Take off your pants? Why not?

On Sunday, thousands of subway riders across the world participated in No Pants Subway Ride Day, boarding subway cars at various stops, without pants. The founder of the event told USA Today that the day was created to celebrate silliness—to make people laugh and smile. When one participant was asked by the media why he was taking off his pants, he said, “Why not?”

The “why not” attitude is not new, but it is a reflection of any society that lacks “raison d'être” (reason for being). Without purpose, life is arbitrary, accidental, and random—not, as Thoreau described it, “living deliberately” or as Warren captured it in a “Purpose Driven Life.” Today’s “why not’s” include things as weighty as abortion or euthanasia, or as petty as taking off your pants in public. But there is an important question here. How will citizens of a secularized society decide what is right and wrong? Solomon said, “When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild and cast off constraint [along with their pants]. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.” (Proverbs 29:18). That's why.