New Atheism_A Survival Guide by Graham Veale

Author:Graham Veale [Veale, Graham]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Apologetics, Religion, Christian Theology
ISBN: 9781781913161
Publisher: Christian Focus
Published: 2012-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

Getting Personal about Right and Wrong

The existence of God is a controversial topic, so let’s state a proposition that everyone can agree on—‘It is always wrong to torture infants to death purely for fun.’ That’s a statement about morality, and I’ll assume that everyone reading this book agrees with the statement. (If you don’t you need to put this book down and seek psychiatric help very quickly.) However we can disagree over what makes that statement true.

Theism provides an excellent explanation for human morality. The statement ‘it is wrong to torture babies to death for fun’ expresses two things. It expresses a rule: ‘Don’t torture babies!’ But it also expresses a value: innocent human life is precious and worthy of protection. Human life is not a disposable good and we cannot use human beings any way we like. The rule (‘don’t torture babies’) is based on the value (‘innocent human life is precious’). Without the value the rule has no foundation.

Moral rules are based on the deep value and significance of each individual human life. Most cultures describe human life as sacred. We do not just protect human life; we prohibit stealing from and lying about other humans. Nearly every culture has some concept of theft and murder. It is interesting that every functioning culture has taboos concerning the procreation of human life. Rules about adultery and incest abound.

Social enculturation and genetic hardwiring might explain why we feel as if we have moral obligations. But not one of these scientific accounts can tell us if we really have moral obligations. Is it really true that we have an obligation to protect innocent life? Or is this belief a useful fiction—a by-product of evolving nervous systems? There are scientific and political theories that attempt to show how moral rules benefit the human race. But not one of these theories can tell us if an innocent human life really is precious, or if it just seems to be precious.

But we can’t make sense of our world of experience without a strong belief in moral realities. We experience moral outrage or personal guilt when we believe that moral rules are broken. Most of us are committed to the existence of moral rules and values. Even the worst psychopath offers an excuse for his actions (‘I couldn’t help my rage/I was only following orders’). We seem unable to live our lives believing that morality is a fiction.

So it seems that we need to explain the existence of moral rules that protect human life. Now these rules express values. So what gives each human individual such immense value? Values don’t reside in electrons and they’re not caused by the Strong Nuclear Force. Nearly all of our moral beliefs seem to be based on the value of the person. But if human beings are the unintended, inconsequential by-product of an impersonal universe then it is difficult to see why we would place any substantial value on an individual person. Many humans might like the idea of being intrinsically valuable.

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