The Arrogance of Values

Part 13: Secularism and the Meaningless Life

Most irreligious individuals, quite understandably, do not like to acknowledge the inevitable and logical consequence of their irreligiosity -- that life is ultimately purposeless. If there is no God who designed the universe and who cares about His creations, life is a meaningless random event. You and I are no more significant, our existence has no more meaning, than that of a rock on Mars. While secular individuals can believe that their own lives have meaning, secularism by definition denies that life has meaning. The consequences have been devastating to mental health and to social order. In government, secularism is a blessing; but most everywhere else it is not.

Part 14: The Arrogance of Values

Judeo-Christian values -- as developed and expressed specifically in America -- constitute the finest value system in the world. If you care about goodness, justice and compassion prevailing in an often evil, unjust and cruel world, you should hope that Judeo-Christian values predominate on earth. Is such an attitude, that there is a best value system, arrogant -- or even chauvinistic or racist? All people are equal, but that does not mean that all values are equal. The statement, "All people are equal," is itself a value, one which holds that human equality is superior to any value that demeans or denies the intrinsic worth of other human beings. Those who adhere to Judeo-Christian values must carry them with genuine humility. There are wonderful people in every religion and wonderful people who are atheists, and there are awful people in Judaism and Christianity. But it is simply intellectual cowardice to deny that one's value system implies anything but its superiority to some or all other values.