‘Dangerous’ atheism

Former University of Arkansas physics professor Art Hobson (1/16/2024) says in his Jan. 16 column “Take care, be happy” that “there is no inherent meaning of life.”

If atheism is only about the supposed nonexistence of God, then what are atheist professors doing preaching to us about the meaning of our lives?

Despite this, Professor Hobson has no problem preaching the one true meaning of your life is there is no such thing as an inherent meaning for your life. As far as any objective meaning for your life, according to atheism, your life is objectively meaningless. The reason for this is objective moral values create accountability for atheists.

So, what is the meaning of your life? Thanks to our atheist professors, it is anything you wish it to be, so long as it does not create accountability for secular atheists.

How many Americans have committed suicide because they could not find the meaning for their lives to prevent their suicide? The Centers for Disease Control says 48,183 Americans died by suicide in 2021. The CDC also reports suicide deaths for the age group 10-24 rose 52.2% between 2000-2021. There are, no doubt, readers of the Democrat-Gazette who have lost loved ones to suicide. I am very sorry. Would it not be more appropriate for atheist professors to say they do not know of an inherent meaning of life instead of dangerously, and arrogantly, saying there is no such thing?

Professor Hobson gives us the atheist “Greatest Happiness Principle”: Each of us should do what makes us happy. The second part of this atheist orthodoxy is the “Do No Harm Principle.” Both are inherently dangerous. To pull off arguing there is no such thing as an inherent meaning for our lives means there can be no inherent meaning anywhere. We make it all up. This means there is no such thing as objective evil. We make this up, too. So who determines happiness and harm and evil for all of us? The atheist professors. How convenient for the atheist professors.

If Klansmen from Mississippi in 1919 riding to Elaine, Arkansas, to massacre Blacks decided murdering Blacks made them happy, then this fulfills the atheist “Greatest Happiness Principle.” To answer this, an atheist professor must say, “Make sure you do no harm.” But who determines whether harm occurs? The atheist professor must argue we each make this determination since objective meaning cannot exist. This means the Mississippi Klansmen get to decide whether their actions created harm.

It is the Nazis of World War II who get to determine whether they actually caused harm in incinerating Jews. The same for Neo-Nazis like the Hamas terrorists and pedophile billionaires like Jeffrey Epstein. The assertion there is no inherent meaning to our lives has consequences.

Atheist Hobson says “Religion is declining in most advanced countries.” Yes, and I am sure purely by accident, suicide among the young increased at the same time by over 50% as America became a secular atheist nation.

LOU MAHAFFEY Fayetteville