Richard Dawkins Secular Humanism

The secular humanist begins all scientific inquiry by assuming that the supernatural is impossible and therefore nonexistent. Richard Dawkins writes in The God Delusion: “I am not attacking any particular version of God or gods. I am attacking God, all gods, anything and everything supernatural, wherever and whenever they have been or will be invented.” (57) This means that our universe has come into being on its own, without the assistance of any powers extra nos. Life, when it began, was very primitive. However, through a multi-billion year process involving genetic mutations and natural selection, we have come to where we are today: hairless apes walking about on two legs with big brains, opposable thumbs, and iPhones. All of this has happened

Richard Dawins once wrote, “Nature is not cruel, only pitilessly indifferent. This is one of the hardest lessons for humans to learn. We cannot admit that things might be neither good nor evil, neither cruel nor kind, but simply callous – indifferent to all suffering, lacking all purpose.” (96) Because the universe is one big cosmic accident, there is no sense in looking for purpose. When milk is spilt on the floor, it doesn’t pour out a certain way on purpose; it’s simply gravity acting on mass because that’s what gravity does and that’s what mass does. So also, regardless of what purpose a person might think he has, he’s just mass doing what mass does when acted on by outside forces like

The Westminster Larger Catechism says that man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. God intends for the earth to be full of image bearers (Genesis 1:28) and thus filled with His glory (Numbers 14:21). Man can labor toward this end by fearing God and following His commands (Ecclesiastes 12:13), by getting married and having children (Genesis 1:28), and by preaching discipling and baptizing the nations to obey Christ’s commands.

When turning to the question of morality, we find that secular humanism has no valid answer to this question. If all we are is stardust bumping into stardust, no one can argue that there should be rules in this cosmic mosh pit. If there is no purpose, then rules can only be arbitrary. Arguments can be made for individual or culturally-based morality, but there is no standard by which to judge which morality is right.

By contrast, consistent Christians believe that God’s Law as it is given to us in the Old and New Testaments is the only valid standard for morality. God has made us in His image and He demands that we be holy as He is holy (Leviticus 11:14). Christianity provides a basis for condemning things like murder and theft, while secular humanism admits these to be necessary components in a universe arranged such that only the strong