A problem with atheism

Everybody needs guidance.  We start life in this world a blank slate and our parents, with their loving efforts, attempt to shape us into decent adults.  No human has a monopoly on knowledge or wisdom, and so we look to other sources for help.

Some look to religious books.  Christians look to the Bible; Jews to the Talmud and the Old Testament; Muslims to the Koran; Hindus to the Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita.  Buddhists, Shintos and others have less defined holy works but still have central teachings to be followed.

The point is they’re all looking for guidance.  Whether they chose their system of belief or were born into it, those teachings are their moral compass.  These works set out standards for right and wrong in a similar way that parents teach their children right and wrong.

Here’s the problem.  Atheists do not have this moral guide.  I do not mean atheists have no moral compass.  I mean they have no central guide to their life though this in itself does not make atheists bad people.

I listened to an interview with Christopher Hitchens in which the abuse of children within the Catholic Church came up.  Hitchens rightly decried the crime perpetuated by the priests but then said those acts are something no moral atheist would do.

Well of course not.  No moral person of any kind would do those things.  His statement was ill-considered and misleading because it implied all atheists were moral and all religious people weren’t, which is plainly not true.  Those priests believed in God but the pervert sitting at home downloading child porn doesn’t.  Both are just as bad.

The difference is religious people are given a moral guide to follow, though not all do.  Atheists have to make up their own standards, and that scares me.  Yes there are very good people out there who don’t believe in God.  They don’t hurt anyone, they do good works and they care for their families.  But what about the ones that don’t?

They have to decide completely on their own what is right and what is wrong.  Even governments don’t allow their citizens to do this.  When entirely left to our own devices the danger is our moral compass can be skewed.  What we determine to be right and wrong may change depending on whether someone with authority is watching, where we are and who we’re with.  Shouldn’t wrong things be wrong all the time?

Therefore theists look for wisdom from a source higher than themselves, just like a parent’s wisdom is higher than their children.

Atheists have decided they can live without these holy works.  But that brings up another problem.