The Culture Chronicle

 

The following list of events is a representative sample lifted from recent headlines and compiled in this format to offer some perspective concerning the current trends in our culture.  Items included were selected at my sole discretion.  Jim Whiddon.

May 2014

Florida State University quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston was cited for allegedly taking seafood from a Tallahassee grocery store without paying. (CNN)

Researchers found that “divorce is contagious” as 75% of participants were more likely to get divorced if a friend was divorced. Researchers called the phenomenon a “social contagion” through the spread of information through friends, family and social networks. (CBS)

The Hook-Up truck – a conceptual “art” installation consisting of a box truck converted to a sex suite on wheels, including temperature controls, birth control, safe sex accouterments, and a camera option, was open for service the weekend of May 2nd and 3rd in San Francisco. (CBS)

The Pew Research Center found that 74% of Americans born after 1980 believe that homosexuality should be accepted by society.

The Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that prayers that open town council meetings do not violate the Constitution even if they routinely stress Christianity. (AP)

Broward County Public School (FL) officials banned fifth grader from reading his bible during free reading time. (Breitbart)

When asked “Would you have sex before marriage?” sixty-three percent of single Christian respondents answered “yes” according to ChristianMingle.com, one of the Web’s biggest Christian dating networks.

The United Methodist Church has decided to provide benefits for partners of homosexual employees. (Huffington Post)

After conservative non-profit groups were required to provide donor lists to the IRS, a congressional investigation has found that nearly one in 10 donors were subject to audit. More than five times the normal average. (Wash Times)

A New Hampshire parent who complained about a pornographic book his 14-year-old daughter was required to read in class is arrested for violating an arbitrary “two-minute rule” in a school board meeting. Other parents provided no support in his defense as he was calmly led from the meeting and charged with disorderly conduct. (The Blaze)

Atheist TV will be launching this summer with big plans to reach out to atheists, humanists, freethinkers, and folks who are looking for a way out of faith. (Daily News)

The Benham brothers HDTV cable show “Flip It Forward” was cancelled after complaints were lodged with the network regarding their Christian faith and their stance against homosexuality among other biblical beliefs. [The decision seems to have been based largely on a September 2012 radio interview where David expressed his Christian worldview.] (Deadline)

Health officials say syphilis has reached its highest level since 1995 with the increase all in men including a steady rise in gay and bisexual men catching the disease. They account for most of the recent infectious cases. (AP)

Over 1.4 million cases of Chlamydia were reported to the Centers for Disease Control in 2012, the largest number of reported cases for any notifiable disease in the U.S. More than a third of the entire U.S. population were infected with a sexually transmitted disease as of 2008.  Nearly 20 million new cases of STDs are reports each year. (CNSNews.com)

Arkansas judge strikes down voter-approved 2004 state constitutional amendment banning homosexual marriage. (AP)

Michael Sam of the University of Missouri becomes the first openly homosexual player selected in the NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams. (ESPN)

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet has has donated more than $1.2 billion to abortion organizations from 2001 to 2012. (Fox News)

People are sleeping two hours less than in 1960s and risking serious health problems today. (The Telegraph)

A judge in Idaho struck down a 2006 state constitutional amendment banning homosexual marriage. (FOX News)

Education authorities in Nantes, France, launched a ‘Lift the Skirt’ campaign to support gender equality. Male students and teachers were invited to wear skirts on Friday, sparking controversy in the western French city. (Zuma Press)

Gun retailers say the Obama administration is trying to put them out of business with regulations and investigations that bypass Congress and choke off their lines of credit, freeze their assets and prohibit online sales. (Wash Times)

Recent “Pastoral letter” given to patients from Planned Parenthood states, “The truth is abortion is not even mentioned in the scripture…” (Progressives Today)

Proverbs 8:1-11 KJV

“Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.”

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The Culture Chronicle

THE CULTURE CHRONICLE for April

The following list of events is a representative sample lifted from recent headlines and compiled in this format to offer some perspective concerning the current trends in our culture.  Items included were selected at my sole discretion. Jim Whiddon.

