God Help Us
Recently I came across this photograph of a billboard:
To give you some context, it is an advertisement for Answers in Genesis, the fundamentalist Christian organization which promotes Biblical literalism, including the idea that the universe was created about 6000 years ago, and that the immense diversity of animals we now see on the planet traces their origins back to a passenger on the ark about 4000 years ago (including dinosaurs). They are also fierce opponents of evolution, equating it everything from atheism to Nazi fascism. You can see their views on creation in multimedia splendor at their Creation Museum near Cincinnati.
That being said, what can we draw from such an image? On one level, the message is clear: anyone who doesn’t believe in our Christian God is evil. They have no morals, and therefore will do evil things. It is classic fear propaganda. Images such as these have been used by governments in times of war, to encourage people to view the enemy as amoral animals. It is how governments justify killing the other side. It is also the type of imagery used by totalitarian regimes to justify genocide and murder within its own borders.
It’s possible that propaganda is the sign’s only purpose. The people at Answers in Genesis may not subscribe to such views, but they wish to encourage it in order to promote their world view. Of course the power of propaganda is not simply that it creates fear and hatred, but that it draws upon the fears and biases we already have. We all have fears and biases, and the right image or idea can strengthen and reinforce them.
What then, is the above image trying to feed? If you read through the Answers in Genesis site, it is pretty clear: only the Christian God prevents our bad behavior. The only thing preventing us from murdering our neighbors is the fear that God is watching us and will be angry. The fear of eternal Hell is the only thing keeping us in line. If you subscribe to this idea, then it is no wonder that atheists, scientists, and liberals terrify you. Anyone who doesn’t subscribe to the idea of an afterlife full of pain has no stick to keep them in line, so why should you trust them?
Personally, I find this idea quite bizarre. My inhibition to killing people doesn’t stem from any fear of God, or even of legal retribution. I don’t live in fear of angering a supernatural being. But perhaps I’m just an odd one.
What do you think? Do humans need God to keep them in line? Do moral guidelines come from a divine source, or are they part of who we are as a species on this little planet we call home?
Image source: mistermaxal’s photostream.
October 6th, 2007 14:07
I guess maybe because I just had cataract surgery, I looked at the billboard and for some inexplicable reason understood it to be saying “If he doesn’t matter to God, do you?” Or maybe I saw what I wanted to see. In any case, I like my mistaken version better.
You ask: “What do you think? Do humans need God to keep them in line? Do moral guidelines come from a divine source, or are they part of who we are as a species on this little planet we call home? ”
Of course we need God to keep us in line — if by “in line” you mean living fully, living meaningfully, as men and women created in the image and likeness of God. Of course morality comes from God! (We weren’t given guidelines. We were given demands.)
Of course morality is part of who we are as a species. We were created in the image and likeness of God. He has also built his laws into nature itself, which is why atheist and theist alike can act morally and respond to God.
I don’t think that the Answers in Genesis folks really appreciate what it means to believe that we were created in the image and likeness of God with free will and discernment (or understanding), as part of the bargain. If they really understood that, they would know that every human being has the capacity to choose between good and evil. How else could we respond to the message of the Gospels? The idea of redemption from sin, could hardly resonate with someone who has no sense of right and wrong and the ability to choose the good.
I can’t remember what the 5 levels of morality that I read once are — I think they were formulated on the model of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs — but doing the right thing out of a fear of punishment was at the very bottom and doing the right thing for its own sake was at the top. I guess I am not shocked that there are people who are at the bottom and at various stages in between. By the grace of God, we will all, I hope, make it to the top!
October 7th, 2007 20:37
Hi Lily-
I liked your response- really made me think. I especially appreciate your description of how “atheist and theist alike can act morally.” That may be the best Christian explanation I’ve heard that takes into account that non-believers can behave themselves, too.
Thanks
Susan
October 10th, 2007 08:58
There is some power that regulates the nature and we call it god.
But yes the belief in God’s existence can help us maintain discipline.
October 10th, 2007 21:46
Hello All-
Thanks Brian for a good conversation starer, however troubling.
Lily- one of the things I really value about you (and my brother Denis) is that you remind me of the greater number of thoughtful and intelligent believers in the various Christian faiths when I see this kind of thing. I am not necessarily in agreement with your articles of faith, but I value your way of interpreting your truth in a way that is positive and does not (I think) preclude the good will and intent of folk on different spiritual paths.
Back to Brian and your hares–For myself, I’m not so sure that morality is a part of who we are at birth, although the capacity for it is in us and perhaps we even have a predisposition for a moral code. (Might it have survival value and be selected for?) Certainly the ability to contemplate these questions comes with higher reasoning abilities. But does that mean we are the only moral species or the only species capable of immorality? A wolf on the hunt is not immoral, nor a Bengal tiger (little tho’ we might like meeting him, and deplore the outcome).
