Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Moral Vacuum of Secular Humanism.

In an earlier post, I wrote of the attempts of some ..... uh ... freethinkers to show that non believers can be compassionate towards their fellow humans, that "you don't need God to be good" and atheists aren't assholes.

I tried, in my small way, to show that the atheists' views on "being good" are not based in logic.

"Atheists may think they can be good without God, but if you take their atheism to its logical conclusion, there is absolutely no reason to treat your fellow human any differently than you would an insect." and

"Atheists cannot justify their belief that any particular action is right or wrong using their own belief system and logic."

Of course, they have tried.

From the Council for Secular Humanism website:

"Secular humanists see themselves as undesigned, unintended beings who arose through evolution, possessing unique attributes of self-awareness and moral agency."

We humans have a unique attribute of "moral agency"?
The idea that we humans can develop our own morality because of some attribute of moral agency certainly isn't based on a scientific observation of the facts. We may be capable of incredible acts of altruism but we are also quite capable of horrendous acts of violence.

Also from the site,
"Indeed, say secular humanists, the basic components of effective morality are universally recognized."

Universally recognized? Like our universal agreement on abortion and the value of human life?

The secular humanist says,
"Ethical principles should be evaluated by their consequences for people, not by how well they conform to preconceived ideas of right and wrong."

If anything, in trying to base our society on the values of the secular humanist, we have ignored the consequences. One example of this is the liberal secular humanist's insistence that distribution of condoms is the solution to the problem of HIV/AIDS in Africa, in spite of the scientifically observable fact that living a moral life of faithful monogamy is far more effective.

If we are, as they believe, "undesigned, unintended beings who arose through evolution" then the idea that "secular humanism goes further, challenging humans to develop their own values" contradicts the earlier statement that "the basic components of effective morality are universally recognized."

A cartoon from the same website tries to poke fun at the idea that we who believe in God have a "patent" on values. The easily dissected ideas of the secular humanists show that we, indeed do.

4 comments:

Al said...

& while some horrible things have occasionally been done in the name of God, for the most part every institution from higher ed to hospitals, from scientific research to capitalism from beer to champagne has its roots in Christianlity & Catholicism in particular. Sounds to me we are the ones that do have the patent on good.

Yes, some atheists are good, but what they ignore is the source of why, natural law, which has its roots in God's law.

It is when that law is ignored that all you point out happens.

Atheism is another word for what Satan said, what Adam & Eve said at the fall & what men & women have said over the centuries, "I will not serve God."

Mandie said...

Wow. They sure are putting a lot of effort into proving that they have morals and values like believers.

Only that's what gets on everyone's nerves about believers: the fact that we have morals and values.

Rev said...

It's sad to see scribblings like these. Why is it that so many of those who claim to be brothers and sisters of mine through Christ spend most of their free time spewing hate and defaming His Creation?

You may rail about the "atheists" as much as you like, but your soul will be spurned so long as you presume to be the one sitting in our Lord's judgment seat.

When it's your turn to appear before Him, do you imagine that Christ will move aside and allow you to usurp His place at our Father's right hand?

Robert Simms said...

Hi Rev,
You are critical of us....then turn around and do the same thing you accuse us of.
You "holier-than-thou slip" is showing.