The number of chronic marijuana users increased 84% between 2000-2010 according to a Rand Corporation report commissioned by the White House. (CNSNEWS.Com)

Fusion Taps Ryan Nerz as TV’s First Chief Cannabis Correspondent (Variety)

Brendan Eich, co-founder of non-profit software company Mozilla, and inventor of JavaScript, was forced to resign as CEO after just two weeks on the job because he made a $1000 contribution to help pass Proposition 8 in 2008. Prop 8 banned same sex marriage in California, but was struck down last June. (Reuters)

New research shows the internet could be causing people to lose faith. In 1990, 8% of Americans claimed no religious affiliation. In 2010, that number rose to 18%. (Mail Online)

IRS agents testified before Congress that the agency’s political targeting did not apply to progressive groups as Democrats and the media have claimed, this according to a staff report prepared by the House Oversight Committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa. (The Daily Caller)

A Christian couple in Pakistan have become the latest to be sentenced to death for blasphemy, after they were accused of sending a text message deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammed. (The Telegraph)

Brandeis University withdrew an honorary degree from Ayaan Hirsi Ali based on her criticism of the Islamic world from which she suffered and escaped. (The Weekly Standard)

The Muslim Brotherhood is launching a political party in America for the purpose of electing Muslims and influencing legislation that is favorable to Islam. The number of mosques in the United States has escalated 74 percent since 2000.  The government of Turkey is building a $100 million mega mosque in Maryland.  There are now 66 mosques in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. (Denison Forum)

The American Humanist Association (AHA) has launched a new initiative aimed at kids.  Their website, kidswithoutgod.com, is “a site for the millions of young people around the world who have embraced science, rejected superstition, and are dedicated to being Good Without A God!” The children’s section introduces us to “Darwin” the dog. (Denison Forum)

Washingtom, Iowa, a town of 7000, acquires armored vehicle used in Afghanistan for use by police department. Article cites “with the influx of military gear into local police forces, cops begin to view themselves as soldiers whose main job is combat rather than keeping the peace.” (The Daily Iowan)

Report: US internet ad revenue surpasses broadcast TV for the first time. (AP)

According to new regulations being instituted by the USDA, junk food (candy bars and sodas) is now totally forbidden in school vending machines, stores, and lunchrooms. The actual rules run a full 160 pages.  (The Weekly Standard)

A Colorado company has introduced the first-ever marijuana vending machine, which will soon be put to use at a dispensary in Eagle-Vail, Colo. (UPI)

Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard apparently bases success on the color of the students skin and not the content of the curriculum as he asked at a recent convocation address, “How do we make sure that in future years ‘we are not as white as we are today?’” (Campus Reform)

Texas A&M announced it will hold a separate and special graduation ceremony for LGBT students. The “Lavender Graduation,” as it’s being called, will feature as its commencement speaker Phyllis Frye – the first transgender judge in the state and aTexas A&M graduate. (One News Now)

President Obama asks the first openly homosexual bishop of the Episcopal Church to lead the closing prayer at the White House Easter Prayer Breakfast. (Washington Times)

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a complaint against Clemson University head football coach Dabo Swinney for promoting Christianity within his program. (NBC Sports)

The University of Colorado has had a 30% increase in student applications since the passage of Amendment 64 legalizing marijuana.  (The College Fix)

Burger restaurant in Seattle sends out ad for Easter showing a cartoon Jesus eating one of their burgers while smoking a marijuana cigarette. (CBS)

A $500,000 study paid for by the federal government in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change concludes that biofuels made with corn residue release 7 percent more greenhouse gases in the early years compared with conventional gasoline. (AP)

The IRS has revoked the tax-exempt status of a conservative charity, The Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty, for making statements critical of Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Kerry in a column published ten years ago – on April 2, 2004. (USA Today)

Two fourth-graders at a Greeley, Colorado elementary school were busted for selling marijuana at school. (ABC News)

The California Supreme Court is working to ban individuals from serving as judges if they are affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America because of the Scouts’ policy of prohibiting homosexual troop leaders. (The New American)

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) shames First Lady Michelle Obama for using real eggs in the annual White House Easter egg roll. (Fox News)

President Obama has decided to consider wholesale clemency to as many as 200,000 inmates currently incarcerated for drug law offenses. (Fox News)

“FOR THE RIGHTEOUS WILL NEVER BE MOVED;

HE WILL BE REMEMBERED FOREVER.

