Does Unnatural Behavior Exist?

Yuval Harari is an Israeli professor who is known as a futurist and has made his reputation forecasting the future of scientific and human advancement. In a recent tweet he stated, “From a biological perspective, nothing is unnatural. Whatever is possible is by definition also natural. A truly unnatural behavior, one that goes against the laws of nature, simply cannot exist, so it would need no prohibition.”

These days, that covers a lot of ground that leads us to some very disturbing conclusions. It is that kind of thinking that people use to justify riots in our cities, child mutilation in the name of gender affirming health care, murder of preborn children in the name of reproductive health, dishonesty in business, the normalization of sexual immorality, divorce, the priority of the collective over the individual, brainwashing of children in schools, lying in the media, and cutthroat tactics in politics. As Harari said, “A truly unnatural behavior ... simply cannot exist, so it would need no prohibition.”

Now his argument is rather interesting, and there is a certain logic to it – if his presupposition is true. But the truth is, it is bunk. In order for Harari’s assertion to be true, something else would have to be true first – God would actually have to not exist.

You see, Harari is a committed Naturalist – an Atheist. A Naturalist is a person who believes that the natural universe, operating by natural laws, is all that exists. Based on that philosophical belief, there is no transcendent reality whatsoever. That is, there is no God. And with no God there is no one able to establish objectively true, universal moral laws. So by Harari’s reasoning, that only leaves mindless natural reality. There could be no such thing as any moral position that is objectively right or wrong. And if that is true, then Harari’s assertion, that unnatural behavior does not exist, must be true. And as for morality, human beings have to make it up for themselves.

So that brings us to the question: Is Naturalism true? There are actually several things which call that philosophy into question. If Naturalism is true then some other things must also be true.

• The natural universe had to have a natural origin.
• Life had to emerge out of non-life.
• All life forms had to naturally evolve from less complex forms to more complex.
• Consciousness had to emerge out of non-consciousness.
• And to boot, to demonstrate the truth of these things, they must be proven using an empirical methodology. 

Well, that throws a monkey wrench into the works. While all Naturalists would positively affirm all of the things above, there is not a single one that can be empirically demonstrated to be true. Not one! Every bit of it must be believed by faith. It is a religious point of view.

But here’s the deal ... reality exists in an entirely different way. God actually does exist and He has revealed Himself and His ways to mankind. This is possible because there actually is a spiritual reality that exists beyond the natural universe, and we, as human beings, are connected to that reality. We are physical beings, of course, but our personhood essence is spiritual – and God can communicate with us Spirit to spirit. He has revealed objectively real morality to us, and has shared that there actually is something that is considered unnatural behavior.

It is certainly not unusual these days to run into people who believe that unnatural behavior doesn’t exist. Along with that, they believe that they get to make up their own morality. We see evidence of this everywhere in modern society.

And there is only one way to counter this false naturalistic philosophy. The problem is a spiritual problem, and the solution must be found in the arena of the spirit. That solution? It is for people to have their lives changed – and that only happens when they come to know the God who is real.

Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books entitled The Truth Mirage, Rules for Christians Radicals, Liberalism vs. Conservatism, and his latest book Shattering the Truth Mirage and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.

You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.

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