What is truth, and why it matters (Part V)

The best way to cope in a world without God is to devalue human life.

According to the God of Abraham, human life is of infinite value (He has the authority to decide these things, you know). Think about it: If even one infinitely valuable life is lost, it’s worse than if every luxury car on the planet was stolen, crushed in with a large mallet, and set on fire. (Even when combined together, all material things have only finite value.) Just one life.

Dwarven treasure horde from the second installment in The Hobbit trilogy: The Desolation of Smaug. (Can you spot the most valuable treasure in this picture?) Image source: wiredscience.com

If the equivalent dollar value of the Dwarven treasure guarded by Smaug were flushed down the toilet every ninety-seven seconds, it would be almost as much of a tragedy as the loss of a human life. Almost. Actually, scratch that. Not even close. But people die every day. Thousands. This is simply incomprehensible. You couldn’t cry enough tears or gnash enough teeth or dig enough graves to sufficiently mourn over the loss of even one single soul. For someone who believes in life after death, that soul is not necessarily lost. But that soul, on the other hand, might be more lost than one could ever imagine.