HE IS NOT AFRID OF BAD NEWS;

HIS HEART IS FIRM, TRUSTING IN THE LORD.

HIS HEART IS STEADY; HE WILL NOT BE AFRAID,

UNTIL HE LOOKS IN TRIUMPH ON HIS ADVERSARIES.”

— Psalms 112:6-8

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The Culture Chronicle

The following list of events is a representative sample lifted from recent headlines and compiled in this format to offer some perspective concerning the current trends in our culture. Items included were selected at my sole discretion. Jim Whiddon.

March 2014

Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore has angered environmentalist groups after saying climate change is “not caused by humans” and there is “no scientific proof” to back global warming alarmism. (The Independent)

NYC mayor Bill de Blasio kept his campaign promise to teacher’s unions and refused to let three new charter schools open. The schools were previously approved to open by former mayor Michael Bloomberg. (Wall Street Journal)

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple – the US’ most valuable company – made an impassioned speech which included a request that climate change “deniers” refrain from buying his company’s stock.

Kadena Air Base, Japan. What is believed to be the first drag show on a US military base was thrown in support for the base’s recently formed OutServe-SLDN chapter, a nonprofit advocacy group for the army’s LGBT community. The expected crowd of 75 grew to 400 in attendance. (The Week)

Starting in 2015, the Boy Scouts of America’s policy banning adult leaders who are gay will cost the organization donations from the Walt Disney Co. (LA Times)

A basketball team in Canada made up of 10-year-old boys was disqualified from playing in their tournament championship game for being undefeated in a league which “de-emphasizes winning” while emphasizing equal participation. (The Blaze)

The Dalai Lama, a long time avowed Marxist, leads prayer in US Senate and gives speech at National Cathedral.

The scene outside a marijuana industry career fair in Denver “looked like a throwback to the Great Depression.” Thousands of people waited for hours with resumes in hand in a line that stretched several blocks. (CBS)

Lawrence Torcello, a philosophy professor with the Rochester Institute of Technology has called for the incarceration of any American who actively disagrees that climate change is solely caused by human activity. (infowars.com)

Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that free condoms will be made available at 24 high schools. (CBS)

The widely released film, “Noah”, has zero mentions of God in its dialogue but “numerous dramatic fabrications and heavy-handed ecological doomsday” themes. (The Hollywood Reporter)

University of Oklahoma professor Gerald Gurney estimates that 10% of athletes in revenue-producing college sports read at less than a fourth grade level. (Real Sports)

Former President Jimmy Carter says he corresponds with foreign leaders the old-fashioned way – through snail mail – because he suspects his communications are watched by intelligence agencies. (Politico)

Poll indicates that 78% of Americans favor requirement of proof of citizenship in order to vote – up from 71% one year ago. (Rasmussen)

Senate Dems proposed “Shield Law” for news reporters is seen as “totally inconsistent with the notion of a free press and the First Amendment,” according to Senator John Cornyn (R) from Texas. Dems claim they have the votes to pass the controversial bill which would require “licensing” from the federal government. (Breitbart)

A George Mason University law professor was pepper sprayed in his classroom. Ironically, the school says he was teaching a unit on vigilantes. (ABC)

At a University of Michigan exhibition called “4000 Years for Choice”, abortion is referred to as the “life-sustaining act” of the ages. The display is dedicated to defending and glamorizing the history of abortion and runs though May 29. (The College Fix)

According to a study in Alcohol Treatment Quarterly, children who attend church regularly are less likely to experiment with alcohol and drugs.

