These days, the topic of life is often dealt with in the context of our ongoing culture war. With that, we are typically dealing with such things as abortion, euthanasia, genocide, senicide/geronticide (killing the elderly), or doctor assisted suicide. But now we can add another category to the list – phytocide, the killing of plants.
If you look up the word phytocide, it is almost always dealt with in the context of pesticides used for killing weeds. But a curriculum for schools written by Black Lives Matters to teach children about oppression has now designated animals, plants, and flora as a part of the oppressed classes.
Of course, that is pretty much to be expected from an overtly Marxist organization like they are. But here’s the catch: As Naturalists, these Marxists don’t address the topic of plant life as it relates to the life of the plant itself. Rather, their interest is completely political as they use plants as just one more category of living things they can use to promote their Marxist ideology. In Marxist thought, EVERYTHING is thought of in political terms.
In truth, Marxism is rarely touted as Marxism in the modern culture war battles. That would be too controversial and make it more difficult to promote their ideology. Instead, it usually comes to the fore under the guise of such things as Black Lives Matter, Critical Race Theory (CRT), Socialism, Social Democrats, Progressivism, Liberal Theology (Liberation Theology, Postmodern Theology, …), Social Justice, Environmentalism, Immigration Advocacy, Secular Humanism, Gun Control, Criminal Justice Reform, Animal Rights, Gay/Transgender Rights, Women’s Rights, and others.
If you were to ask a person directly who believes in this ideology, most of them, though not all, would reject the notion that they are Marxists. They prefer to claim that they just care deeply about their individual causes, and fiercely advocate for them.
But if you want to get to the real truth, you can’t really listen to what they say. Instead, it is necessary to watch what they actually do. While they will go out and advocate for their various causes, when it gets down to the bottom line, virtually all of them will put their Marxist political agendas above their supposed cause. For instance:
- Many women’s rights groups don’t defend all women, only those that promote their left leaning beliefs.
- The ACLU no longer defends all civil liberties, only leftist causes.
- Black Lives Matters won’t defend all black lives, only those that promote their agenda.
- Advocates of CRT don’t defend all oppressed races, only the preferred ones that promote their leftist cause.
- Liberal churches don’t love all Christians, only those that agree with their political and social agendas.
- Environmentalists don’t support all efforts at environmental protection, only those that view the environment through their philosophical lens.
And, again, we could go on and on with more examples.
So, this brings us to the topic of life. These Marxist leaning groups don’t have an objective view of truth nor a respect for life because their underlying worldview beliefs do not provide a foundation that will support it.
Naturalism’s View of Life
Based on a naturalistic worldview, the only thing that exists is the natural universe operating by natural laws. There is no God nor any kind of transcendent reality. For them, everything in existence can be accounted for by the laws of the natural universe.
Thus, when it comes to life, the only way that it could possibly have come into existence was by some kind of natural means – and that means some form of naturalistic evolution. In their view, before there was life, all that existed were various natural elements. Somehow those elements had to come together in a way that allowed incipient life to emerge. Then, that life had to have increased in complexity in order to ultimately emerge as the massive diversity of life forms that now exist on earth. For Naturalists, there is no other possibility.
The Biblical View of Life
The Bible has an entirely different view of reality. It reveals an objectively real God who is the source of life itself. It teaches that God created life in the natural universe, and, in particular, created man in his own image and for His own purposes.
Can Moral Truth Come from Naturalism?
Morality is defined as a set of principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong, or good and bad behavior. So if you are asking if Naturalists are able to develop principles where they can make a distinction between right and wrong, or good and bad behavior, then yes, a certain kind of moral truth can come out of Naturalism.
However, we must insert a qualifier. While Naturalists are able to create moral principles, they cannot create “objectively true” moral principles. For objectively true moral principles to exist, there must be an objective standard for right and wrong that is true at all times and in every circumstance. That means, there has to be some kind of transcendent moral law that morality can be based upon. And for that to exist, there must also be a transcendent moral law giver. Naturalists don’t acknowledge the existence of a transcendent moral law giver (or even the existence of any kind of transcendent existence period), so for them there can be no objectively true morality.
So where does that put moral principles from a Naturalistic perspective? It puts Naturalists in a position where they cannot claim that their moral beliefs are “right or true.” The best they can offer is that they are the most practical or useful for their current situation.
But there is another place that puts them, as well. It puts them in a position where they don’t have any moral authority to enforce their views. Any person’s moral views are just as valid as any other person’s. Thus, they are forced to enforce their own personal views by some means of brute force, and that can take various forms.
Of course, it could be done purely by strong arm tactics, and that is the way certain groups actually do enforce their morality. But it can also be done by manipulating the education system, creating laws and government regulations to support them, overwhelming the pop culture with language and images that support their point of view, or even corrupting churches by teaching false theology and promoting a relativistic morality
So, Naturalists can provide a set of moral rules for people to follow, but they do not have any way of supplying a moral foundation that can be considered objectively true or right.
So Where Does That Leave Us Regarding the Topic of Life?
When it comes to the topic of life, Naturalists can’t say, as an objective truth, that any form of killing is wrong.
- Their desire to kill babies in the womb is a preference to keep them from having to take responsibility for a child.
- Their desire to allow euthanasia is a preference that allows them to not take responsibility for a life that is already in existence.
- Their desire for senicide or geronticide is a preference to not to have to take care of, or spend money on, the elderly.
- Their desire to promote doctor assisted suicide is a preference that views life as something that can legitimately be disposed of based on personal desires.
In a nutshell, life, based on a naturalistic worldview holds no sacred value whatsoever. It is merely another commodity to be used and disposed of based on personal preference or convenience.
But that view does not represent reality. An objectively real transcendent reality does exist with God as its original and chief inhabitant. He is the source of life, and created the life that inhabits Earth. And He created mankind in particular as a person made in His image.
As a result, life has intrinsic value, and human life has ultimate value to God. It is not something to be extinguished based on any human being’s convenience or personal preference. Those who promote the culture of death are not merely extinguishing life, they are standing up against God Himself as they destroy something that He highly values – all based on personal opinion and preference.
We should value what God values, and value ultimately what God values ultimately.
© 2023 Freddy Davis