Atheists often quip that if you need a God or the fear of Hell to be a good person, then you’re not a good person. This misses the point. When Christians say that there’s no morality without God, we don’t mean that without punishment we cannot be good. We mean that without God, there’s no such thing as good.

Israeli scholar Yuval Noah Harari is a high-demand speaker at conferences worldwide and the author of several books that have sold tens of millions of copies. His work on questions of human consciousness, artificial intelligence, and the future of civilizations is fascinating and often feeds conspiracy theories. From his starkly materialist worldview, Harari argues that human beings are not unique or special, and he predicts science will soon overtake nature as the driving force of human development. Thus, he argues, people should “hack” themselves with biotech to secure a better future. 

And yet, Harari misses some of the most basic implications of his philosophical assumptions, such as denying any basis for morality while also insisting that oppression is wrong. In a recently posted video, Harari referred to Charles Darwin as a prophet of sexual liberation. Though this was almost certainly not Darwin’s intent, by showing that there is no purpose guiding biology, Darwin freed what is now called the LGBTQ community from fear that they were sinning against God.  

Harari’s right. If there is no Creator with specific intentions for humanity and their behavior, people are free to live as they wish. His post read, “Nothing in nature has a purpose and nothing that exists is unnatural. Happy International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.” 

However, as Derek Rishmawy replied: 

Just to point out the obvious, if there is no God, no teleology, no intrinsic shape or dignity to the person or the sexual act, then, while nothing is unnatural and permitted, neither is prejudice against or persecution of such things. 

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