Mark Erichsen

The following papers were written for the “Dangerous Books” elective, similar to the selections presented in issue seventeen.  The two main books read this quarter were On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche and selections from Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, which we will continue into fourth quarter.

When one talks about religion and the creation of the world, two of the most common views brought up are Christianity and Atheism involved with Darwinism. Christianity is rooted in history (back to the B.C. era) with one of the most reliable sources in history, The Bible, while Atheism also arose in the B.C. era and became even more popular than it already was with the publishing of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Christianity revolves around the belief of intelligent design and the governance of a one true deity; and Atheism is the belief in no such deity at all, with evolution being the basis for creation.

The question here is would the world be better off if Atheism dominated cultural and intellectual life? For further clarification of the question Atheism will be compared to a world dominated by Christianity and most comparisons made will refer to the population of the United States of America. As stated before Atheism is the belief in the absence of any ruling deity(-ies). One of Atheism’s biggest tenets is the belief in Darwinism, a view in which all life as we know it today evolved from a single, single-celled organism up to fully sentient humans. The problem with those who accept Atheism is they lack the belief in the Christian God, and along with the belief in the Christian God comes the understanding of intelligent design, morals, and a deeper understanding of Creation.

The biggest problem is the lack of morals. Those who do not identify as being affiliated with religion tend to make their own sets of morals or usually just fit in with whatever is popular. Of course there are Atheists who hold themselves to their own moral standard based off of personal experience and strive to live a good life by doing good works and treating others as themselves; but what it comes down to is an overall lack of morals in today’s culture. This is attributed to the lack of and adherence to religion in the United States. In 2014, a survey was conducted and about seventy percent of America’s population identified themselves as Christian. However this does not take into account the “annual Church attendees.” The sad thing is the percent of real, dedicated Christians that regularly attend Church and live a Godly lifestyle is far lower than seventy percent.

Many families and individuals identify as Christian but only go to Church twice a year: Christmas and Easter. Their actual adherence to Christian beliefs and values are subpar also. This percentage of fake Christians and the twenty percent “unaffiliated” group probably make up at least over half of America’s population. Along with this comes the destructive fundamentals of today’s culture. The basics of today’s culture include sleeping around as much as one wants (with little to no commitment), living life believing you have no consequences for your actions, and making you the center of your own universe. In the past five to six years these views have become more and more popular up to the point where our country’s government has been corrupted and is beginning to make all the wrong decisions.

This can only get worse and with the population shifting more and more to an Atheistic point of view, one can only imagine what might happen if the world was dominated by America’s culture (and where America’s future is headed). The world would not be better off if an Atheistic point of view dominated intellectual and cultural life. Once again, this can be attributed to the ever-present Atheistic belief in America. Now, if Christianity were the dominating religion in the world, let alone America, things would be much different. Despite seventy percent of Americans identifying themselves as Christian, Christianity is clearly not the dominated religion/belief.

Despite culture’s morals and values being completely different, more valuable works would be produced. Now there are plenty of books and movies made in this day and age that will surely stand the test of time, but if Christianity dominated, Christian thought would also dominate. For example, there would most likely be more apologists, and critical thinkers would be pumping out books left and right analyzing different religions and viewpoints. Overall, the arts would flourish.

Alongside this, America’s original and intended values would not be skewered and misinterpreted; they would be protected. After all, America was founded as a one true nation under God. The fundamentals of popular culture would look more along the lines of making it one’s goal to live and imitate a life Christ led. Paul, a mouthpiece of Christ and the greatest missionary who ever lived, says in Ephesians 4:1-3, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Christ instructs us to live a Godly life, and be the best examples of Him we can be. Peter, another mouthpiece of God, says in 2 Peter 3:17-18, “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lost your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him Be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”