Apologetics

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I had an enlightening conversation recently with a secular humanist, a very intelligent one at that, so I'd like to thank him obliquely for providing me with much of the material I'll be using in this set of notes. Secular humanism, in case you're not familiar with it, is the dominant philosophy of most people on earth who aren't Christians. Loosely stated, it's the belief that humans can advance sufficiently that they develop the ability to live in peace with each other, toss away foolish superstition such as religion, and enjoy one world where everyone is at peace with each other. It's called secular because, obviously, religion does not and cannot enter the equation at any point. It's called humanism because it's based on the belief that all humans on earth are united by something powerful, namely the humanity that we all share, and that this will serve as the basis for all future advancement of the human race.

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

1. Secular humanism is arrogant and elitist by assuming that any belief other than secular humanism is primitive and backward. It also contradicts itself in its view on humanity. It believes that religion is primitive and that anyone who is sufficiently advanced will have no need of it, but more than 80% of global humanity identifies itself with some kind of religion. That means that 80% of people on earth, according to humanists, are gullible and naive. In other words, while saying that humanity has the power to solve every world problem and live in peace with each other, it simultaneously says that the vast majority of humanity is so gullible that it makes up these imaginary gods because it's too stupid to understand the way the world really works. That optimism about humanity's potential simply does not match the observations about humanity's current status.

In fact, the 20th century spawned more, and more violent, conflicts than any other century in the history of the world. Worse for the humanists, almost none of these wars were over religion. The argument that religion is destructive, or that it is in any way bad for humanity, just does not hold any weight. One could even observe that, the more ground humanism has gained, the worse off humanity has become. Which leads me to point two...

2. Secular humanism cannot explain why we should consider all humans as equal. Sure, we all share a species in theory, but so do all the different breeds of dogs. We're made up of dozens of ethnicities who have evolved (to use the secular way of thinking) separately from each other, on six different continents, over the span of tens of thousands of years. What unites us, apart from a few genes? Why should we even believe the suggestion that there is anything special that binds humanity together? Why should I be kind to my neighbor, simply because he, by a fluke of evolution and the decision of his parents, happens to share my genes?

Ironically, Christianity does provide such an explanation, by observing that all humans are made in the image of God. This is what makes us valuable, and also what unites us all. We're not just animals with a similar genotype; we are image-bearers of God, precious to God because he created each one of us from scratch. He is the one who gives us value and meaning. Yet without this explanation, secular humanism merely makes an assertion, and can provide absolutely nothing to back it up.

Christianity also addresses the point I raised earlier, about humans being gullible. Whereas secular humanism says that the 5 billion religious humans are hopelessly deluded and naive, Christianity says they are actually on the right track, in that they are responding to a basic, primal instinct to worship a higher power. We merely argue that they need to refine their worship so that they are directing it at the one true God, and so that they are entering a proper relationship with him by faith in his son Jesus Christ, in whom alone is forgiveness of sins.

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