Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Cold Case Christianity

Morality

The Inevitable Consequence of An Atheistic Worldview

The Inevitable Consequence of An Atheistic Worldview

The Inevitable Consequence of An Atheistic WorldviewA few years ago, a gentleman (we’ll call him “John”) replied to a blog I posted at CrossExamined.org. As a skeptical non-believer, John wasn’t responding to what I had posted, but to fellow atheists who had been interacting with Christians in the comment section. John’s post was controversial but honest. In fact, he clearly delineated the problem of atheistic moral grounding. While the comments on the blog aren’t typically all that courteous, John complained they were too courteous, especially given the atheistic worldview of the people who were posting. Here’s what John had to say:

“[To] all my Atheist friends. 

Let us stop sugar coating it. I know, it’s hard to come out and be blunt with the friendly Theists who frequent sites like this.  However in your efforts to “play nice” and “be civil” you actually do them a great disservice.  

We are Atheists.  We believe that the Universe is a great uncaused, random accident. All life in the Universe past and future are the results of random chance acting on itself.  While we acknowledge concepts like morality, politeness, civility seem to exist, we know they do not.  Our highly evolved brains imagine that these things have a cause or a use, and they have in the past, they’ve allowed life to continue on this planet for a short blip of time.  But make no mistake: all our dreams, loves, opinions, and desires are figments of our primordial imagination. They are fleeting electrical signals that fire across our synapses for a moment in time. They served some purpose in the past.  They got us here. That’s it.  All human achievement and plans for the future are the result of some ancient, evolved brain and accompanying chemical reactions that once served a survival purpose.  Ex: I’ll marry and nurture children because my genes demand reproduction, I’ll create because creativity served a survival advantage to my ancient ape ancestors, I’ll build cities and laws because this allowed my ape grandfather time and peace to reproduce and protect his genes. My only directive is to obey my genes. Eat, sleep, reproduce, die.  That is our bible.

We deride the Theists for having created myths and holy books.  We imagine ourselves superior.  But we too imagine there are reasons to obey laws, be polite, protect the weak etc.  Rubbish. We are nurturing a new religion, one where we imagine that such conventions have any basis in reality.  Have they allowed life to exist?  Absolutely.  But who cares?  Outside of my greedy little gene’s need to reproduce, there is nothing in my world that stops me from killing you and reproducing with your wife.  Only the fear that I might be incarcerated and thus be deprived of the opportunity to do the same with the next guy’s wife stops me.  Some of my Atheist friends have fooled themselves into acting like the general population.  They live in suburban homes, drive Toyota Camrys, attend school plays.  But underneath they know the truth.  They are a bag of DNA whose only purpose is to make more of themselves. So be nice if you want. Be involved, have polite conversations, be a model citizen.  Just be aware that while technically an Atheist, you are an inferior one.  You’re just a little bit less evolved, that’s all.  When you are ready to join me, let me know, I’ll be reproducing with your wife.

I know it’s not PC to speak so bluntly about the ramifications of our beliefs, but in our discussions with Theists we sometimes tip toe around what we really know to be factual. Maybe it’s time we Atheists were a little more truthful and let the chips fall where they may.  At least that’s what my genes are telling me to say.”

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

John bluntly captured the true nature of morality when it is untethered to a transcendent source. Since posting this comment, I’ve been able to peek at John’s life in a very limited way and I’ve had a brief interaction with him. He appears to be a creative, responsible, loving husband and father. In fact, his outward life looks much like the life you and I might lead as Christians. As an atheist, my moral compass was much like that of the Christians I knew. But knowing what is far different than knowing why. I embraced a particular set of moral laws even though I couldn’t account for these laws in a world without a transcendent moral law giver. I typically attributed morality to some form of social or cultural evolution, but as John correctly observes, our selfish genes are not interested in the welfare of others when their personal survival is at stake. Without a true transcendent source for morality (and purpose), skeptics are left trying to invent their own, justifying their subjective moral rules as best they may. In the end, as John rightly observes, they end up “nurturing a new religion” and creating for themselves the very thing they detest. Without a true transcendent source for morality (and purpose), skeptics are left trying to invent their own, justifying their subjective moral rules as best they may. Click To Tweet

When John first posted his comment (and I first started talking about it on my podcast), many of the other atheists who post at CrossExamined were infuriated. Some denied John’s identity as a skeptic and accused him of being a disguised Christian. But in my interaction with John, he told me he was weary of hearing fellow atheists mock their opponents for hypocrisy and ignorance, while pretending they had a definitive answer to the great questions of life. He simply wanted his fellow atheists to be consistent. As it turns out, theism provides the consistent moral foundation missing from John’s atheistic worldview.

