Life is a gift not a right

Foolishness lies in believing that one, in the absence of God, has rights.

You can argue to the contrary, but without God we're only one of so many organism that breaths air. However, unlike the others, we're wasting it as we're germinating in every corner of the planet at the expense of other organisms.

An asteroid ought to wipe us out like the Dinosaurs; at least so that we'll return to a hunter-gatherer existence at the mercy of nature.

"So if our rights come from God, tell me exactly where he gives us these rights and lists exactly what they are."

Our right are founded in how God sees us, and to Him, we are more than any other creature.

We first have the right to rule over the earth (Genesis 1:26)
Craft it in a way that serves us (Exodus 21:28 & Matthew 6;26)
And because we are greater than all the other created things of the earth, we have the right to prioritize our lives over other animals (Genesis 1:28).

"I'm not sure if you're saying that's what you believe, or that's what you think people like me believe"

That's what I believe, if there is no God, and I'm hardly alone in that. When I was young, I've watched a lot of nature documentaries, and came to the conclusion that we're hurting the planet with our numbers, our garbage, insatiable appetite for wood and other natural resources, and our factories which daily send smog and acidic particles into the air.

What stopped me from believing the worst is my belief in God. Had it not been for that then I would have not minded another black death or an asteroid. It would be good for all organisms so that they won't go extinct anymore by our poaching and our takeover their habitats.

"And yet not only does your religion say that all humans deserve death, but it also says that in the future God will destroy this planet with fire so that he can create a new one. That sounds remarkably close to what you're saying you no longer believe."

Yes we do deserve death, because we've sinned against a holy and just God every, single, day.

And the things we've broken are not minor oversights. Have you ever lied before, taken anything without asking, looked upon the other with lust in your heart or hated someone in your heart? Have you taken God's name in vain?

When you've broken all of these, then what are you? A liar (Exodus 20:16), a thief (Exodus 20:15), an adulderer/adulteress (Matthew 5:27-28), a murderer (Matthew 5:21-22), and a blasphemer (Exodus 20:7).

Those are only 5 of the 10 commandments you and I have broken. We have not just sinned against each other by the said sins, but we've sinned against God; and because of that He is well within His rights - as a creator - to destroy all of us. But He does not.

We do not deserve life or any good that may come but only bad, and yet have given us good anyways (Matthew 5:45).

And has given His only Son, to die for us so that we can escape His coming judgment upon the world (John 3:16-17).

On rights Octavia, you are knit-picking. So if the Bible mentioned not the right to speech or happiness it then invalidates the meme above?

You're missing the point.

The premise of the meme is that secular man believe he has rights; rights that are inherently his. However, without God he is nothing more than just another organism.

If there is no God, then moral relativism is true for there is greater authority other than ourselves. And if morals are relative then so also our notion of rights. One culture's notion of rights is another culture the height of oppression or disorderly mob rule.

Not many centuries ago that we believe that the most advanced race ought to have the right to rule the weaker, so says those subscribed to Social Darwinism. By rights not only they should rule the weaker but to survive because they earned it.

It is for that reason Eugenics was born in the US in the 1920's which soon inspired the Nazis to create their own program which the end product is the killing of the disabled and then the Final Solution.

"Many atheists I listen to believe that we should do what we can to make the world a better place for future generations, not just throw in the towel and say that it should all be destroyed."

I did not say that all atheists and other unbelievers subscribed to the extremist environmentalist position; I simply have said that if I did not believe in God, I would have believed the worst.