THE DEATH OF GOD - THE DEATH OF MAN AND MEANING

Jesus had taught: “You are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:31). Up to two hundred years ago, such a statement would not have raised an eyebrow. However, today it has become quite controversial within certain circles, where it is claimed that all life is of equal value.”

However, most still believe that we are more valuable than sparrows, mosquitoes, and even cows. How do they justify this claim in our post-Christian society? They offer various possibilities, like, “Humanity is more valuable than animals because…

·       We are sentient being, or

·       We feel and love more deeply, or

·       We are intelligent and creative, or…”

However, these sources of value, by themselves, are totally inadequate in justifying our greater value. They just shift the question of value to other unjustified criteria – intelligence, feelings, and creativity. What is able to impart value to these criteria, especially in view of a God-less world that lacks any inherent meaning?

The atheistic philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, was able to perceive this problem in the late 19^th century. In The Gay Science (Section 125, The Madman), he wrote:

·       “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”

Nietzsche realized that without God, we would now have to “become gods” to arbitrarily and subjectively create our own values. There is no other alternative. However, we encounter another problem when we try to create value in a valueless, meaningless universe.

Besides, our creations of value cannot match God’s. For example, if our value depends on our higher degree of intelligence or sentience, then we have to sacrifice other values, like human equality, in the process.

Why? Well, some of us are more intelligent and educated than others. Adults are more intelligent than babies and the elderly. They are also more successful and contribute more to society. Do we want a world where our relative value is socially determined? Of course not! However, when we reject God, we also reject any coherent system of laws and values. Atheist Arthur Leff of the Duke School of Law had written:

·       “The so-called death of God wasn’t just His funeral, but was the elimination of any coherent ethical or legal system…As it stands now, everything is up for grabs…Napalming babies is bad, starving the poor wicked, buying and selling people is depraved—but, ‘Sez who?’ God help us.”

Neff understood that without God there exists no basis for any meaningful system of values or laws. Instead, we have banished ourselves into a meaningless, valueless, and lifeless desert, self-condemned to obsessively and hopelessly prove that we do have value.

This is a world where we are forced to play make-believe to fill in the emptiness left by the death-of-God. It is like sitting in a corner making believe you have a family, when you really don’t. Ordinarily, we would regard such a fantasy world as sick, a retreat into a schizoid existence. However, we frogs in a pot of water, momentarily enjoying the warmth until we are finally cooked.