In support of the nightclub shooter

The events at the Pulse nightclub have made their predictable transitions from shock and horror of the event to the posturing of all parties to make the most of the opportunity.  Politicians, especially those running for the Presidency, are offering opinions that they hope will garner them support.  Pro-gun and anti-gun groups are using the occasion to ask for support, i.e. donations, to advance their cause.  This is a predictable pattern for any tragedy in a media and money driven democracy.

Outside of Islamic groups such as Isis no one is speaking up in behalf of the shooter.  I actually find this a little inconsistent.  I believe there is one group in America that ought to be speaking up for, or at least recognizing, the legitimacy of what the shooter did.  That group is the committed, atheistic, biological evolutionist.  (Now before you send me hate mail that I don’t understand the good hearts of evolutionists, please place your tongue firmly in your cheek and bite down so as not to smile).  If evolution is true, then we must recognize certain trues.

1.     First, this was determined.  In evolution there is neither right nor wrong.

We have heard a lot of noise this week about how wrong and evil this event was.  But in an evolved world we cannot say something is wrong.  Is it wrong for a lion to kill and eat a zebra?  If it is not, then it is not wrong for one being to kill another, unless you want to address the issue of waste, in which case, this act would have been okay if he had eaten those he killed.

2.     If evolution is true, there is no freewill. 

This shooter was simply responding to the chemical impulses of his central nervous system.  The mechanistic nature of the universe and of evolution itself predetermined this before the first pond slime evolved eyes.  This kind of stuff just happens. 

3.     Third, if Darwin’s disciples are correct this was survival of the fittest. 

Those who died did not deserve to pass on their genes to the next generation.  Not that this kind of thing would happen a lot for people at a gay nightclub.  This event was cold, heartless evolution saying good riddance.  Those who could/should pass on the genes would have survived.  On a side note, those who will not or cannot pass on their genes to improve the species ought to be eliminated anyway.    

4.     Compassion and pity are wasted efforts. 

In an evolutionary universe, compassion is an evolutionary adaptation to help assure the survival of the pack, tribe, related group, or species.  It was/is useful only to make sure that the genetic code would be passed on to the preserved in the species.  If our world is in an evolved universe, compassion is completely useless. The Homosapien has pretty well established itself on the planet and it is unlikely to go extinct anytime soon.   The greatest danger to our species is over population and the over exploitation of limited resources, in which case, the elimination of population is a good, not a bad thing.  We do not have too many mass shooters; we have too few.

5.     Natural selection recognizes no human rights.

Some would argue that a mass shooting is wrong because it violates the human rights of the victims.  If evolution is true there is only one right, the right to struggle.  The right is expressed in the lion and the zebra.  In the struggle, the lion has the right to try to catch a slow zebra and eat it.  The zebra has the right to run and kick the lion (ideally in the jaw, making sure it starves to death so removing the inferior lion for the pride).  In an evolutionarily universe, the victims of the shooter have only the same rights that the bacteria in our body has as it wages war against our white blood cells.

6.     Some might say that the shooter was wrong because he violated the cultural norms of society.

But if right and wrong are determined by culture, or society, or by the power of the ruling class, then we must apologize to the Nazi’s.  As species evolve so must their culture.  In the same way the shooter violated our culture, the allies violated the culture of Nazi Germany.

7.     Pragmatism would argue that random mass shooters are not good. 

Mass shooters introduce chaos and disruption to the happy productive lives of people.  But evolution is only interested in the practical advancement of evolution.  Besides pragmatism is a terrible slave master.  There is no pragmatic reason for love, beauty, art or freedom, for that matter.  Pragmatism is, however, an excellent argument for slavery and even human recycling (taking non productive people and using their bodies for food products and or fertilize). 

While no evolutionist will ever support the action of this or any other mass shooter, neither can a secular world view ever find a solution to the problem of evil.  In a strictly materialist world-view evil is a non-existent category.   Only a society with its roots firmly in a transcendent truth giver can deal with evil. 

Evil is best understood as a violation of the intended purpose of the maker.  Therefore, we can say the action of a shooter is evil only if we can say the Creator’s intended purpose is violated.  This, of course, means we must accept the reality of the Creator and His authority of His creation.  Secular society simply cannot do that.   It is evil to violate the purpose intended by the Creator, whether that is in a nightclub, bedroom, or a womb.