Atheism & the Energizer Bunny

I'll come to the Energizer bunny in a bit, but in getting to know the Atheist mind and studying what’s popularly being expressed by Atheists, I read "Dying an Atheist in America" by Christ Morton on the American Atheists webswite (http://www.atheists.org/comingout/dying.html)

In the article, Chris writes “Dying is a process, death is the end. It is during dying that the first problems begin. An Atheist is a member of Homo sapiens. He or she is a biological machine whose function is to expand and develop its species and to protect all other species dependent on it in this lifetime. There is no "afterlife." Therefore, life itself is very valuable. To me (and this may not hold for all Atheists) if my life ceases to be valuable to me and to others, it can and should be ended - to use another machine-term, I can be powered down, or as Timothy Leary puts it, "deanimated." If I am still functioning, somewhat, this choice is a hard idea for most people (particularly Atheists because of their love of this life) to accept. So let me take a small part of it for elaboration and leave the rest to your own choice.”

While Chris raises a legitimate issue in his article in suggesting that Atheists’ thinking and planning in regard to dying and death should be consistent with their beliefs; it’s his definition of life, it’s purposes, and care that I find most interesting (and degrading when compared both with the intuitive knowledge of man as well as the revealed knowledge of Scripture.

For Chris, humans are no more than a biological machine. In defining humans this way, Chris denies or detracts not only from man’s uniqueness but that which defines his nature and greatest attribute: his personhood. By “machine”, he not only denies the immaterial, but denies ultimate thought, will, morality, worth, value, distinction and accountability. By “biological”, Chris fails to give due consideration to the many other facets of man’s makeup and relationships. It’s no wonder that with such a degraded and omitted view of humanity that Chris goes on to speak of the deteriorated body as nothing more than “bacteriological slime” to be “deposed”, that he speaks somewhat lightly of even his own life being ended, and that he claims personal authority to control and end life which he neither brought into existence nor did anything to rightfully obtain or control.

Regarding the function of life, Chris says of humanity that it is “to expand and develop its species and to protect all other species dependent on it in this lifetime.” Besides the obvious question of the source and authority from which Chris arrives at this answer, and the question that goes beyond his stated function to ask “to what end” is man to do these things, he suggests that those who fail carry out these tasks fail to function as humanity. To attempt to avoid this dilemma by suggesting that this is only humanity’s “intended” function only raises the question of whose intentions.

Regarding life’s value, one should note that in Chris’ view, while on the one hand life is “very valuable” (when compared with “no afterlife”, in his view), that at the same time life has “no value” of it’s own but is only serves to be valuable when subjectively considered, since his life can cease to be valuable “to him and others”. Such contradictions are inherent and common among worldviews in conflict with Christianity.

It’s sad, but in the Atheist worldview, humanity is considered of less dignity, worth, and usefulness than even the energizer bunny, of which may be said that while animated, still “keeps going and going and going”. If you’ve held to or even considered Atheist thoughts or positions, isn’t it time for such unenlightened and misguided thinking to be gone?