White House looks to reduce cow flatulence as part of its climate agenda calling for a 25% reduction in methane gas from dairy farmers by 2020. (WSJ)

The Oxford Junior Dictionary has removed several words related to Christianity including “sin” as well as “bishop” “chapel” and “disciple”. (Daily Mail)

 

“Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you;

He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”

PSALM 55:22

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The Culture Chronicle

The Culture Chronicle

The following list of events is a representative sample lifted from recent headlines and compiled in this format to offer some perspective concerning the current trends in our culture.  Items included were selected at my sole discretion.  Jim Whiddon.

 

January 1 – February 28, 2014

Over 40,000 new laws went into effect across the US on January 1. One Oregon law allows mothers to take home their baby’s placenta as some believe that eating the tissue in pill form, raw or perhaps in a smoothie can help ease postpartum depression.

 

Flower Mound, TX mayor Tom Hayden publicly declares 2014 “The Year of the Bible.”

 

“The Wolf of Wall Street” sets record for “F-bombs” in a motionpicture with a total of 506.

 

The English department at UCLA; considered one of the US’ premier programs, has replaced curriculum requirements of Shakespeare, Milton and Chaucer with courses on gender, race, ethnicity, disability and sexuality studies. (Wall Street Journal)

 

The WSJ reported that 41% of American children are born out of wedlock today. By comparison, in 1963, that percentage was 6%.

 

A two-year old child in Longmont, Colorado was rushed to an emergency roomafter ingesting a marijuana-laced cookie.

 

“Smart” PJs are now available that read bedtime stories to kids via smart phone or tablet.

 

After seven years in the Top 10 among nations, the US has fallen to #12in the annual Index of Economic Freedom. (WSJ)

 

A judge strikes down the Oklahoma ban on gay marriage previously approved by over 70% of voters in a state wide referendum in 2004.

 

NFL commissioner now considering removing marijuana from bannedsubstance list for players and allowing them to use the drug in states wherelegalized.

 

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education survey of 427universities indicated that ~60% of them have speech restrictions which violatethe First Amendment of the Constitution. Many have set up very small “freespeech zones” on campus which must be reserved months in advance and come with alabyrinth of rules.

 

In a lengthy interview with The New Yorker magazine, Pres. Obama conveyshis belief that pot smoking is no more harmful than cigarettes or alcohol. (Washington Times)

 

The Dallas Morning News reports that now 60% of college degrees are earned by women. For the first time ever, women earn more bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. This is a recent (3-5 years) phenomenon.

 

A White House report says 1 out of every 5 college women have beenphysically assaulted while pursuing their degree.

 

HSBC [Bank] customers are being asked to provide documentation for reasons cash is needed for withdrawals of 3000 pounds or more. (BBC)

 

San Francisco is considering handing out free crack pipes to slow the spread of HIV.

 

The Pentagon has changed uniform rules to allow Sikhs to be able to wear a turban and/or maintain a beard while in US military uniform. (FOX News)

 

Christian music artist Natalie Grant walked out of the Grammy Awards because of what she called a “satanic performance”.

 

Russian President Putin suggests the US is “godless” under Obama. Aspart of its defense of “Christian values”, Russia has adopted a law banning”homosexual propaganda” and another that makes it a criminal offense to “insult” the religious sensibilities of believers. (Wash Times)

 

A North Carolina High school football coach was ordered by the school superintendent to stoppraying with players and/or baptizing them after a suit is threatened by the FreedomFrom Religion Foundation. (CBS Affiliate, Charlotte)

 

In the US, 143 million Americans check their Facebook account daily compared to 40 million (est.) who read the Bible. (Associated Press)

 

The SEC Defensive Player of the Year, Michael Sam of the University of Missouri announces he is gay.

 

Vancouver, Canada officials have allowed the installation of crack pipe vending machines.

 

Attorney General Holder calls for allowing America’s 5.8 million felons to have voting rights.

 

Carl DeMaio, an openly homosexual Republican candidate for Congress in California, rolls out election ad featuring him and his partner.

 

A federal judge reverses the gay marriage ban in Virginia negating referendum by state’s voters.

