OPINION:
Dear Dr. E: I know that many Christians believe homosexuality is wrong, but I never hear any of them explain why without using their Bibles to do so. I’m not a Christian, and I really don’t care much about what the Bible says. In fact, I consider it to be wrong on many moral issues, especially in its intolerance and hate for gays, lesbians, and trans-people. Can you explain why being LGBTQ+ is wrong, and can you do so by using reason and logic instead of your religion? — PROUD PARENT OF A GAY SON FROM KEY WEST, FLORIDA
Dear Proud Parent: While I obviously disagree with your understanding and characterization of the Bible, I’ll set that aside for the moment and attempt to answer your question on your terms.
First and foremost, I must point out that you, apparently without knowing it, are using “religion” in your attempts to refute “religion.”
How so?
The obvious pretext to your question assumes you can define good and evil by your reason alone. But to declare something good or evil based on nothing but your personal “reason” makes your statement little more than a whim of opinion as opposed to something objectively true (which you obviously don’t believe; otherwise, you wouldn’t bother even to ask your question or make your argument).
Therefore, to elevate your moral views over and above mine, you need a peg higher than mere subjectivity, i.e., personal “reasons,” upon which to hang them. For you to be right and me to be wrong, you must assume a measuring rod outside of those things being measured. You need an immutable scale upon which to weigh the relative value of your argument against mine. The bottom line is that your argument begs for a “deity.”
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So, by default, because you have discarded the God of the Bible, you, out of necessity, have created a new one, a more amenable authority, a god that looks strikingly like yourself, a god who will conveniently declare your views right and all opposing views wrong.
You see, yours is not the irreligious “rational” worldview that you think it is. Quite to the contrary, it is very religious. You have simply replaced a big God with a very small one. Your Savior is now yourself. Your libido is now your Lord. Your “identity” is now your idol.
And before you simply shrug and say, “So what?” remember this – Idols always make very quick work of upending and inverting good and evil, for that is the main “reason” for which idols are made. All you need to do is look at the lessons of history (Hitler, Mao, Robespierre, Stalin, Pol Pot, etc.) for proof.
As to the above argument’s “rationality,” — Well, it is self-evident. Here’s the test: There are, frankly, only two ways you can respond. Either you admit that your view is just your opinion and, therefore, has no objective value better than mine, or you declare you’re right and I’m wrong, and you appeal to some authority other than the God of the Bible to prove it. In which case, you have just bowed in worship to yourself.
You see, if you want to be rational, you must first ask yourself why the debate even matters. If we are just sharing opinions, rightness and wrongness really don’t matter, and we are both wasting a lot of energy over something as irrelevant as a debate over the best flavor of ice cream.
But if “morality,” as you describe it, is the issue, then you have to ask, what authority are you appealing to that makes your view “moral” and mine not? If that authority is yourself, then you have just declared yourself to be god, and Narcissus just slipped, fell in, and drowned.
I have had this debate innumerable times with countless people over the years. Again and again, I’ve asked, “What authority do you appeal to other than yourself to determine that you are right and I am wrong? Over and over again, I get no coherent answer. Why? The “reason” is obvious. If the God of the Bible isn’t your authority, then the only authority left is you, and declaring yourself to be your own god is a far cry from a nonreligious worldview.
You asked for a rational defense of my position, and I gave you one. The bottom line is this – Your premise is irrational and self-refuting. Welcome to the horns of your own dilemma.
If you are seeking guidance in today’s changing world, Higher Ground is there for you. Everett Piper, a Ph.D. and a former university president and radio host, takes your questions in his weekly ’Ask Dr. E’ column. If you have moral or ethical questions for which you’d like an answer, please email askeverett@washingtontimes.com and he may include it in a future column.
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