If "there is NO God & NO absolutes", & right & wrong is determined INDIVIDUALLY, HOW can we then have peace?

Question

Atheism, Humanism, Socialism, and Evolution propose that either God does not exist, or that he is someone or something other than what he claims to be in His word (the Bible). Rather than everything centering around an Almighty Invisible Being who is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, and to whom we will ALL one day be accountable, such philosophies place MAN as the one who "calls the shots" and is in absolute control of not only his individual destiny, but the world as well. Such phrases as "believe in yourself", "knowledge is power" and the entire concept of "self esteem" sound real good on the surface, but if these things be true, and we are indeed "evolving higher and higher", then WHY is our world only becoming progressively WORSE? Could it be that we, as a race, are NOT "all wise" and "all powerful" as we like to believe, but instead are very fallible and sinful, and thus, hopeless and helpless on our own? Could it be that we really DO need a Saviour (Jesus Christ)?

I knew this would "open a can of worms" and PROVOKE people to do something that's fast becoming a thing of the past: CRITICAL THINKING. I LOVE the response this is getting, as perhaps for the first time EVER, it will cause people to "think outside the box" of what they've been force fed through the media, philosophy, politics, and yes, even "religion". In looking through the various responses, I note how MANY have missed the point entirely of what I'm saying. I NEVER cited "religion" per se, either pro or con (though the "ism's" I cited ARE by their very nature "religions", ie a system of beliefs in something or someone). Rather, I was pointing out how MANKIND AS A WHOLE points to itself, individually and corporately, as THE controlling factor in the world! And my MAIN point: if there's NO GOD, then that leaves MAN as "in charge". Only problem then: WHO determines "right and wrong"? And is it "God" or MAN doing the killing,injustice,etc? Are we TRULY "advancing" or DEVOLVING?

Answer 1

It sounds like you've already answered your own question, that, yes, we do need a Savior. And praise God for it, because so many people will never know this and suffer for it.

You also know that truth is absolute. Truth does not care what your opinion of it is, it simply is. If truth were not absolute, there would not be mathematics, where there is only ONE correct answer, and all others are WRONG. Likewise, any old note would do in a piano concerto, and not the "right" note to make it right.

And you already know that evolution is not even possible -- let's just mention the second law of thermodynamics, entropy: ALL matter disintegrates.

Man IS inherently evil. When things go bad, that is when we are at our worst; we return to our most base nature; violence, revenge, rage, evil. Put it this way, when your children are young, do you teach them how to be bad, or do you teach them to be good? You teach them to be good, because they ALREADY KNOW how to be bad.

Jesus is the only person in all of history who ever said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, NO ONE comes to the Father but by Me." When everyone out there is saying something different, doesn't that automatically give Him enough credibility to at least investigate?

I investigated, I researched, I studied, I didn't want to make a mistake. What did I find? Jesus IS the only way.

Answer 2

I can't tell you for certain that "there is no God", but I can tell you for certain that there is no reason for me personally to consider such a being's existence.

We are not indeed "evolving higher and higher"; evolution is neither constant nor directed. Over time, trends like the increase in primate intelligence may show up, but it is a complex situation. Interestingly, I feel we are probably "devolving" statistically; almost anyone can survive to child-bearing age nowadays. Nature no longer has quality control over humans. When a cataclysmic event next wipes out a large percentage of life on the planet, we shall see the direction evolution is going to take.

And about the saviour, no we don't need to become Christian. But you're right, the world is a scary place. I'm not sure it is getting worse, but it IS scary. If it helps you to believe in Jesus, go for it. Just make sure you don't hurt too many people in the process.

Answer 3

Whether or not someone believes in God or believes that God is what "Bible" people say He is, there can still be absolutes and right and wrong; and the way I see it knowing what is right and wrong is as easy as asking "Is this intentionally harming, hurting or damaging someone or something in this world." The partner question is this: " Is what I do and say something that is nurturing to other humans and living creatures and something that adds to the world and society?" While there may be some times when sticking to the hurting or helping rule is impossible, in general it would go a long way toward bringing peace to the world. If what you do contributes to the promotion of life and the Earth you can assume its right. If it takes away there's a good chance its wrong.

