We need to have a purpose for our lives. This is something
that even atheists will admit. Militant atheist, Daniel C. Dennett, correctly
claims that we need to attach ourselves to something greater than ourselves:
- The best answer today has been the best answer for millennia: find something more important than you are, and devote your life to it, protecting it, improving it, making it work, celebrating it. (In his preface to Dan Barker’s book, Life Driven Purpose: How an Atheist Finds Meaning)
However, in an atheistic, godless world, what can be “more
important than you are?” After all, aren’t we number 1, even if everyone else is
number 1 unto themselves. What then could possibly be greater than me? Nothing,
of course!
Dan Barker, atheist and ex-Christian-preacher, also tries to
pull a rabbit out of an empty hat:
- We nonbelievers have something valuable to offer the world, underscoring the fact that life is valuable for its own sake alone. Unlike many believers, we atheists are not smug, divisive, or exclusive about our views: we welcome all people into the natural human family. A supernatural additive pollutes what is pure and precious in our species. We atheists simply refuse to be cheated of the good life.
What makes “life…valuable for its own sake alone?” In an
atheistic world, there is no common value for life. There is nothing that can
make a human life any more valuable than a mosquitoe’s. The atheist will offer
several responses – our intelligence, creativity, feelings, or relationships.
However, this answer creates more problems than it settles. We humans have
various levels of intelligence, creativity, relationships, and feelings. Wouldn’t
these varying faculties make one individual more valuable than another? Certainly!
Besides, everyone will disagree about what makes life and
each individual valuable. Who then is right? Without an ultimate answer from
above, no one is right. Everyone is free to subjectively decide what is
valuable. And the Democrat may not esteem the Republican as having any
intrinsic value and find him totally expendable. Too bad for the Republican!
How is the atheist able to “welcome all people into the
natural human family?” While Jesus offers salvation to any who are willing,
what does atheism have to offer? This is left unclear. However, Barker is certain
that adding God to the picture cheats us out of the “good life.”
Besides, if evolution is the creator, how can we even begin
to talk about a “natural human family?” Evolution only has eyes for a gradual
linear progression among and even within species. This would mean that some
humans are more evolved than others. This spells death to any concept of the “natural
human family.” Consequently, some humans are necessarily distant relatives.
What then does atheism have to offer? According to Barker,
atheism offers something that is “real, not pretend”:
- It is true that “atheism” is a negative word, but so is “nonfiction.” They are double negatives. Both words tell you that what you are getting is real, not pretend.
While it is true that “nonfiction” offers something that is
alleged to be not fictional – real - “atheism” only offers a denial of the
sufficiency of the evidence in favor of God. This is a NEGATIVE! It offers
nothing positive, according to many atheists with whom I have dialogued.
This points to the fact that the term “atheism” is highly
slippery. It changes according to the conversational need. In Barker’s case,
there is something “real, not pretend” about atheism. This is because he wants
to emphasize the contributions of atheism towards finding a meaning for life.
However, when you try to debate an atheist, the meaning of “atheism” shrinks to
the point of almost disappearing, leaving you absolutely no target for any
attack. “Atheism” becomes simply a denial of the sufficiency of theistic
evidence, placing the burden of proof on the theist. Very convenient!
But does theism offer the possibility for a meaningful life?
According to Dennett’s definition, it should. If meaning is about finding “something
more important than you are,” God is admirably able to satisfy this
requirement.
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