35. Morality

“Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” Eccl 2:11 (ESV)

Morality requires some sense of distinction between right and wrong behavior. We all have a natural sense of right and wrong, but where do our standards for right and wrong come from? Evolution suggests morality is simply biological programming developed as a necessary function to propagate the human species. If morality is reduced to biology, standards are necessarily relative to the individual or the individual’s group. The bible indicates that there are absolute standards for moral behavior applicable universally. The creation account provides a very clear description of how we came into the original knowledge of good and evil. The rest of scripture describes the history of the relationship between a holy and righteous God and humanity made corrupt by its knowledge of good and evil.

From the Evolutionist’s perspective the terms right and wrong, with respect to morality, generally refer to correct or incorrect behavior for the individual in the context of the immediate situation. It is from this point of view that situational ethics are defended. The terms good and evil are strongly disliked by Evolutionists because those terms are understood to imply absolutes derived from something besides material reality. The bible lays out a clear foundation for universal justice with a distinct difference between good and evil. Good is that which conforms to the nature of God and includes behaviors consistent with God’s character. That would be love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, creativity, justice, and full truthful disclosure. Evil is that which rebels God’s nature and includes idolatry, accusation, destructiveness, deception, lying, sadism, and the opposites of all good character. Faith in Evolution requires faith that there is no God therefore it must deny objective truth and moral absolutes. Faith in the biblical Creation account necessarily includes faith in the existence of a Creator and with that comes belief in objective truth and absolute standards for and existence of good and evil.

The objective of the rest of this chapter is to describe the impact of belief in Evolution on society. Decide for yourself which is better: Evolution’s moral relativism or biblical objective morality.

Evolutionary morality is based on good or bad biology rather than good or bad behavior. Abortion and euthanasia become acceptable because weakness is viewed as evil. Those who cannot contribute or who are otherwise a burden have less value and are more easily discarded. Convenience of the fit and desirable trumps life for the weak or unwanted. The bible forbids discarding life casually and goes so far as to require us to do all we can to help those who cannot help themselves.

Evolution draws no moral distinction between human life and animal life. Relativism allows some to be cruel toward animals because life in general has no intrinsic value. The same relativism causes others to view animals as equivalent to humans. Both extremes are wrong when viewed from the Biblical perspective. God endowed both humans and animals with souls, but humans alone were created in God’s image. God made man distinct from animals and gave him the job of stewardship. Biblical dominion does not mean cruelty or neglect. Those who consider animals equal to man lobby for animal rights arguing moral and civil equivalence. Relativism results in two extremes who fight one another.

If evolution is true, then it is ongoing. If it is ongoing, then it stands to reasons some humans are more highly developed than others. In other words, some people are more human than others. This idea is central to racism. It was the context Hitler used to condemn Jews and other undesirables. A branch of science called eugenics deals directly with purposefully driving human evolution. Hitler was obsessed with the idea of a master race. This idea came directly from a fundamental belief in Evolution. Evolutionary belief has likewise fueled the fires of racism in the United States. In Australia, the native Aborigines were thought to be a subhuman missing evolutionary link. They were hunted down and murdered with state sanctioned support. In reality their physical differences are entirely superficial. Likewise, the Pygmies of central Africa are just as human as anyone else, but due to their social and genetic isolation their appearance and culture is recessive. Many supporters of Evolution promote racism because they have bought into the lie that they really are superior. Rather than Evolution making them superior, isolation has led to restricting the gene pool of small groups like the aborigines and pygmies until diversity is lost and they begin to take on certain superficial characteristic differences from “normal” society. No group evolved to become superior. Instead, isolated groups lost genetic diversity until they looked different.

Racism and bigotry are not identical. A bigot may dislike another because of skin color, but a racist believes he is superior because of his skin color. Certainly slavery, along with bigotry and racism, existed before Darwin ever set sail. That said, Evolution lent a degree of legitimacy to it. Evolutionary morality can rationalize putting inferior races to work to serve superior races. Although the bible does not forbid slavery, it makes no room for any such thing as racial superiority. It took the will of determined Christians to abolish slavery of black people in the Americas.

Sexual deviance covers a number of acts including homosexuality, pedophilia, incest, rape, bestiality, and adultery. When the barriers of moral absolutes are removed, whatever form of pleasure a person desires becomes permissible to indulge in. God established standards for sexual behavior. He commanded humanity to go forth and multiply. Most of the forms of deviancy mentioned here run counter to procreation and the rest are destructive to human relationships and personal health.

After the fall, one of the first things Adam and Eve realized was their nakedness. In their shame they sought to cover themselves. When moral relativism replaces right and wrong, the human conscience gets seared away. Shame ceases to hold us back. Today we have a thriving pornography industry, sex on TV, and bikinis serving hot wings at family restaurants. Evolution gives us an excuse to go naked and a reason to take advantage of it. The bible encourages modesty, chastity, and purity. When society gets naked there should be no wonder why so many children get pregnant in middle school and all other forms of sexual deviancy are so widely accepted.

Evolution quietly attracts people away from belief in God. It is a powerful propaganda weapon in the war against marriage. Marriage and traditional family are under attack precisely because they are established by God. God created the institution of marriage in order to construct the best possible environment to raise healthy children. The homosexual movement strives to convince the general population that their behavior is acceptable and they have a right to choose their sexual behavior. Once homosexual rights are established, the next step is to redefine marriage. By opening up marriage to relationships other than one man and one woman, marriage looses its value and ceases to have meaning. The only reason to redefine marriage is to destroy it. Men and women are created with unique and special roles. The confusion of these roles is only to be expected when all standards erode in the chaos of relativism. The collapse of family follows closely.

The bible teaches that God is love. To have God’s love is to seek the benefit others above self. When we eliminate God from our lives, we deny ourselves the joy and benefits of having and sharing God’s love. Godless Evolutionary morality excuses and even encourages selfishness. We prefer to indulge our own interests above those of other family members. Selfishness of a husband or wife replaces love for the spouse. Selfishness of parents replaces love of children. Sin steals parents from their children. When parents submit to no authority except themselves, it is only natural that the children mimic this behavior and rebel against authority. When children feel unloved by their parents it becomes much easier to justify ridding yourself of a child you do not want. Abortion is justified for the sake of personal convenience and we call it a woman’s right to choose.

The bible says parents are to set proper boundaries, teach their children, encourage them, and lead by example. Children are to honor and obey parents. It is natural for teenagers and young adults to assert their independence. It is far more likely to turn into rebellion when the child is taught that objective moral absolutes do not exist. Children need boundaries for safety and security. Without any reason to recognize boundaries youth often become depressed and suicidal. Others become defiant and openly rebellious. Evolution destroys the foundation for the objective boundaries and sound reasoning needed by young minds.

There are consequences when you try to disregard the laws of physics. Likewise there are consequences when you ignore moral laws established by God. Belief in Evolution is deceptive because Evolution cannot be held directly responsible for any of the forms of lawlessness mentioned above. Yet, Evolution teaches atheism. When God becomes a fairytale, so do the standards that God established for our benefit. Refusal to accept God’s laws eliminates neither the law nor the consequences. It only eliminates our ability to see where we went wrong.