Eram Sum Ero.
Oremus Sum.
I believe in you.
February 7, 2025
Consent as a Moral Framework for Belief in God
Consent is not a passive state but an active moral act between two or more moral agents, requiring prudence, comprehension of consequential responsibilities and moral obligations, clear expressed permission, and freedom from coercion and moral betrayal. A valid agreement must also include at least one pragmatic revocation clause, allowing a moral agent to withdraw under justifiable conditions.
When applied to belief in God, consent becomes a necessary foundation for understanding both faith and atheism. If God grants free will, then persons must have the ability to either consent to belief or revoke that consent. However, one cannot consent or revoke consent without first reaching moral agency.
This means that:
We are not born atheists.
We must first reach moral agency before we can either consent or revoke consent.
A person who revokes consent can only return to belief by revoking their revocation.
Atheists, therefore, are not merely people who lack belief—they are moral agents who have chosen to withhold or withdraw consent from God as the unifying principle of all true things.
Section 1: Moral Patients (Beigns) — What It Means for a Child to Believe in God
Before a person reaches moral agency, they exist as a moral patient, or what we call a beign (a being in the process of moral development).