If you ever wondered about the ultimate end of a Naturalistic worldview, wonder no more. First, let me say up front that most people who claim to be Naturalists would never advocate what I am about to share. But if it actually bothers them they are being bothered in spite of their belief foundation, not because of it.
Naturalism is the belief that the supernatural does not exist. That is, the natural world is all that is. (Expressions of Naturalism would include Atheism, Agnosticism, Secular Humanism, Postmodernism, and the like.) As such, human beings are nothing more than animal creatures which have a highly evolved brain. There is no eternal spiritual element to the species. Humans are no better and no worse than any other animal.
One way this is expressed can be seen by observing the radical animal rights crowd. That is why PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) got all bent out of shape when president Obama killed a fly that was buzzing around his head, why ALF (Animal Liberation Front) goes around blowing up auto dealerships and laboratories, and why these folks tend to be radical vegetarians.
Another way this is expressed is in the pro-abortion movement. Naturalists assert that since human beings are simply animal creatures, a preborn human is simply a mass of tissue – nothing more, nothing less. That being the case, there is nothing inherently immoral about disposing of that tissue if it is determined to be a problem or an inconvenience.
Now, two ethicists working with Australian universities have written an article in the Journal of Medical Ethics which takes this Naturalistic thinking one step further. They have decreed that just as a fetus is not a person “in a morally relevant sense,” neither is a newborn baby. Thus, it is also permissible to perform what they are calling “after birth abortions” (what most people call infanticide). They have not yet decreed how old the newborn must be in order to be considered a person in a morally relevant sense, or who gets to decide. But, in theory, they affirm that killing newborn babies is not a problem.
As I said above, most people who consider themselves Naturalists would be as horrified at this prospect as are Christians. However, Naturalists have no reason why they should have these adverse feelings. For them, there is no particular meaning to a given human life other than the meaning the individual chooses to give it.
Of course, Christians know why even Naturalists are horrified by this kind of thinking. Human beings actually are creatures created in the image of God with a built in moral sense. Even those who deny we are eternal spiritual beings, still have the sense because the denial doesn’t change the reality.
This kind of thinking is becoming more and more prominent – not just on the topic of abortion, but in many other areas, as well. As Christians, we can no longer just sit on the sidelines and twiddle our thumbs. We must become active in grasping the beliefs of those who come from other worldview foundations, then shine the truth of our faith into the marketplace for all to see.