This blog post from J. Warner first appeared as a BreakPoint blog post (be sure to visit BreakPoint often)

For more information about the scientific and philosophical evidence pointing to a Divine Creator, please read God’s Crime Scene: A Cold-Case Detective Examines the Evidence for a Divinely Created Universe. This book employs a simple crime scene strategy to investigate eight pieces of evidence in the universe to determine the most reasonable explanation. The book is accompanied by an eight-session God’s Crime Scene DVD Set (and Participant’s Guide) to help individuals or small groups examine the evidence and make the case.

J. Warner Wallace is a Dateline featured Cold-Case Detective, Senior Fellow at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, Adj. Professor of Christian Apologetics at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, author of Cold-Case ChristianityGod’s Crime Scene, and Forensic Faith, and creator of the Case Makers Academy for kids.

Subscribe to J. Warner’s Daily Email

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Written By

J. Warner Wallace is a Dateline featured cold-case homicide detective, popular national speaker and best-selling author. He continues to consult on cold-case investigations while serving as a Senior Fellow at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. He is also an Adj. Professor of Christian Apologetics at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, and a faculty member at Summit Ministries. He holds a BA in Design (from CSULB), an MA in Architecture (from UCLA), and an MA in Theological Studies (from Gateway Seminary).

21 Comments

21 Comments

  1. Pingback: God Didn’t Create Moral Law, It Is Simply a Reflection of His Character | Cold Case Christianity

  2. Pingback: God Didn’t Create Moral Law, It’s Simply a Reflection of His Character | Apologetics ForumApologetics Forum

  3. Pingback: An atheist explains the real consequences of adopting an atheistic worldview | Wintery Knight

  4. Pingback: An atheist explains the real consequences of adopting an atheistic worldview | A disciple's study

  5. Pingback: An atheist explains the real consequences of adopting an atheistic worldview | THINKAPOLOGETICS.COM

  6. Pingback: The Inevitable Consequence of An Atheistic Worldview by J. Warner Wallace | Hard-Core Christianity

  7. Pingback: Things that annoy me. | Random thoughts

  8. Pingback: Mere Anglicanism Conference: a Report | Vote-Often.com

  9. Pingback: Why Unforgiving People Are So Unforgiving | Cold Case Christianity

  10. Pingback: Athiest’s world view | bm2driskell

  11. Pingback: When an atheist is brutally honest

  12. Pingback: Is God Real? God is the Best Explanation for Objective Moral Laws | Apologetics.com

  13. Pingback: Is God Real? God is the Best Explanation for Objective Moral Laws - Cross Examined - Christian Apologetic Ministry | Frank Turek | Christian Apologetics | Christian Apologetics Speakers

  14. Pingback: The Inevitable Consequence of An Atheistic Worldview – See more at: https://coldcasechristianity.com/2014/the-inevitable-consequence-of-an-atheistic-worldview/#sthash.NQNyIuDU.dpuf

  15. Pingback: Four Distinct Advantages of a Theistic Worldview | Apologetics ForumApologetics Forum

  16. Pingback: An atheist explains the implications of adopting an atheistic worldview | Wintery Knight

  17. Pingback: The Moral Argument – Revealer of Hypocrites – Rational Faith

  18. Pingback: The Moral Argument – Revealer of Hypocrites | The Creation Club | A Place for Biblical Creationists to Share and Learn

  19. Pingback: Sometimes, They Admit the Truth - Melissa Cain Travis

  20. Writer

    December 28, 2020 at 1:19 am

    Such an interesting article. It will be really nice to read much more of your articles. I hope that you will continue doing this type of content.

  21. Abram Abram

    March 7, 2022 at 8:44 am

    I didn’t have any expectations concerning that title, but the more I was astonished. The author did a great job. I spent a few minutes reading and checking the facts. Everything is very clear and understandable. I like posts that fill in your knowledge gaps. This one is of the sort.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Christian Case Making

Jesus often referred to His followers as “sheep”. When he was saddened to see His people disheartened, the Gospels tell us “He felt compassion...

God’s Existence

In this podcast, J. Warner examines the evidence of the origin of the universe and relates this evidence to the case for God’s existence....

Nature of Evidence

I’m usually careful to avoid making overly aggressive claims when sharing the evidence for Christianity. I seldom tell anyone I can “prove” Christianity is...

God's Existence

Are moral truths simply a matter of personal opinion or cultural consensus? Can we adjust moral truth whenever we want? If not, how is...