The other day I was mowing the lawn and thinking about life.  Before I go any further let me just say - I have found that time spent doing yard work is generally an excellent opportunity to ponder life.  Anyway, back to the point …as I was mowing the lawn the other day I was thinking about life.  On this particular occasion I was thinking about what it means to value choice (as an end in itself) over life.  I was disheartened and dismayed once again by the fact that I live in a country where the genocide of unborn human beings (mostly minorities and the poor) is not only legal, but is also funded by the government.  There are a couple of reasons this was on my mind:  (1) I had recently received a letter from a friend asking a question about planned parenthood, and (2) I had watched the documentary Religulous by Bill Maher within the last week or so.  It was in pondering this second reference that I grew even more disheartened by the reality of abortion.  Why do I say this?  In Maher’s documentary the goal is not simply to discredit religion, the goal is also to promote the notion that “man is enlightened enough to figure out what’s ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ on his own, and then live according to that ‘universally intuitive standard’.”  However, this is precisely the kind of worldview that inevitably leads to things like genocide; for you see such a worldview is not governed by any higher authority (i.e. there are no absolute truths to appeal to), and therefore it is The Elite who create the “justification(s)” for what is permissible and what is not.  This is a FUNDAMENTALLY CRUCIAL difference between the Christian worldview and the worldview of the atheist.  The simple point is this:  In the Christian worldview, a person of lower status and meager education can appeal to a sovereign/supreme Creator who has endowed ALL mankind with dignity and worth, and thus the concept of justice is objectively revealed and immutably fixed.  Moreover, the Scripture is extremely clear about what is right and what is wrong, which means BOTH the intellectual elite and the simpleton can understand, and appeal to, an absolute truth under which both are held accountable.  While the atheist worldview, on the other hand, does not even necessarily require a moral code of ethics.  In the atheist worldview the realm of “right” and “wrong” is NOT mandatory.  For example, an obvious instance of what would normally be called “murder” can be “justified” on the grounds of being labeled a “health issue” (i.e. the idea of “murder” is completely relative; if it can be argued that terminating a life is in the “best interest” of society – and what better grounds for that argument than the upon the grounds of “national health”? – then the idea of “murder” is removed completely, and it is replaced with the language of “health” or “cure” or “cleanse”).  Do you see the point?  Man’s choice, the ability to “reason” and choose is placed on the authoritative throne above and beyond a fixed moral/ethical/just order.  Now here’s the catch, many choices (perhaps even most choices) we make are dependent upon the suggested counsel of those who are esteemed to be smarter than we are.  The smart ones are thus viewed, and elected to govern, with the status of “The Elite”; they are the educated ones, the ones who have reached the very top of the food chain, they are the societal King of the Mountain; in the atheist’s worldview there is no God to tell us what is “right” or “wrong” – The Elite are the authority – it is their “impeccable” research and intelligence that determines, and dictates, what should and should not be done, what is permissible and what is not, what is “lawful” and “unlawful”, etc.  It is survival of the fittest, and inevitably there will emerge a class “more fit” than the rest.  

Now for most people this will seemingly be unproblematic, because most people are generally healthy and well-off (and most people don’t like to think for themselves, and generally prefer to be told what to do).  In other words, while it is true that most people won’t be amongst The Elite, nevertheless they can still be put to use, and obtain some recognized semblance of purpose, in some way, shape, or form.  Therefore MOST people will simply accept the rules and regulations set in place by The Elite and go about their lives thinking that things are relatively fine; and let’s face it, “The Elite” are the ones with the Ph.D in evolutionary biology - who are we to challenge the conclusions and verdicts of “The Elite”?  

But what about those members of society who are deemed “use-less.”  For example, what about the person born with Down syndrome?  Oh, that’s right, that person was never born.  Why?  Because some erudite atheistic scientist decided to “heal/cure” the human race by using their “brilliantly enlightened” intellectual powers to figure out a way to be approx. 65% “certain” that your baby will be born with Down syndrome, and therefore they’ve gone ahead and done you and the rest of society a favor by coercing you to abort the pregnancy.  They explain to you that, “Essentially this fetus is merely a cosmic goof-up in the grand scheme of the impersonal natural order; and that scientific advancements have brought us to a place where we can speed up the evolutionary process of natural selection and survival of the fittest by going ahead and terminating the lives of all humans deemed ‘useless’!  Isn’t this wonderful!”  Down the road you may get the approval of The Elite to actually allow a fetus to live in your womb, and perhaps that fetus will even be granted permission to live outside the womb.  Pending that baby is born “healthy”, and subsequently deemed to be potentially “useful”, that child will perhaps grow up, mature, and eventually go off to college.  While in college that child will attend an evolutionary biology class once a week and be proselytized into believing that the genocide of unborn humans is completely legitimate and even gracious.  The proposed mentality is that those allowed to live should be relieved and thankful because they don’t have to suffer the toil of raising, or working with, the handicapped (i.e. simply those whom The Elite prefer/choose not to coexist with).  When it comes to your unwanted pregnancy Mr./Mrs. Elite Atheistic Scientist has given you a mulligan (i.e. the atheistic enlightened worldview is creating a utopia where you’ll never have to play out of a hazard again).

Does this sound crazy?  I agree it does sound crazy, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not a reality!  The genocides of world history have come at the hands of tyrants who have subscribed to the view of survival of the fittest (e.g. Hitler’s Nazi Germany, Pol Pot, Stalin, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, etc.).  The most historic genocides have been motivated by the idea that The Elite have figured out a way to “graciously” (i.e. with a view toward the greater good of humanity) speed up the process of natural selection.  

It might be argued that religious human beings have been the cause of great social injustice as well, and in the face of such an argument I would agree for the most part.  I would agree for two reasons (1) No one is NOT religious.  Everyone holds to their belief/worldview dogmatically.  Religion can certainly be a way (and is in many cases) of someone simply pedaling their own agenda.  (2) If the Christian worldview in particular is put on trial then it would have to be admitted that many human beings have professed to do things under the label of “Christianity” that are absurd and unjust (Maher’s documentary captures this reality with great efficiency); but the question must be asked – “DOES THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW ACTUALLY GIVE CREDANCE TO SUCH THINGS.”  I would argue that those who commit injustice in the name of Jesus Christ are simply hijacking the name of Jesus to carry out their own whims and preferences.  The worldview of Christianity itself does not endorse the plans and actions of the unjust at all (in fact it does just the opposite …the Christian worldview is holistically concerned with justice).

I am shocked by the frequent assertion by atheists that human beings don’t need a revealed ethic, but rather it is argued that we will arrive at a “true” and “right” consensus regarding “right” and “wrong” on our own.  The empirical evidence (something enlightened atheists claim to be very interested in) of human history is not on their side.  Whether it is a culture dubbed “barbaric” or “enlightened”, both have attempted to rationalize and justify obvious injustice and evil.

The bottom line is that we (especially those of us who are not amongst The Elite) need God to reveal His perfect and righteous standards to us (in simple, clear, language), and we need to be able to appeal to His law as the absolute authority which governs ALL mankind.





*I would strongly commend C.S. Lewis’ essay The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment