Mom on trial accused of killing 5-year-old with salt, Why Should We Care?

Post date: Jan 27, 2015 2:38:33 AM

Read the news story here:

http://news.yahoo.com/mom-going-trial-accused-killing-5-old-salt-140246938.html

Why Does This Matter? What is Really The Issue In The Background?

If Naturalistic evolution is true and there is no God, what makes genocide and massacre wrong? If our schools and universities are teaching us that we are just evolved animals then genocide and massacre are logically consistent with the atheistic worldview. Do Governments create human rights or discover them? What does it mean to be human? What are human rights? If naturalistic macroevolution is true, man is essentially animals and if governments create laws then who defines what a person is and what human rights are? Nazis Germany passed laws that deny basic human rights. They adhered to social Darwinism and nationalism which lead to

a) concept of fostering a genetically superior race

b) eugenics to extreme: eliminate the inferior races and preserve the better which were consistent with macroevolution and survival of the fittest.

Evolution destroys any basis for a standard of human rights, ethics or morality.

Our postmodern culture are conditioning us to be skeptics and indifferent towards truth, that tolerance means that all views have equal merit and none should be considered better than another, that morality is relative (there are no universal objective moral laws), that truth is relative and pragmatic, that God does not exist as science has made Him obsolete, that man is basically good, that laws of right and wrong are relative and are created by people or governments and that all views are true (pluralism).

This results in what atheist and historian of science and of evolutionary biology William Provine had concluded:

“Let me summarize my views on what modern evolutionary biology tells us loud and clear—and these are basically Darwin's views.

There are no gods, no purposes, and no goal-directed forces of any kind.

There is no life after death. When I die, I am absolutely certain that I am going to be dead. That's the end of me.

There is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning in life, and no free will for humans, either.” - Provine, W.B. 1994. Origins Research. 16 (1): 9

If Naturalistic macro evolution (and Scientific naturalism) is true and there is no God, matter is all that really exists as described by the laws of physics and chemistry, then there is no real purpose and meaning in life and no real reason why we ought to be good. There is no corresponding obligation to be good. What do we compare evil and injustice with? How do we differentiate between good and evil? Right and wrong? How do you determine if any action committed by a person is morally right or wrong? If there is no right or wrong how can anyone have intrinsic worth? The only reason humans have equal value is if we are made in the image of God but if there is no God then the value is arbitrary. If according to macro evolution, our mind is a mindless organism that is compelled to act according to its chemistry and cannot act otherwise so that being born with certain behavioral predispositions (murder, homosexuality, stealing, greed, anger, unfaithfulness/ adultery) is out of our control, what defines what behavior is moral and good? how can people be held responsible for their actions? How did we get a bad society to start with if people are basically good? Why continue to believe in the goodness of man when evil and suffering happens? If God does not exist, and the only objective laws in the universe were the laws of physics and chemistry, moral judgments would be meaningless and there would be no free will or moral responsibility (as determinism and randomness would be true).

There is no logical reason why anyone should be happy that atheism (naturalistic macro evolution) is true (if it was true).

Examples of Persecution:

1) China: “The Chinese Communist Party, the world’s largest political party, maintains strict control over Chinese citizens. Any sign of opposition is swiftly crushed. The government censors the press, the Internet and the publishing industry... All house church meetings are illegal” 6

2) North Korea: “North Korea maintains one of the world’s largest standing armies and an expansive system of political prison camps, which hold a significant number of individuals arrested for “illegal” religious activity...North Korea is the worst persecutor of Christians in the world. Christians are tortured, imprisoned and murdered. Private, non-state-sanctioned religious activity is prohibited. Anyone discovered engaging in clandestine religious activity is subject to arrest, torture or even public execution. Under the ideology of Juche, the only acceptable religion is “Kim-Il-Sungism.”' 6

3) Sudan: “A continuing conflict in Darfur has driven 2 million more from their homes and killed over 200,000. Sudan and South Sudan split into two separate countries in 2011, and, according to USCIRF, 'conditions in Sudan have deteriorated since South Sudan’s independence.'.. In Sudan, Christians face poverty, war and genocide. Arab-Sudanese are trying to eradicate black Sudanese in the Nuba Mountains, where Christian villages face daily bombings by the Sudanese military. The government is trying to eliminate all Christian villages, churches, hospitals and schools in an effort to Islamize the country.” 6

