Introduction- The Moral Freedom of Atheism

Many atheists today are embracing the fact that their worldview cannot support the existence of objective morality, purpose, or meaning. When objective morality, purpose, and meaning do not exist, that frees the individual to create their own morality, purpose, and meaning without the threat of judgment or damnation based upon their choices.

For the atheist, in a sense, this is quite freeing. It allows anyone and everyone to do whatever they want without any guilt or social discomfort. The freedom to do what one wants without limits opens up a world of possibilities that many have never even dreamed.

A World of Possibilities

But with that world of possibilities for us comes a world of realities for others. For what freedom we grant ourselves, must be granted equally for others. And what possibilities we would never dream of is the realities others will pursue: the reality that there is no true "good" or "evil," no true "right" or "wrong". Thus others are free to slander and censor, control and dictate, to abuse and subjugate, to rape and murder. And not to do these things only to others, but to do them to us, our families, and our friends.

Quote from "The Beauty of Intolerance" by Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell- "Human slavery is a graphic illustration of how justice miserably fails to protect a minority in absence of adherence to a higher moral code."

The "freedom" that atheists think they have discovered in their worldview becomes a living hell of constant fear of others, constantly "sleeping with one eye open", and a never ending war for power and control over their little bubble of reality, lest it be destroyed by those who's self-created purpose is to destroy the freedom of others, to abuse them (physically, sexually, psychologically, etc.) or to annihilate them and their "kind" simply because they don't like something about them.

Even if an atheist tries to reason from a person's previously acceptable behavior to the possibility of acceptable behavior in the future, that is still just that: only a possibility. For if objective morality, purpose, and meaning do not exist, everyone is free to contradict themselves from word to action, from moment to moment, from past to present to future. There is no "hypocrisy" for their words and behaviors are all consistent with the absence of objective morality, purpose, and meaning.

Quote from Os Guinness' book "Magna Carta of Humanity": "If everything is endlessly open to question and change, then everything is permitted, nothing is forbidden, and literally nothing is unthinkable."

What About Justice?

Because there is freedom to do these things, justice has no place in reality, for nothing "wrong" or "evil" was done in the first place in order seek "justice."

There is only "vigilante revenge," and every person must accept the reality that they must be ready to murder anyone and everyone who threatens their own bubble of this atheistic world. What the atheist once thought was unthinkable to themselves becomes not only thinkable, not only doable, but obligatory, if they wish to continue to live in this world of "freedom" that they insist exists.

The "Useful Fiction"

The idea that there is freedom in atheism is short-sighted in all aspects: it appeals only to the emotions and desires of a single individual only in the present moment. It does not look logically at the implications for the individual in the future or for others in the present or future. A society cannot continue to exist on this view of reality; society cannot exist unless its individuals deny the fact (if atheism is true) that they each have this level of freedom. A society cannot continue to exist unless they accept the "useful fiction" of objective morality, purpose, and meaning. If atheism is true, then survival absolutely requires that society not only be agnostic about the existence of that which does not exist (God) but accept the lie as if it were true.

Evolution, if God does not exist and if a group is to continue to exist and evolve, must necessarily reward (through survival) false beliefs and punish (through extinction) true beliefs. If God does not exist, then we have only survived this long because our brains have evolved acutely and effectively towards the end of believing that which is false. On this view, the human brain necessarily cannot be trusted to reason towards what is true. Thus when an atheist tells you that they have "reasoned" to the conclusion of atheism, the logical thing to do is to reject that claim immediately as false. Reason has no connection with the conclusion that atheism is true because it necessarily (if atheism is true) cannot be connected.

Conclusion

Intolerance of slavery, racism, and injustice is beautiful. But unless God exists to provide the objective foundation for morality and human value, such beauty is only a matter of opinion. The argument is quite simple to follow but difficult to accept:

1. If objective moral values and duties exist, then God exists.
2. Objective moral values and duties do exist. Therefore,
3. God exists