In my previous post I dealt with why secularism might be appealing in our modern context. I argued that it’s not anything inherent in secularism that makes it more appealing than Christianity, but the cultural messaging machine that promotes it. That’s why it’s a paper tiger and can be no more enduring than was the Berlin Wall. Remember that for those of us who lived through the Cold War from the 60s through the 80s, the Berlin Wall appeared like an unalterable fact of existence we’d just have to live with for the foreseeable future. It certainly didn’t seem like a paper tiger, until Ronald Reagan came along. But now we know it was as brittle as the worldview that upheld it. Secularism is, I contend, no different. Why? Tomes have been written about what secularism is, why it will or will not endure, and why it is or is not a credible worldview. A measly little blog post can’t do any of that justice, but a few thoughts about the weakness of secularism as a worldview will have to suffice, and why it doesn’t ever have to appeal to our children.
The philosophical foundation of secularism is naturalism, or materialism, the view of existence that the material is all there is. The good news for Christians, and their children, is that such a view of reality is logically, rationally, and philosophically absurd. The cool kids, culturally speaking the secularist/naturalists as I wrote about in my last post, want to make us think that naturalism is the most obvious thing in the world, that only a religious obscurantist would think there might be some spiritual reality beyond what our five senses experience. But the more scientific knowledge advances, the less cool these kids become.
I consistently point out to my kids, in various and sundry ways, that there really are only two ways to look at the ultimate explanation for reality. Either the material is all there is, or there is a God who explains it all. If the former is true (materialism and truth cannot coexist), then everything that exists is a product of blind chance. You are forced to believe that the astonishing complexity and telos (purpose) of all of existence is a cosmic coincidence, a most fortunate accident. In a favorite phrase of mine, all we are is lucky dirt. If you think about this for just a little while you’ll realize what the cool kids think is so eminently reasonable is for lack of a better word, insane. In other words, you’d have to suspend all your rational faculties to believe it. And yet . . . Christian parents are supposed to be intimidated by secularism, as if it somehow has more persuasive power than Christianity to appeal to their children? It doesn’t, and it isn’t even close.
Naturalism explains nothing, literally. The examples are innumerable, but take just a few:
- Morality – How exactly do atoms crashing together explain right and wrong, good and evil? How do said atoms explain human conscience, and our knowledge that we don’t even live up to our own standards, let alone a holy God? Or how do they explain the compelling yearning we have for justice to be done when confronted with horrible wrong? The naturalist can only say, yes these things seem to exist, and we have no idea why. Now let’s go get a beer! Boy isn’t that satisfying. The naturalist expects us to believe all things are brute fact with no need for any explanation whatsoever.
- Death – Yep, gotta bring the uncomfortable fact of our immanent demise into the discussion. How do naturalists explain something that every human being on earth fears, knows in their gut that it is somehow wrong, and that it just shouldn’t be? If you doubt me on this, go to a funeral of someone who lived to 105 (like my grandmother). There is little sadness and much reminiscence, not to mention amazement that a person could live so long. Now, go to a funeral of a five-year-old. No brute facts there, my friend, just grief and a powerful sense that this is just wrong! A feeling like Jesus had a the tomb of Lazarus even though he knew he’d raise him in moments. Death is a horrible reality, and only Christianity explains the why of it with any plausibility.
- The natural world – The staggering complexity of it all, and that it works so well, is an accident? Really? They expect us to believe that?
- Goodness, beauty, and truth – Like the first two, for the naturalist these amazing traits of existence just are, no explanation required. But like everything in creation, they point beyond themselves to the reality of the one who is these things.
These all point to the power of the concept of explanatory power, which I’ll consider in what I’m guessing will be my last post in this little series. You won’t be surprised when I come to the conclusion that naturalism/materialism has zero explanatory power, and Christianity lots and lots.
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