4) Syria: “During the ongoing armed conflict, Syrian forces and the opposition have both been criticized for serious human rights abuses, including kidnapping, torture, sexual abuse and summary executions. There is evidence of growing divisions between the opposition troops themselves — between moderate and radical Islamists.” 6

5) Laos: “As one of the few remaining communist nations, Laos is a volatile area for Christians. Officially, the government permits the practice of four religions, including Christianity. In reality, however, Christians are harassed, evicted from their homes and forcibly relocated, denied education opportunities, arrested and forced to deny their faith. Churches are watched carefully by the government.” 6

6) Iran: “Believers are discriminated against in education, employment and property ownership. Apostates from Islam face the death sentence. Authorities raid house church services, detain worshipers and threaten church members. The publishing, importation or reprinting of Bibles or Christian literature is illegal.” 6

Questions We Need to Ask and Answer:

--Q: what is conscience? What is the source and ground for the absolute moral obligation we all feel to obey our conscience?

--Q: Why do we feel guilt?

--Q: Would you agree that people don't usually do what they know is right?

--Q: Why is there an oughtness about behavior that we can feel that actually precedes the behavior itself?

-- Q: Why do we have an internal compulsion that compels us to choose certain behaviors-- To do what is right?

--Q: Would you agree that if absolute moral laws exist, then immaterial (non physical) things exist (numbers, knowledge, values, virtue, logic, time which can't be empirically proven (5 senses) and materialism (strict empiricism) is false ? (Adapted from Morality as a Clue to God by Gregory Koukl)

-- Q: If morality evolved then why ought we be concerned at all about the welfare of the species? What is better for me is to be immoral (Survival of the Fittest)

--- Q: If according to macro evolution, our mind is a mindless organism that is compelled to act according to its chemistry and cannot act otherwise so that being born with certain behavioral predispositions (homosexuality, stealing, greed, anger, unfaithfulness/ adultry) is out of our control, what defines what behavior is moral and good? how can people be held responsible for their actions?

-- Q: Would you agree that survival of the fittest ultimately leads to selfishness, “might makes right” and devalues human life.

-- Q: Would you agree that if man is simply a product of his environment then there is no basis to punish evil?

-- Q: Where does the desire to pursue art, philosophy, and science come from?

– Q: If there are universal objective moral laws then where do they come from?

-- Q: How do you test views/interpretations/beliefs to see if they are really true?

-- Q: Are friends, culture, experience, emotion, and religious authorities good reasons to believe something is true? Can they be wrong? How do you know which is true?

:: Requirements of Truth and Worldviews (Tests that a worldview should pass):: 8, 22

--Test of Reason: Is it Coherent?

--Does it make logical sense (LNC)

--Is it internally consistent with itself and other statements in a given system

--Negative Test: reveals what cannot possible be true

--Truth is discovered through corresponding statements, affirmations, propositions to reality as it exists.

--God is the basis of Truth

--Test of Experience: Does it agree with what we know about the world and ourselves?

--Is it externally consistent with truths in all fields of study? (Science, Law, History, Ethics)

--Does it correspond with reality?

--Is is consistent with what we feel?

--Exp. if there is no right or wrong then any action (murder or racism) is neither right or wrong.

--Test of Practice: Does it work? Can you live it?

--Comprehensive: Does it answer life’s most important questions?

* many people choose beliefs (religions) based on how they want to look at the world (facts/reality)--priori/pragmatic based, instead of seeing how the world (facts/reality) really is and then determining their beliefs—posteriori/inductive based.

-- “...a basic definition of "religion"... a series of beliefs and practices.

most religions of the world tend to not just make claims about how we should live (practice), but they make claims about reality- propositions that are claimed to accurately reflect our world. This makes it quite easy to test the religions of the world for truth. If our bases (beliefs) do not accurately reflect reality, then we must adjust them to accurately reflect reality. When we have accurate beliefs that inform accurate practices, then we have an indication of the true or correct religion. Any religion that makes claims about reality is subject to being tested.” -Luke Nix, http://lukenixblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/can-religion-be-tested-for-truth.html