Despair of non-belief

From PhiloWiki

Theists may wonder why secularists don't just succumb to Pascal's wager and be done with it. Certainly a life of non-belief seems amoral and purposeless - in other words, just full of despair. Doesn't secularism lead to despair?

Christian views

• Strobel argues that the alternative to God is a cold, athiestic existence [Case for a Creator, p 25].

Resources are needed. Feel free to find and add resources.

Secular views

Non-theistic beliefs can still include morality, even without a foundation of absolute right and wrong. Can man be defined as "a moral animal," I.e. by definition he is conscious of right and wrong, that is what makes him a man. How he got to this consciousness is a separate question. Did God create him as such in a special creation or did this moral sense evolve along with his other characteristics? If so are there indications in other forms of life of qualities that might be seen as being part of an evolving into a fully formed moral animal? Perhaps the deeper question for man today is has man further to go to be truly moral? If our current behavior is indicative of a fully evolved morality or a specially created morality embodied in mankind, what then is the problem? It would rather seem to beg for a continued evolution of man rather than blithely saying that this is the way God made him, get used to it.

Life may not have much meaning, but we can all strive within a moral imperative anyway.

Resources are needed. Feel free to find and add resources.