There are people in this world who do not have to be afraid of facing God some day. They may have faith that he's there, or they may doubt it, but there are people who - just out of the natural decency and morality that God (or whoever or whater) has given so many of us, will do the right thing whether or not anyone is waiting at the end of the line to offer a reward.

There are people (believers and non-believers) who, just on their own, make every effort to try to do "God's work" or "make a difference" because people very often have a far purer soul than many religions would given them credit for.

The world is worse is some ways, no doubt about it; but in other ways it is getting better. Evolution doesn't necessarily mean that people will get "higher". It is possible for evolution to be turned around.

People who take a more careful approach to religion or spirituality don't necessarily think humans are "all knowing". They just think it is the job of humans on this Earth to make every effort to get the information correct and don't just buy that people are horrible unless they think they have God watching them and that people are just supposed to accept what followers of religions say without question. People who follow a religion benefit greatly from it, but not everyone is comfortable being a follower.

Maybe you are helpless and hopeless on your own, but for all the troubles in our "God-less" country there are still a whole lot of people who are so spiritual and enlightened they don't want a middle-man between them and their God. As far as the other countries go, many are run by religious leaders, and look how that's working out!

There is that saying about when people disagree over something: They say, "There is one side. There is the other side. And somewhere between the two sides you will find the truth." Anyone who too stubbornly clings to either side is, chances are, in need of moderating their opinions just a bit toward the center.

I don't know if you weren't afraid of God if you'd be a horrible person (which most of us aren't) or if - even if you thought He didn't exist - you would be a kind, honest, decent, person just because some people - believe it or not - really are like that.
If you would be decent and kind whether or not you believed God existed, how arrogant of you to assume so many other people are not as equally and naturally good and kind. If you would drop all the morality if you didn't fear meeting God someday, then I am here to inform you that you are assuming everyone else is like you when they just aren't.

You know what? You may need a savior, many of us don't. You just take care of you and your own soul and your own beliefs, and don't worry about who else believes what else. Somehow my own thinking is this: If there is a heaven and I end up there, I'm thinking God will like that I chose to find my own way rather than to follow someone else and accept everything they said without question.

Answer 4

On the contrary, part of the problem is that too many people believe in a deity that dictates morality and absolutes. But nobody can agree on *which* deity to believe in and *which* absolutes everyone should agree to. You point to the Bible, while others point to the Koran and still others point to the Bagavad-Gita. All purport to give absolutes by which to live life. And all have their good points. But all encourage people who believe in them to dislike/hate/kill/ those who hold other beleifs. This causes a great deal of the turmoil in the world today.

I also disagree that the world is getting worse and worse. If you go back to 1215 during the Mongol invasions, you will find a great deal of world-wide death and destruction. If you go back to 450 during the fall of the Roman empire, you will find the same thing. If you go back to almost any time period, you will find wars and massive killing all over the world. The only thing that has changed in the past 50 years is the extent to which technology has helped the overall destruction, not the tendency of people to destroy.

Finally, you completely mistake the impact of Humanism and atheism. By pointing to *humans* as the ones that have to fix the messes we see, we take full responsibility to make the world a better place. By realizing that there is no superior power, we find that we have to be the ones to stand up to tyranny and ignorance. It is only by focussing on how our actions affect all the people around us (i.e. Humanism, not Godism) that we have any possibility of pulling ourselves out of the swamp that superstition has put us into.

Answer 5

You see, people don't need to be told to be nice to one another in order to be nice to one another.

A normal person who is at least fairly happy will have a trait called "self-liking". This means that they like themself for who they are.

Such a person will naturally treat others well, regardless of what they belief regarding "religion".

This can be seen in anthropology, by studying very peaceful groups of people's who have no real religious beliefs beyond, perhaps, a very light belief in nature spirits or such. They don't have religions per se, but they treat people very well and do not war.

Also, indeed, as pointed out above, the cause of most war is either religion or beliefs like Hitlers that are very similar to religion in that they are based on "faith" in an abstract idea rather than actual evidence.