And whether we follow the Christos, the Buddha, another wisdom path, or our own best thoughts, I think we live life most fully and completely when we contemplate the spiritual amd moral nature of our being. But some faiths belive in demands, others in precepts. Either way, guidance exists if we are looking for it, and the basic expectations are not only in religious books but are embedded in the culture and the law codes around us (to some flawed and contradictory degree, to be sure.)
Certain elements of that code are likely to be culturally based, tho’, don’t you think? Culture teaches mores, and mores change. Some practices validated thousands of years ago (slavery) or even fifty years ago (segregation, institutionalized racism and sexism) can now be seen as immoral. Others are more commonly accepted (incest taboos, rules against theft, against killing) but exceptions abound, and many cultures only require that the rules of morality be applied to members of the group (whether that means family, tribe, or nation. You asked if morals come from divine source or from who we are as a species, but both possibilities seem a little more complex than that.
Nick
October 23rd, 2007 03:51
Hello All,
This is an interesting discussion. Thanks, Nick, for the compliments.
Hi Brian, I can see how you would have such a strong
opinion of the Answers in Genesis folks, given your values and beliefs in rigorous inquiry and reliance on fact.
I would suggest that you contemplate on the level of success of this group. Most folks are quite capable of sorting out the wheat from the chaff. These beliefs are fundamentally religious, no matter how they relate them to the world. Any belief system is free to choose their dogma.
It will only be as successful as it’s ability to answer the eternal questions. Given the narrowness of these views, they will have a limited number of adherents. Remember, render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and render unto God what is God’s.
The panel does not specify a Christian God, thereby accepting implicitly that a belief in any just God will provide a moral compass.
The panel claims that if this boy cares not for God, then he cares not for you. If you accept that there are numerous young thugs in our society who fit this condition, then this is an valid argument.
If you then stretch the argument to claim that all people who have no care for God, will have no care for you, then the argument falls apart of it’s own weight.
It is obviously a true statement for thousands of young thugs, and it does not become invalid because ethical and moral individuals exist without a belief in God.
One can easily point to the totalitarian systems of the Twentieth Century for the destruction of millions of innocent humans, denying the existence of a higher power being part of the underlying rationale for their actions.
One can make the argument that while not all atheists commit evil actions, those who do evil things are generally without belief.
Such a moral code derived from religious belief encourages us to do better and also provides a punitive aspect to help restrain us when temptation becomes great.
Question : In the absence of a God, can there be a moral code ?
Proposition : Without a God given objective and absolute right and wrong, any moral code devised by Man is an arbitrary standard.
Corollary : Without a divine absolute standard of behavior, any one Man’s code is merely an opinion, and no worse, nor no better, nor any more meaningful than any other.
Question : Without an absolute standard, how does one decide what is moral, and how does a group agree on it ?
Regards,
Denis
November 12th, 2007 00:41
Hey Denis-
you are welcome to all deserved compliments. That said, “The panel does not specify a Christian God, thereby accepting implicitly that a belief in any just God will provide a moral compass” is a load of what my garden needs—it says “answers in Genesis”. Let’s just be honest here, yes?
Regarding your final question and proposition set, you seem to have forgotten large swaths of humanity. I will set aside the assumption that God has provided a moral code that had been transmitted flawlessly so that we can understand the His mind perfectly (as any errors in transcription, translation, or any human intent to shape the message for political purposes would inject some level of arbitrariness). But what about the moral codes of the Taoists, the Confucianists and many of the Buddhist school of thought? Without divinity, these may not be able to be agreed upon by all, but they do agree with the Judeo-Christian code in many respects. One code may be no more meaningful than any other; the opposite may also be true. Perhaps they are no less meaningful than each other. Perhaps we can be a variety of groups, find common ground, and see what we can learn from each other?
I realise that this does not help us deal with conflict, as when cultures clash. Is corporal punishment in schools OK? Can men beat their wives? Parents beat their children? Parents sell children into slavery, or even into indentured servitude? These are social issues as well as moral ones, and having moral codes in place has not helped us to avoid any of these ills.
I guess we work out what we tolerate in society in our civil codes, informed by our beliefs in moral codes that make sense to us and draw us toward them.
Brian- I suggested above that perhaps morality is selected for. Now there is some speculation that quantum physics has a relationship to our ability to have a soul and that that ability is essentially “slected for” and has survival value. Some recent readings I’ve found have tied quantum theory to the development of life, consciousness and the ability to have a soul. There is even the idea that the universe developed specifically to support life, (if I’m reading this stuff correctly).This seems another idea where some ambiguity in science yields conflicting views and the superimposition of belief onto theory. Check out the ideas under the slightly more scientific site here:
http://www.physics.sfsu.edu/~lwilliam/sota/anth/anthropic_principle_index.html or the more esoteric site here: http://home.btclick.com/scimah/
Something for everyone out there on the Internet, boy! It’s all interesting, but I’m not sure I go for it…
Nick