 

The Ninth Circuit in CA rules in favor of allowing the carrying of a concealed handgun. Meanwhile, as many as 300,000 Connecticut  gun owners defy a new lawto register their “assault” weapons, thus technically committing a felony offense in that state. (Fox News)

 

Facebook adds about 50 new terms – other than Male and Female – to allow users to identify their gender. Examples of new terms: androgynous, bi-gender,inter-sex, gender fluid or transsexual. (AP)

 

Music network VH-1 announces plans for a 10 episode series called “Naked Dating”. Each episode will feature a man and a woman each having a date with two naked suitors with the idea of “what happens if you take one man and woman and strip them of all their pretenses.” (The Hollywood Reporter)

 

A federal judge strikes down the gay marriage ban in Texas which has been in place since voters approved in 2005. In Dallas, a gay couple with a 53-year relationship are publicly married by a United Methodist minister. (Dallas Morning News)

 

So we can confidently say,

 “The Lord is my helper;

 I will not fear;

what can man do to me?”

— Heb. 13:6

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The Ken Ham vs. Bill Nye “Post-Debate” Round Up

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Just as expected, the much anticipated and hyped debate between Kan Ham (CEO of Answers in Genesis) & Bill Nye (the “Science” Guy) sparked a “mini-blizzard” of blogs and articles from people on both sides of the debate (I guess this is just one more to add to the pile).

Ham-Nye debate

If you happened to miss the debate, it will be posted here on the AiG (Answers in Genesis) website and will also available for purchase. An estimated three million people viewed the debate which was streamed live from the internet to schools, churches and colleges across America and around the world.

It is certainly easy to play “Monday morning quarterback” on these sorts of debates. Both men are to be admired for being willing to stand “in the arena” and defend their respective views and take criticism.

I thought both men handled themselves admirably, although I must say that I thought Nye was more personable and passionate when he was speaking which certainly plays to his favor rhetorically. One of Ken Ham’s strongest moments, I thought, was when he played the clips of various PhD. scientists who are  creationists and have either invented useful technologies [MRI] or have conducted peer-reviewed research, undercutting Nye’s claim that a belief in Divine creation stifles or limits science.

Nearly everyone has thoughts on what “should have been said” or “what kinds of evidence should have been used.”

I read though the various blogs and articles, however, I came across several great points which I will highlight in a moment.

Originally, I had planned on writing a point-by-point critique and evaluation of the debate, but since that has already been done on numerous other sites (which I will list below for your consideration); instead, I will review just a couple of my personal expectations on what I thought the debate would accomplish (I originally shared all six on my personal Facebook page) and whether or not they “played out” as I expected.

1. Both debaters represent a popular understanding of the respective positions on this debate (Faith & Science). It will certainly not be settled in this debate, but will spark even more debate and reams of new blogs from apologists scrambling to distance themselves from “Simple minded” creationists like Ken Ham.

As expected, I remain unconvinced that someone who was watching the debate last night will walk away with a deeper and more enlightened understanding of this complex issue (i.e. faith and science and their compatibility).

There’s certainly nothing wrong with public speakers who try to popularize complex ideas and communicate them to an broad audience (that’s what I do!), but I don’t believe that these two gentlemen were the best representatives of their respective “camps.”

As a friend of mine pointed out last night, “…they both seemed like they were giving infomercials for their respective audiences.” I agree.

Also expected and fulfilled were the reams of new blogs and articles from apologists offering alternative explanations and perspectives (I guess this one is a self-fullfilled prophecy!).

2. As a classically trained apologist (in the vein of Aquinas, C.S. Lewis, Geisler, et. al.), I cringe at the very likely possibility that Ham will “…beg the question” in his presuppositional approach to defending the Bible. When and if he uses evidence, I will rejoice and be glad.

The question that was debated was “Is creation a viable model of origins in today’s modern, scientific era?” While this is a good question, it actually doesn’t get at the root issue which is whether or not a theistic God exists and what evidence, if any points to His existence.

At CrossExamined we don’t take an official position on the age of the earth. We have students and supporters who defend each of the mainline views on origins (i.e. Young Earth Creationism and Old Earth Creationism, etc…).

