The following is taken from “Morality Apart From God: Is It Possible?” by Ray Cotton. Take time to read his insight about why German Doctors were able to do medical experiments on live patients, then read his entire essay at this link. “Morality Apart From God: Is It Possible?”
Intellectuals like Nietzsche, Spinoza, and Tillich, and many others who have followed them, have tried to create a godless society, a society free to create its own ethical system without the constraints of God-given mandates.
What can we expect if these leaders are able to advance their model for a system of ethics that has no need for God?
An interesting example may be the story of the medical profession in Germany during the Nazi regime. The medical profession is supposed to be the protector of human life. The Hippocratic Oath, that dates back to the Egyptians, states the highest standards of trust for those dedicating themselves to this honorable profession.
How did the medical profession in Germany become nothing more than an instrument of death in the hands of the Nazis? First, one’s view of the nature of man had to change from that of a spiritual being to that of a purely physical being of no universal value beyond what society places on the individual. Through years of assault upon traditional morals and biblical truths, the German people began to see mankind through the eyes of German philosophers like Nietzsche and Hiedigger. These men viewed humanity as strictly flesh and blood, different from the animals only in progression, not in basic nature.(3)
Once the German population in general, and the medical profession in particular, was sold on a collectivist-authoritarian way of life, everything was in place to use the medical profession to accomplish the purposes of the Third Reich.
The Nazi holocaust began with a subtle shift in attitude that judged the value of people based upon their cost/benefit ratio to the state. First, it started with sterilization and euthanasia of people with severe psychiatric illnesses. Soon all those with chronic illness were being exterminated. Before too long, all patients who had been sick for five years or more, or were medically unable to work and unlikely to recover were transported to killing centers; what started as “mercy killings” in rare cases of extreme mental illness, soon expanded to mass extermination on an unprecedented scale. Before long, all those who could not work and were medically evaluated as incapable of being rehabilitated were killed.(4)
The German medical profession then started using human body parts for medical research, and this led to the grisly “terminal human experiments,” in which live people were used in medical experiments.(5)
It all started with the idea that humans belong to society and the state. According to this view, if someone is a burden to society and the state, it is logical to conclude that their life was not a life worth living. From the first decision to put to death burdensome mental patients, a chain of events followed that ultimately led to the death of the majority of all the Jews in Europe, as well as millions of other “undesirables.”
If we don’t believe we are created by God, but simply highly evolved animals, and if we believe we have accountability only to society, then there is no end to the depths of depravity that we can go in our search to justify our actions. Corrosion of morals begins in microscopic proportions, but if not checked by a standard beyond ourselves, it will continue until the corrosion wipes away the very foundation of our lives, and we find ourselves sinking in a sea of relativity.
Is our world doing better or worse without God in our classrooms? Have the Atheists and Naturalists solved the problems of world hunger, famine, poverty, lack of access to clean water and sanitation, education, pollution, health care, disease, war, greed, and selfishness? Maybe it is time to put God back into the equation. Maybe that is why there must always be a time of tribulation in every individual’s life, a time that makes us realize that we need more than our intellect and self-righteousness to get us through the crisis. That period of time is coming to America and our world soon. Revelation says that men will cry out for the rocks to hide them from the face of their God, and that they will desire to die, but will not be able to take their own lives.
Do you think the people who were trapped in the twin towers on 9/11 cared whether they were rescued by a trained fireman or the homeless man off the street? Did they ask to see credentials before allowing themselves to be rescued? Yet twelve years after the fact, a group of Atheists are demanding that a cross found in the rubble of 9/11 not be included in a museum that is being planned to commemorate the tragedy. The cross brought comfort to those who believe in its power and thus should have done nothing for those who didn’t believe in the Christ of the Cross. Isn’t this telling us that there is something wrong with our morals and ethics, that Atheists and naturalists insist originate from within us? If they originate within each of us and are relative to one personally, then why all the concern over whether the cross has meaning to some and not to others? The very ones who call for unconditional love and tolerance of all beliefs, are the ones crying that they are being excluded and caused emotional pain. As the line from Fiddler on the Roof says, “They both can’t be right!”
The link for the 9/11 articles. “ATHEISTS CONTINUE TO PUSH FOR 9/11 CROSS BAN, CLAIMING IT HAS CAUSED THEM ‘PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL’ PAIN”
An excerpt from the the article:
“The World Trade Center cross was not a symbol constructed by men using debris found at Ground Zero following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Instead, the “cross” itself is a piece of debris found at the site — a group of steel beams which resembles the proportions of a Christian cross.
So why the outrage? The cross symbol only holds significance for those who believe in what it stands for. In other words, to an atheist, the steel “cross” wreckage should represent nothing but the tragedy of 9/11. It does, however, mean much more to those who believe in the cross as a symbol of Christ.
As a Christian, I cannot force an atheist to view the cross as a symbol of faith. Why then do atheists think they should be able to force me and my fellow Christians to view a symbol of our faith as nothing but debris amidst the rubble?”