I personally feel that if religion were gone from earth, we would all be better off.

Answer 6

I don't believe in God. There is no such thing as a soul. What exactly do you mean by a soul? I assure you that biologists have not found any "white phantom" in our body that we could consider to be a "soul".

There is something called right and wrong. These are basic concepts. Those who have the best hold of them are elected leaders. (that's not always true because if the people are dumb, they can elect someone who doesn't have the best hold, e.g. GWB).

The world is getting worse because of religion and the use of resources. If nobody believed in religion, there would most likely be no such thing as terrorists. Then, we'd only have to watch out for our resources.

Money is not the root of evil. Money is simply a trading standard that is used to insure that everybody has what they want, on a basis of what they have earned. Investment is a root of evil.

Answer 7

Hi Stephen,

You missed the concept of tolerance.

Instead of religions swinging so far off the map into self importance and intolerance towards those outside their "superior" group, they need to learn the concept of "love they neighbor". Not if they are like us religiously, but even when they are different than us religiously. All religions need to take this step of maturing instead of crippling everyone in their group with bigotry and hate.

Religious groups cross the line into hate and subsequent violence towards others and their lifestyles, when they start feeling they are "the one true religion" and everyone else is in need of their particular religious belief's & lifestyle. That is where religion turns into predjudice and hate dirrected at those on the outside. But the follower's don't see it because they become blinded with pride, self importance and superiority complex's.

Intolerance is the seed of hate and war, something religious groups excell in cultivating in the minds of their follower's. All concept's of cellebrating diversity, concept's that breed peace and aceptance - get panited as the actual evil of society within the mind of the religious follower.

Frankly you just can't "love" your neighbor when you are busy thinking you are better than your neighbor. You can only bred more hate that way.

Unless all religion's start dismantling doctrines that create hate, which means giving up the notion of inerrantcy of the bible or Quran etc, and allowing some awarness and intelligence in, there will alway's be religious war and discrimination towards other people's not like them.

Religion is not the answer to hatred. The more religiously nurotic people get - the worse the world will be for it - and has alway's been.

Fundamentalism is a bane, a scorge of violence. Letting go of it creats authentic progress because then, and only then the maturity of tolerance can enter the picture.

I myself feel there is one absolute; kindness - treating all others with an inate respect towards their person hood, as well as unabling them to fullfill their own unique potential. Eveyone has a right to be fillfilled, and we should not harm them because we have filled our heads with bigotry and so called "godly message's". Bigotry is another absolute - it is alway's wrong. I may seem an irony, but hate is a form of crime that should never be tolerated. That would be circular resoning. A church may sanction bigotry in their mixed up reasoning and justification's, but hate is hate and not at all progress.

Answer 8

You may not realise this but all of the people in prison aren't atheists and all atheists aren't in prison. ohh...oops?

Humanism, socialism and evolution do not propose that god does not exist.

People who believe the bible is inerrant are fools.


If your god were omnipresent and omnipotent why do so many children die each day from starvation? Why does your god need to be worshipped so damn badly? That's a very ungodly trait indeed.

Religion has nothing to do with morality, it's a set of values learned from your parents and society. YOU may need Jesus to stop you from raping and murdering. Perhaps your parents did a poor job. I'm doing quite well on my own.

Answer 9

Since the dawn of time people have always wanted more or what they could not have. Peace will never exist, if we don't start reaching out to those that need help. We need to share what we have with others. Be kind to those that are different from us and have an understanding about each other.

Though we come from different worlds of culture, different beliefs, we all want one thing, and that is, a safe place to raise our families. Through faith, love and kindness, only then will we find peace for all mankind.

Answer 10

Without "god", morality would be established the way we currently establish EVERYTHING EXCEPT RELIGION in free societies, by consensus! Would that be so very hard? Instead of believing in monsters below us and angels in the sky, we could all decide that killing other people is wrong! Stealing their stuff is wrong!

Would that really be so bad?

Can you imagine a world where we think things out for ourselves, and ageing perverts would have no excuse for wearing skirts and preying on little boys?


(Not that there is anything wrong with wearing a skirt as long as you leave the little boys alone!)