The case for Judeo-Christian values: Reason without God is morally useless
Posted: January 18, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
2005 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
By Dennis Prager
Those who do not believe that moral values must come from the Bible or be based
upon God's moral instruction argue that they have a better source for values:
human reason.
In fact, the era that began the modern Western assault on Judeo-Christian
values is known as the Age of Reason. That age ushered in the modern secular
era, a time when the men of "the Enlightenment" hoped they would be liberated
from the superstitious shackles of religious faith and rely on reason alone.
Reason, without God or the Bible, would guide them into an age of unprecedented
moral greatness.
As it happened, the era following the decline of religion in Europe led not to
unprecedented moral greatness, but to unprecedented cruelty, superstition, mass
murder and genocide. But believers in reason without God remain unfazed.
Secularists have ignored the vast amount of evidence showing that evil on a
grand scale follows the decline of Judeo-Christian religion.
There are four primary problems with reason divorced from God as a guide to
morality.
The first is that reason is amoral. Reason is only a tool and, therefore, can
just as easily argue for evil as for good. If you want to achieve good, reason
is immensely helpful; if you want to do evil, reason is immensely helpful. But
reason alone cannot determine which you choose. It is sometimes rational to do
what is wrong and sometimes rational to do what is right.
It is sheer nonsense – nonsense believed by the godless – that reason
always suggests the good. Mother Teresa devoted her life to feeding and
clothing the dying in Calcutta. Was this decision derived entirely from reason?
To argue that it was derived from reason alone is to argue that every person
whose actions are guided by reason will engage in similar self-sacrifice, and
that anyone who doesn't live a Mother Teresa-like life is acting irrationally.
Did those non-Jews in Europe who risked their lives to save a Jew during the
Holocaust act on the dictates of reason? In a lifetime of studying those
rescuers' motives, I have never come across a single instance of an individual
who saved Jews because of reason. In fact, it was irrational for any non-Jews
to risk their lives to save Jews.
Another example of reason's incapacity to lead to moral conclusions: On
virtually any vexing moral question, there is no such a thing as a [missing]
purely rational viewpoint. What is the purely rational view on the morality of
abortion? Of public nudity? Of the value of an animal vs. that of a human? Of
the war in Iraq? Of capital punishment for murder? On any of these issues,
reason alone can argue effectively for almost any position.
Therefore, what determines anyone's moral views are, among other things, his
values – and values are beyond reason alone (though one should be able to
rationally explain and defend those values). If you value the human fetus, most
abortions are immoral; if you only value the woman's view of the value of the
fetus, all abortions are moral.
The second problem with reason alone as a moral guide is that we are incapable
of morally functioning on the basis of reason alone. Our passions, psychology,
values, beliefs, emotions and experiences all influence the ways in which even
the most rational person determines what is moral and whether to act on it.
Third, the belief in reason alone is itself based on an irrational belief –
that people are basically good. You have to believe that people are basically
good in order to believe that human reason will necessarily lead to moral
conclusions.
Fourth, even when reason does lead to a moral conclusion, it in no way compels
acting on that conclusion. Let's return to the example of the non-Jew in
Nazi-occupied Europe. Imagine that a Jewish family knocks on his door, asking
to be hidden. Imagine further that on rational grounds alone (though I cannot
think of any), the non-Jew decides that the moral thing to do is hide the Jews.
Will he act on this decision at the risk of his life? Not if reason alone
guides him. People don't risk their lives for strangers on the basis of reason.
They do so on the basis of faith – faith in something that far transcends
reason alone.
Does all this mean that reason is useless? God forbid. Reason and rational
thought are among the hallmarks of humanity's potential greatness. But alone,
reason is largely worthless in the greatest quest of all – making human
beings kinder and more decent. To accomplish that, God, a divinely revealed
manual and reason are all necessary. And even then, there are no guarantees.
But if you want a quick evaluation of where godless reason leads, look at the
irrationality and moral confusion that permeate the embodiment of reason
without God – your local university.
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| User: "tw" |
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| Title: Re: Reason without God is morally useless |
19 Jan 2005 03:10:59 AM |
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"TonyZ2001" <tonyz2001@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20050118084439.13387.00000072@mb-m27.aol.com...
The case for Judeo-Christian values: Reason without God is morally useless
And you have neither reason nor morals ...
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