The Christian philosopher William Lane Craig argues that if God does not exist, there is no basis for objective right and wrong. All things are permitted. But Craig writes that "no atheist, no agnostic, can live consistently with such a view of life."

For example, Craig notes that although the atheist Richard Dawkins solemnly claims, "There is at bottom no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pointless indifference …. We are machines for propagating DNA," he constantly makes moral pronouncements. Dawkins characterizes "Darwinian mistakes" like pity for someone unable to pay us back or sexual attraction to an infertile member of the opposite sex as "blessed, precious mistakes" and calls compassion and generosity "noble emotions." He denounces the doctrine of original sin as "morally obnoxious." He vigorously condemns such actions as the harassment and abuse of homosexuals, religious indoctrination of children, the Incan practice of human sacrifice, and prizing cultural diversity in the case of the Amish over the interests of their children. He even goes so far as to offer his own amended Ten Commandments for guiding moral behavior, all the while marvelously oblivious to the contradiction with his ethical subjectivism.

So although an atheist might say that certain acts are wrong—really wrong—if there is no God, he cannot honestly distinguish between right and wrong. So the atheist makes a leap of faith and affirms values anyway. And when he does so, he reveals the inadequacy of a world without God.