The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. – Psalm 14:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 10, 2013): Psalm 13 & 14

Richard Dawkins postulates that just because altruism exists, that fact alone does not point to God. And I would agree with him. For Dawkins, the idea is that just as anything that is beneficial for the survival of the person is passed on through the generations using the genetic structure of individual, so things that are beneficial for a society is also passed on through the generations through a structure called a meme. Now, to be honest, Dawkins idea of a meme has never really been accepted by the scientific community, but the idea remains that things that are beneficial to the community are somehow passed on through the community.

Dawkins argument is directly against the ancient understanding of the good things that exist within our social structures. The ancient understanding is this – the altruistic things of life come from some version of God. Maybe he is a national God that is concerned only about the welfare of a single nation. Under this understanding, it is only the nation that is under the influence of God that has the potential to be good. This is the understanding behind the demonizing of other societies. This effect is pronounced during times of war. The enemy is always seen as the ones without the influence of God.

David believed in a national God, but also in a universal God. When he was confronted with the idea of altruism, he would have pointed at God. People do good only because God exists. So he calls the one who says that “there is no God” a fool. And the meaning of the word is not somebody who is a simpleton or one that is stupid. It is also not a jokester. The meaning of the word is one who is morally immature or one who has been morally perverted and because of the perversion their minds can no longer conceive of God.

Morality, in its most basic form, is the simple act of being able see the other. If you cannot see them, then you cannot be concerned about them or be active in helping them. And while Richard Dawkins would like to be able to assert that seeing the other is the result of a socially beneficial meme acting on society, as Christians we have another name for that meme – he is “I am that I am.” David’s message for us is not that a lack of a belief in God is the product of knowledge, education, intelligence, or discernment of any kind. Atheism is the essence of ingratitude, injustice, pride, hatred and selfishness – it is a refusal to see the other – the one who is outside of us - both the ones we live and the One who created each one of us.     

There may be other reasons for why altruism exists, but for me, God would seem to be the most obvious one. And David would agree.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 15 & 16