If Everything Is Random

What’s Really at Stake if Everything Is Random?

If the universe is ultimately random and meaningless, then every moral instinct we have — outrage, compassion, justice, guilt — is nothing more than a chemical reaction. But no one actually lives that way.

We recoil at cruelty.

We demand justice when someone is harmed.

We instinctively believe some things ought not to happen.

But “ought” makes no sense in a meaningless world.

If everything is just atoms in motion, then:

• Rape isn’t evil — it’s just one organism overpowering another.

Yet every sane person knows it’s morally wrong, not merely “socially inconvenient.”

• Murder isn’t unjust — it’s simply matter rearranging itself.

Yet we treat human life as sacred and demand accountability when it’s taken.

• Promises aren’t binding — they’re just sounds made by primates.

Yet we condemn betrayal and celebrate loyalty.

• Human rights don’t exist — they’re imaginary constructs.

Yet we appeal to them constantly, especially when we’re the ones being wronged.

A worldview that says everything is random cannot explain why we care so deeply about justice, dignity, and truth. But we do care — fiercely. Even the person who denies objective morality will cry “That’s not fair!” the moment they’re mistreated.

This reveals something profound:

Our moral intuitions point beyond randomness.

They point to a moral Lawgiver.

If guilt, justice, and meaning are illusions, then nothing matters — not your choices, not your suffering, not your future. But if they are real, then we are accountable to the One who defines them.

And that is the real question behind all of this:

Are we morally responsible beings living in a moral universe —or are we pretending?