The moral argument was always a sore spot for atheists. Though they often attempt to ue moral arguments against Theistic religions, Christianity in particular, morality is a very religious claim. If there is no God, we are forced to find another way to justify right and wrong, but atheists simply cannot do that.
That doesn't mean they don't try, however, and recently, I challenged an atheist to do just that. He responded with a very cliched answer: "Okay, I don’t do things that hurt other people because I have empathy and it makes me feel bad. Its not that complicated. Perhaps you don’t accept this justification; I don’t care."
The conversation continued for a while, and eventually, I asked him about three specific atheists: The Texas Church Shooter, Karl Panzram, and Jeffrey Dahmer. All of these atheists did what they felt was right at the time.
The Texas Church Shooter was reportedly an outcast, known in particular for trolling religious forms and posting derogatory things about Christians. From his behavior, it seems to be no coincidence that he chose a church to attack. Sadly, after being confronted by an armed hero named Steven Willeford, the shooter also killed himself, and has now fallen into the hands of the Living God, which Hebrews 10:31 tells us is a truly frightful thing. He will now spend forever in futile remorse. But what would our atheist friend say to such a man? "It's wrong for you to shoot up a church because it makes me feel bad"?
Carl Panzram was a troubled man from his youth. In his final letter to his one and only friend, Panzram wrote "In my lifetime I have murdered 21 human beings. I have committed thousands of burglaries, robberies Larcenys, arsons and last but not least I have committed sodomy on more than 1,000 male human beings. For all of these things I am not the least bit sorry. I have no conscience so that does not worry me. I don’t believe in Man, God nor devil. I hate the whole damed human race including myself." Clearly, Panzram's eternal damnation is a direct result of him acting on what made him feel good. How, then, could our atheist friend justify condemning Panzram's actions? "It makes me feel bad"? Clearly, Panzram rejected such futile reasoning.
Finally, we come to Jeffrey Dahmer. I chose Dahmer in particular, however, because his testimony is particularly powerful. "If a person doesn’t think that there is a God to be accountable to, then what’s the point of trying to modify your behaviour to keep it within acceptable ranges? That’s how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth, that we all just came from the slime. When we died, you know, that was it, there is nothing, and I’ve since come to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly God, and I believe that I, as well as everyone else, will be accountable to Him."
Before Dahmer's conversion, he was an atheist, and in particular, an Evolutionist. He believed his life is just a blip within billions of years of brutality in a world of blind, pitiless indifference. So, as he put it, what's the point of modifying your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? But unlike the other two atheists I mentioned, Dahmer did not stay in such a terrifying state. This man, initially a consistent atheist, came to know the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore realised that there is foundation for morality. It's not just "I'll do what makes me feel good until I die and feel nothing at all". Rather, it's "I'll do what pleases the God who created, sustains, and owns all things".
But on its own, Dahmer's realisation came too little too late. The wages of sin is death, and it takes consistent atheism to fail to see Dahmer's sin. Thankfully, most atheists are inconsistent, for even they live within God's grace. The Bible says God has written the law on their hearts, and so naturally, they don't have to believe in God to know there is a right and a wrong.
But just like Dahmer, they do need to believe in God to be forgiven for all the times they do wrong, for "...without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6). By contrast, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9), and "if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9).
In the end, the "good without God" mantra touted by many an atheist is just one more shade of an age old problem: Mankind attempting to "make it" by our own strength. But it won't work, simply because we are not the judge in our own trial. All of us will die one day. Men and women of every creed and color are destined to leave our bodies behind to turn into dust. Many have taken that trip before us, and unfortunately for the Texas Church Shooter and Karl Panzram, God did not take their personal feelings or desires into account when they entered His Holy courtroom.
But Jeffrey Dahmer is one of many "monsters" who found the grace he so desperately needed. This man, deserving of Hell, instead entered the Kingdom of Heaven as a son and heir of the Lord, never to sin again, never to suffer, never to die. And you can follow him. You are not good without God. The very fact you think you can be is a grave evil called "pride", and God resists the proud (James 4:6). But He gives grace to the humble, and so 7 simple words, said in sincerity, guarantee one eternal life: "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner".