Right and Wrong as Evidence for God - Part Two
By: Amy Beange
This is the second in a two-part series on morality as evidence for the existence of God. (link to part one: CLICK HERE)
Evidence for God - Morality
In 2012 Canadian pop singer Kristina Maria released the song “Karma” in which she talks about how the ex-boyfriend who did her wrong was going to “get his”. The music video featured scenes of the guy in a variety of office mishaps such as stapling his finger and spilling coffee on his shirt while she sings “Karma’s gonna get you now!”
Most people believe there is a real difference between good and evil, right and wrong, and that there is some sort of justice available in the universe. In my previous blog I argued that our innate sense of justice and our consciences that alert us to when we transgress that standard are best explained by the existence of God, a being who can set the standards of right and wrong by virtue of his character, and a being powerful enough and knowledgeable enough to enforce that standard.
But some might argue that we don’t need a god to account for this state of affairs. Instead, they say that the universe itself manages it. That the universe is configured in such a way that the standard of right and wrong is “built in”; that whenever a person does something wrong, they will inevitably find a correspondingly negative event occur to them. Actions reverberate – send out negative vibrations and negative vibrations will come back to you. This is sometimes referred to as karma. An accumulation of good karma will ensure that you are born into a good situation in your next life whereas an accumulation of bad karma will put you in a nasty situation. Thus, it is not necessary to posit the existence of a God, an external force that actively intervenes to punish wrong-doers.
“Most people believe there is a real difference between good and evil, right and wrong, and that there is some sort of justice available in the universe. ”
To a certain extent, this is true. There is a correlation between behaviour and outcome. Marinate daily in a stew of bitter thinking and you may reap the consequence of an ulcer. The book of Proverbs, in the Bible, tells us “whoever digs a pit will fall into it and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him” (26:27).
But does the concept of karma really support a system of justice? Let’s say the universe really is configured in this way - everything I do sends out vibrations. How are these vibrations reflected back to me? We might say cause and effect, as I mentioned above, but there seem to be many instances where people do things that hurt others, and suffer no ill effects themselves. It may be argued that the negative consequences come around in a future life - but there does not seem to be any connection between one life and all previous lives.
If a consequence is to have any meaning, shouldn’t the person experiencing it know that connection? If I find myself suddenly stricken with cancer, does that mean I did something bad in a previous life? Shouldn’t I just suffer rather than seek treatment? Is seeking treatment just a way for me to attempt to circumvent the moral system of nature? Would seeking treatment just mean I’m accumulating more bad karma? If someone is suffering under poverty, does that mean they did something bad in a previous life for which they are now being judged? Shouldn’t I just let them be so they can work off their bad karma? If our moral system is set up this way, it seems to follow that everything going on, whether good or bad, is necessary and the status quo should not be disturbed. This would seem to encourage a certain fatalism and callousness toward the weak and suffering.
If I have been born in terrible circumstances and have a life filled with hardship and suffering, how am I ever to have hope? In Hinduism, life is a wheel of suffering that is very difficult to escape - a few might be able to achieve enlightenment through ascetic living and lengthy meditation but the average person simply has to try hard and hope somehow they can work off the debt of karma they have accrued in previous lives. How can one ever tip the scales in one's favour?
“There is a correlation between behaviour and outcome. Marinate daily in a stew of bitter thinking and you may reap the consequence of an ulcer. ”
What about instances where something “bad” has to occur in order to achieve something “good”? Like when a doctor in a wartime field hospital has to operate without anesthetic or a cancer patient has several rounds of chemotherapy leaving them weak and nauseated - does the universe somehow know that the operation and the drugs are intended for good even though they are hurting the patient in the immediate circumstances? A true system of justice seems to require intelligence - a standard of goodness to judge things by and the ability to distinguish intentions. There are some who argue that everything in the universe has some level of consciousness - but all our standards of measuring consciousness indicate otherwise. And if we are mistaken in this, we have no way of detecting what that “consciousness” may be or how it functions. We are left in the dark as far as what the universe wants or how it is configured. How do we know that the vibrations sent out by someone punching someone else in the face really reflect a suitable standard of right and wrong?
Within the Christian worldview, as I have been arguing in this series, God is the best candidate as the source of our moral order. He is the standard of goodness and he has created a world and populated it with conscious, moral beings who are free to choose their actions. God has revealed himself through the nature of his creation, through his interactions with humanity, and through the giving of his word, the Bible. After death, God brings each person into judgment, having full knowledge of their actions, thoughts, and intentions, and renders to them according to the severity of their actions, the level of their knowledge of him, and their intentions. Given that the standard of goodness we have to meet is perfection and that none of us can achieve it, God makes a way for people to be forgiven by offering his own perfect Son in our place.
“A true system of justice seems to require intelligence - a standard of goodness to judge things by and the ability to distinguish intentions.”
Further, evil is not intrinsic to reality; it is not an equal counterpart to good that simply needs to be outweighed. Rather it is an intruder that God will eventually remove altogether since his intention is to have a world populated with people who are full of life, love, and goodness. Since evil is an intruder, God desires people to work against it; to alleviate suffering, and work to help each other flourish. It is not surprising that the concept of universal human rights historically arose in a Judeo-Christian context. Therefore, I argue that the God of the Bible is the best candidate to be the source and sustainer of our moral system.