If there is no God...

If there is no God, then we have no soul, thereby making us no different from animals. Aquinas stated: Animals are all flesh and no spirit, angels are all spirit and no flesh, while man is both, thereby having the ability to ascend to the higher, or descend to the lower. As a culture, we are moving toward the lower.

Pensees radio program was discussing the ramifications of the idea that we are beings without souls, a popular atheistic belief that directly affects how we view our society. It strikes at the very heart of the philosophical debate about humanity and the very reason of our existence.

People wander through life rarely asking why they are here. In the brief moments that they do, they tend to not think on the topic long due to the inevitable dichotomy that occurs. Can we have purpose or meaning without God? If there is no God, then can there logically be any real meaning to life as we know it? You would be hard-pressed to find any person that has spent more than a couple of intoxicated minutes on the subject to come up with a logical and reasonable answer. Without God, there is no meaning to this life. As the parable of the rich fool went, "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die." As you may know, Jesus called this man a fool as that very night his soul was required and would be answerable for his life. (Luke 12:13-21).

What do we tell those we love during times of suffering without God? Hang on...be strong...Why? What for? Keep suffering...how utterly hopeless. What do you tell people you love when a loved one passes away? He/she had a 'good' life, and now its over. They are gone forever, and their life was pointless. It goes well with the whole idea of the t-shirt that states "He who dies with the most toys wins." I wonder what he 'wins'?

George Bernard Shaw believed that man is born morally neutral, and can be trained to serve the state. Those that prove otherwise should be wiped out. How very atheistic. At least he's honest, and consistent with his beliefs. Those with the power make the rules, and those that don't get on board should be wiped out as they are threats to those that are in power. If there is no God, then we are simply nothing more than 'advanced' animals, and should be treated as such. We have no inherent worth, and by some people's philosophy, we are a cancer on the earth. I've had people tell me that we should wipe out societies in order to curb the population explosion. I'm sure he didn't mean Canada...maybe those Africans that are starving and killing each other. By that logic, what happened in Haiti and Japan are both 'good' things.

Moral education is virtually non-existent today as students are seen as strictly flesh with no soul, no moral compass by which to point and live by. While attending grade 12 (for the third year), I was indoctrinated into the post-modern thought of there being no truth, no absolutes. I wrote a paper on the leadership qualities of Adolf Hitler, using the very post-modern argument that what was true for Hitler was true for him, and if we follow this 'truth' then who are we to tell him otherwise? I was shocked that my mark scored low, not because of my poor writing skills, but because I dared argue that Hitler wasn't wrong in his leadership and actions according to the philosophy of post-modernism. How very UN-postmodern! Where was the consistency of thought? Post-moderns are absolutists about the things that really matter to them.

William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, was asked to justify his writing of the novel. His answer was profound for a non-believer. He said, "The problems of human society are the problems of human nature." It wasn't because of a lack of education, a lack of resources, a wrongful distribution of wealth. It was our nature. This lines up perfectly with Holy Scripture.

Scripture tells us don't follow your heart, for it is wicked. Deep down we are rotten to the core.

Can you wander through Auschwitz and still say 'man is good'?

All philosophies seek to fix the problems of man, whether it be wealth distribution, education, environmentalism. Christianity is the only philosophy that can properly understand this issue, our only help is regeneration of our spirit through Jesus Christ that will restrain us from our wickedness. We will see ourselves differently, but we will see others differently as well.