Atheists and Evil The problem of evil is not just a philosophical problem for religious people. Evil and good happen to ALL people, regardless of their view point concerning God. The problem is how to come to an idea of ‘good’ and ‘evil’. If everything is just one big accident then things ‘just are’. We might call things ‘good’ if they are ‘agreeable to us’ - but what is agreeable to some would be ‘evil’ to others. Such distinction would just be ‘preferences’. Some modern atheistic thinkers have in fact gone on record as saying that there is in reality neither good nor evil; life just is. For example, John Clayton writes: Atheists must base their view of evil and its consequences on the chance functioning of DNA. As Dawkins wrote, “DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is, and we dance to its music.” His statement that there “is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good” accurately sums up what an atheist must believe.* So what guides a person in moral decisions and how does he or she deal with tragedy in life? How would my son born with multiple handicaps fit into such a belief system? Peter Singer, the head of the ethics department at Princeton University would euthanize my son. As an atheist he has to believe that my son is simply unfit in a world run by survival of the fittest. Singer would empty the care centers for the mentally ill and handicapped by simply euthanizing all who do not measure up to his definition of “fitness.” What prevents that definition from including the elimination of people based on racial characteristics? What kind of society would that be? To deny that evil exists, opens the door to horrors most of us can only imagine. From John Clayton, Does God Exists,Vol. 41, Num. 2 I don’t have all the answers about good and evil, especially the ‘why’ of specific events, but I have enough common sense to know that there indeed are both good and evil. Some actions of men are just evil. These are not just natural phenomena, but purposeful acts of will. To this most of humanity agrees as we even bring such people to trial for ‘crimes against humanity’ [which at its basis is evil]. Along with God also comes good and He has prepared for us to live with Him where there will be no evil. I am willing to deal with the problems now with great anticipation of what God has prepared for us that love Him. *Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden [New York: BasicBooks, 1995], page 133. __._,_.___
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 18:21:12 +0000
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