and watch a movie with friends when you could be reading the Gospel or out preaching it to others? Why have most Christians not CONSECRATED themselves to solely serving the Lord God? My theory is because they do not want to; that’s no fun.
From my observations, Christians do find meaning in the perceivable reality of the culture of our society that has been developed on this earth. If not, then I am sorry for you.
In other words, as Sam Harris would reinforce, without the supernatural duty to serve a God’s will, there is plenty enough reason to be a good person in the pursuit of our well-being, in terms of our own personal well-being and looking out for the well-being of our fellow human species. Every human being has the innate desire to be happy and respected, which comes with the behavior of being kind and respectful toward others.
You know what I find even stranger is how 'Christians consecrating themselves to solely serving the Lord God' got put in opposition with "perceivable reality of the culture of our society." It seems to be the same as those who feel that God is threatened by, or in opposition to 'Nature.' It is unclear to me how either of these things could be a threat to God if God is transcendent and not bound by our ideas of God.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, why is 'enjoyment of God's good creation' in opposition with 'being consecrated to God?' I understand a lot of the NT 'hate the world...follow me' stuff can get a little confusing, but I think if one hears what is really being said it is something closer to "do not be a part of the oppressive structures of the world in your life in this world" which is interesting because it then puts your view in tension with this Christian view in the opposite way from before.
In light of this, one might respond "Ahh, Chandler, the problem with pursuing our 'personal well-being and looking out for the well-being of our fellow human' is that it puts our own well-being first. And, if evolution is true and Nietzsche is right, we are going to be inherently looking out for our own *personal* survival whether we want to or not, just as a matter of our own biological functioning." In other words, as a matter of inheritance we are going to feed off the poor in order to survive as "fittest." In fact, this person might say, we, the United States of America, are even doing this right now as we suck the 2/3rds world dry in the interests of our own personal well-being (see Graeber on Debt, for example). Furthermore, if Nietzsche is right the problem is even worse because then even our "unbiased" reason is actually biased toward our own personal interests all the way to the core (this would include our scientific "discoveries"). In other words, this person might say that unless you really "hate the world" (i.e. the oppressive structures of the world), then you too will be swinging the sword of "I will" deep into the hearts of the poor, as you will your way to power through Western "logic," a less obvious form of legitimized violence (but here I am using it...maybe I'm just willing to power?! Heheh that's just it though...). Anyway, understood this way it sort of turns the tables around, perhaps an interesting challenge for you?