A Cliff or a Slippery Slope

I really hate doing this.

A Baylor professor - specifically, a Baylor professor teaching at the Seminary school - recently wrote an article for the Baylor newspaper detailing how Atheism lacked a moral grounding. His ultimate conclusion was that atheists could be good people in spite of their belief and not because of it. It did not help his cause that his arguments were grounded in ignorance. It also did not help his cause that he opened the piece by saying he felt sorry for atheists.

Feel free to read the piece for yourself here, but be warned it's essentially a roll call of typical shallow points that have no real base in reality. It seems odd to write that in such lofty terms, but I can't stress enough how intellectually lazy this guy is. Perhaps if you've had these same thoughts about Atheism, I can help to enlighten you.

If you don't want to read it, I'll (poorly) sum up his main two points:
1) Atheism defaults to the Law of Nature - survival of the fittest - and cannot explain why humans should care for one another.
2) Atheism defaults to nihilism wherein there is no meaningfulness attached to life.

I cannot stress enough how patently wrong these statements are.

For starters, Atheism does not equate with Christianity, it equates with Theism. The easy way out would be to say that Atheism is not meant to be a moral structure, it is only a belief structure the way Theism is. Indeed, Christianity is a particular flavor of Theism which goes beyond saying there is a God to giving It creative powers, moods, expectations, a personality and a Book that It's written outlining how humans are supposed to live.

But Atheism does have some moral manifestations based solely on the belief that there is no God. The most prevalent is personal responsibility. Without a figure looming above, the onus is placed securely on the person's shoulders to exercise humanity. This is an incredibly moral imperative. But it's also a blank slate. Since there is no Book of answers on how to be human, the person must do the hard work of figuring out what that means.

Of course it does not always work. There are plenty of atheists out there who refuse or complicate that responsibility and end up utilizing its freedom without understanding or practicing its ethos. In the world's least surprising turn of events, some Christians don't either.

To directly confront the two points made in the article -

1) There is no "law of nature". There are laws of nature. Tying Atheism to Survival of the Fittest is one of the more laughable claims I've seen made. Atheism can explain easily why people should care for other people - because this life is all we and others have. To look pale in the face of your fellow man and deny that person's existence is something best left to the judgmental. Atheism in its purest form is non-judgmental because it doesn't seek to be. Without the threat of an afterlife, we have a responsibility to make this life as shining and brilliant as possible. We seek to make it better not just for ourselves, but for others. (And when has anyone really made life better for themselves without helping out others?) I could go on if needed.

2) Just because Atheism does not feature a parent-figure handing down a "meaning" of life does not make it nihilism. I find beauty and wonder in all things of this world. To use the basis of not having an afterlife again, I would say that my meaning of life stems from enjoying it to the fullest. Also, it's incredibly depressing to think that there's no meaning to life without God simply for the distinct possibility that one might not exist. I'm life affirming, and the meaning of this incredibly universe for me is not contingent on something that can never be known. To believe that there is no meaning to life without God seems to be the status of a man trapped by his belief - with no other alternative but to believe in God. I'm not sure what kind of belief that really is.

I know I haven't spoken much about my beliefs, and you might have questions. I'm open to all of them.

I also feel moved to thank you all for being in my life. I fear that without you, I would have a far grimmer view of Christians. You're shining examples of what Christ's love can do when it shines through. Know that.

Gotta get back to the grind. I've got a lot more of my meaningless existence to endure.