by jimwalton » Tue Mar 21, 2017 4:30 am
There's an interesting disconnect in your assertion. The very first phrase in the declaration ("Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world") is only meaningful in a theistic context, and not at all in a scientific naturalism one. Humans have no inherent dignity if we are but an agglomeration of chemicals assembled by blind natural forces over the course of time. Matter + time + chance doesn't = inherent dignity. Humanity only has inherent dignity is we are created in the image of God. Dawkins himself writes, "In a world of blind physical forces, some people are going to get hurt just as some are going to get lucky, and there is no rhyme or reason in it, nor any injustice. There is no design, no purpose, no evil, and no good. Nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
Science has no methods or authority for deciding what is ethical. Science is only concerned with what is and what isn't. Right and wrong have no place in evolutionary theory. "Human rights" is a category of theism. Patricia Churchland says, "Boiled down to essentials, a nervous system enables the organism to succeed in the four Fs: feeding, fleeing, fighting, and reproducing. The principle chore of nervous systems it to get the body parts where they should be in order that the organism may survive."
The declaration speaks of justice. Again, justice is a category of theism, and only an imposed relative social construct without it. Evolution knows nothing of truth, only survival. Naturalism knows nothing of justice, only the next step. Justice is an import from theism, the workings of a just God on earth, asking humans in his image to be just in imitation of Him, as a way to perpetuate morality on the earth. And, as I said, science has no authority to decide what is moral.
It speaks of "barbarous" acts. But is nature truly barbarous? When a volcano blows, is it being barbarous? When a tree falls? When a tornado touches down? "Barbarous" is an ethical value that has no place in natural acts. And if humans are products of nature and nothing more, then "barbarism" is a meaningless term. It only has meaning within a system where there is true morality, purpose, and if evil is real. Those elements are only real in theism, that are only contrived without God.
So it's ironic that you think the UNCHR is more moral and aspirational than anything in the Bible, when the entire foundation and premise of the document is values borrowed from theism.
There's an interesting disconnect in your assertion. The very first phrase in the declaration ("Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world") is only meaningful in a theistic context, and not at all in a scientific naturalism one. Humans have no inherent dignity if we are but an agglomeration of chemicals assembled by blind natural forces over the course of time. Matter + time + chance doesn't = inherent dignity. Humanity only has inherent dignity is we are created in the image of God. Dawkins himself writes, "In a world of blind physical forces, some people are going to get hurt just as some are going to get lucky, and there is no rhyme or reason in it, nor any injustice. There is no design, no purpose, no evil, and no good. Nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
Science has no methods or authority for deciding what is ethical. Science is only concerned with what is and what isn't. Right and wrong have no place in evolutionary theory. "Human rights" is a category of theism. Patricia Churchland says, "Boiled down to essentials, a nervous system enables the organism to succeed in the four Fs: feeding, fleeing, fighting, and reproducing. The principle chore of nervous systems it to get the body parts where they should be in order that the organism may survive."
The declaration speaks of justice. Again, justice is a category of theism, and only an imposed relative social construct without it. Evolution knows nothing of truth, only survival. Naturalism knows nothing of justice, only the next step. Justice is an import from theism, the workings of a just God on earth, asking humans in his image to be just in imitation of Him, as a way to perpetuate morality on the earth. And, as I said, science has no authority to decide what is moral.
It speaks of "barbarous" acts. But is nature truly barbarous? When a volcano blows, is it being barbarous? When a tree falls? When a tornado touches down? "Barbarous" is an ethical value that has no place in natural acts. And if humans are products of nature and nothing more, then "barbarism" is a meaningless term. It only has meaning within a system where there is true morality, purpose, and if evil is real. Those elements are only real in theism, that are only contrived without God.
So it's ironic that you think the UNCHR is more moral and aspirational than anything in the Bible, when the entire foundation and premise of the document is values borrowed from theism.