Rise To A Higher Calling

In his book, "Why I Became an Atheist," John Loftus (2008) rages
about how suffering and evil betray the believer. Thus, he could
no longer pretend God existed. He questions how anyone could
possibly follow a “god” who is either powerless or apathetic about
the human condition. Why would someone even want to follow such
a god?

Yet, who are we humans to make such arrogant accusations? We have
kicked God out of our schools and then demand to know why He allows
school shootings. We have kicked God out of our homes and then
demand to know why He allows child abuse. We have kicked God out of
our families and then demand to know why He allows our children to
become addicts and emotionally troubled.

We have banned God from our governments and then demand to know
why He allows our governments to be corrupt and repressive. We have
ignored God in our society and then cannot understand why He allows
our society to be so decadent—filled with adultery, drug addiction,
child pornography, embezzlement, fraud, broken homes, and even
corruption of those who are supposed to defend and protect us. We
have killed millions of innocent unborn children and call it
“choice”; yet we demand to know why God allows our societies to be
filled with murder and violence. We have filled our bodies with
various drugs and wonder why God allows newborn infants to suffer
from afflictions such as fetal alcohol syndrome or heroin
addiction. We have filled our minds with evil and violence and
then demand to know why God does not stop us from our evil and
violent actions.

We have kicked God out of this world and have crowned a new
prince (John 12:30–32; 14:29–30). We have flouted God’s laws and
then blame Him for the consequences of our lawlessness. We have
told God to not be part of our lives, our community, and our world
and in so doing have caused Him to remove His presence and
protection from our societies. Yet, we then become angry when He
does not protect us from natural disasters or the consequences
of our own sin. We fail to give God glory, yet we are anxious to
give Him the blame.

What is more, the presence of evil and disease in the world is not an “insurmountable” problem for Christianity. Many strong
theological answers have been provided. (Although some theologians
struggle with an answer since their evolution-based answers are weak
and inconsistent.) Undoubtedly, for critics such as Loftus, no
answer will be acceptable. Not only because he is a poor
philosopher (his book is a series of philosophical inconsistencies),
but also he does not really seek an answer. He is easily pacified
with the thought that if there is evil there cannot be a loving
God. He has little interest in any deeper understanding.

It is also sadly amusing that many so-called “Christians-turned-
atheists” claim that in becoming atheists they felt some form of
liberation. Liberation from what? God’s love? Grace? Forgiveness?
I suspect their “god” probably never offered these. Actually, it
would seem to be more a liberation from any sense of
responsibility and accountability. And, this somehow enables the
expression of a “higher human nature”? It has been my observation
that when accountability is removed, we humans are magnificent at
fabricating a “truth” that fits our own purposes. In so doing, we
are merely seeking to justify our sin. Also, if a situation or
event does not suit our needs, we rationalize a substitute. History,
for example, is being rewritten to offer a more “nonreligious”
verdict: a historical verdict that can be used to rationalize that
God does not move in the lives of His people; that man,
without God, can achieve his own greatness and goodness; that man,
without God, is not lost in an abyss of moral decay and destruction.
Yet, the nightly news tells a far different story. When we become
accountable only to ourselves, then we have made ourselves God. And
humans are terrible at being God. In the early 1960s, Stanley
Milgram began conducting a series ofcontroversial experiments
(Milgram, 1974).

Milgram tested people’s compliancy to a perceived “authority” who
instructed them to inflict pain on others. He found that only a
small minority of people defied the “authority” and stopped
inflicting the pain. Sadly, such experiments reveal how easily
humans can be coerced into negative behavior. What happened to
the innate moral code? It also illustrates how susceptible we can
be to negative social pressures. (Nazi soldiers typically argued
they were “just following orders.”) It took less than 3 days for
hurricane-damaged New Orleans to break down into social anarchy.
Where was the social constraint? All too easily, a new wave of
Nazi-type brutality could sweep the world.

When Christ said to love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 19:19)
and to love and pray for your enemies (Matt. 5:44), He was not
simply confirming how humans naturally act and think. Contrary to
Maslow and others, this is not human nature. Jesus was not telling
us to “do what comes naturally.” Instead, He was telling us to deny
our own natural, selfish desires and rise to a higher calling: a
calling that cannot be based upon our own desires of self
gratification, which produce the opposite; a calling that
cannot result from social opinion, which is never consistent or
selfless; a calling that cannot result from “being happy,” as that
is merely a subjective state of mind, subject to change every day.

It is a calling that is beyond a “wager” of best probable outcomes.
It is a calling that places Christianity above all human, earthly
teachings. It is a calling from the Creator, who knows what
brings peace and fulfillment into our lives. It is a calling from
Jesus, who has all authority over His creation (Matt 28:18).

Kevin Anderson, Ph.D.
Editor
Creation Research Society Quarterly