Wilson vs. Hitchens
Christianity Today has been hosting a written debate between atheist (not ‘athiest,’ a spelling I see far too often to write off as merely a typographical error) Christopher Hitchens and pastor/theologian Doug Wilson. (Hitchens is not more ‘athy’ than Wilson.) This debate has been stunning to me for one reason: Hitchens does not even pretend to answer Wilson’s repeated calls for a justification for objective moral pronouncements.
(As an editorial note, the attempts of many atheists to answer this challenge by defining the word ‘moral,’ rather than giving a justification for objective moral principles, is entirely insufficient. In other words, it is not enough to simply define ‘good’ as that which brings the most happiness to the greatest number of people (i.e., utilitarianism). It is also necessary to show how or why this definition is objective - i.e., that it applies to everyone, in spite of their personal choices. To do anything short of this is to bastardize the word ‘good.’ In such a case, one who says “X is good, Y is evil” is merely announcing that he or she likes X and doesn’t like Y.)
Am I concerned that Hitchens will come back like Rocky for a final-round knock-out? No. I do wonder, however, why one who publishes a popular book proclaiming the evils of religion (a phrase about as descriptive as “the evils of human action”) is so loathe to answer such a basic and fundamental question as “Says who?” It is a bit disappointing to see that Hitchens’ book is ranked so highly in places like Amazon.com, unless I am to assume that people have purchased it for either to enjoy his supposed writing prowess or to get a lesson in bad reasoning (in some cases, at least - I’m sure Hitchens has some good points in the book). This is must be an indication that government schools are doing a good job of dulling people to the point that they’ll believe just about any fantasy that they are fed, so long as it contains the right key words.
Morality is a distinctly personal concept. Obviously, children know this better than high-browed atheists who like to beat people over the head with that tiresome word ‘reason’ (by which they mean, “my beliefs” or “the way I think”). Children are very quick to ask, “Says who?” whenever told what to do by a peer. Those particularly brave souls who have the courage of their convictions will even utter such blasphemy in the face of teachers and parents. Indeed, “Says who?“