That said however, we confidently stand on evidence in support of our belief in a personal, all-powerful, space-less, timeless, immaterial Creator. We leave it to Christians to sift the evidence for themselves, as to whether or not the earth is young or old.

The question of the age of the earth is a “second order question.” The question of God’s existence is a “first order question.” In dialoguing and debating non-believers, we should not front-load the conversation with secondary questions. Establishing God’s existence is primary.

Last night Ken Ham’s very starting point for science was the Bible itself and the age of the earth. The only problem with that is that Bill Nye and perhaps millions of others, don’t accept the Bible as true because they don’t believe there is a God.

My criticism isn’t necessarily leveled against Ken Ham’s Young Earth Creationism (or some of the other evidences he presented), rather it’s against the WAY that he argued which is just as important. In beginning with the Bible, he put the cart before the horse.

Let me be perfectly clear – I am a staunch defender of Biblical inerrancy, but in order for inerrancy to be philosophically true, Truth (with a capital “T”) must exist, God must exist and naturalism (as a worldview) must be false. The space-time universe is not a closed system, so miracles and the supernatural are very reasonable possibilities.

3. The truth of Romans 1 & Psalm 19 has been in full operation since the creation of the world when there were no publicly hyped debates.

One of the great things about God’s Word is that its truths are timeless and ever relevant.

Creation itself (which is silent yet vocal – Psa. 19:3-4) is the greatest evidence for the Creator. The evidence is so great and overwhelming that there is no debate – all men are without excuse (Rom. 1:20). The age of the earth wasn’t an issue when Paul penned Romans, yet he tells us that “everyone can know that there is a Creator.”

Below are a few blogs that I found especially helpful in illuminating and evaluating the Nye/Ham debate.

Helpful Blogs About the Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham Debate On Feb 4th, 2014

Casey Luskin (Discovery Institute) Old Earth Creationist 

David Coppedge (Creation Writer) Young Earth Creationist 

Melissa Cain Travis (Houston Baptist University) Old Earth Creationist

Dr. Albert Mohler (President, Southern Seminary) Young Earth Creationist 

 

 

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Christians in the Super Bowl

Here’s a compilation of comments from Seahawks and Broncos who are Christians (or at least believers in God).  Thought some of you might find this inspiring.  (The major media only seems to carry such comments when it’s impossible not to– when they are made live.)

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A Titanic Failure: Never Learning from Our Past

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Rulers, Statesmen, Nations, are wont to be emphatically commended to the teaching which experience offers in history. But what experience and history teach is this, – that peoples and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.

~ Georg Wilhelm F. Hegel, from his lectures, On the Philosophy of History (1837)

Just recently my son has become keenly interested in the story of the Titanic, the steam ship which hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic on April 14, 1912. These past few days we have watched a number of very interesting documentaries, some of which recount eyewitnesses to the disaster who were passengers on board the night it sank. On board the ship that fateful night were some of the world’s most famous and prominent people – among them were the American millionaire John Jacob Astor IV and his wife Madeleine Force Astor, industrialist Benjamin Guggenheim, Macy’s department store owner Isidor Strauss and his wife Ida among many others. Throughout the documentaries there were historians and letters cited from people who lived at the opening decades of the 20th century. Historian Carroll Quigley in his book Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time writes that, “The 19th century was characterized by (1) belief in the innate goodness of man, (2) secularism, (3) belief in progress, (4) liberalism, (5) capitalism, (6) faith in science, (7) democracy, (8) nationalism.”[1]

Although most people today think of the Titanic as the award-winning movie of 1997, in 1912 it was the symbol of the hopes and dreams of thousands of people around the world. For the wealthy it represented the pinnacle of technology and the triumph of science, to the poor, it represented a chance for a new life in America – itself a symbol of hope for millions of immigrants. On the evening of April 15, 1912 the huge ship struck an iceberg ripping open a huge section of the hull. In 2 hours, 40 minutes it was on the bottom of the Atlantic. 1,514 lives were lost. The world was in shock.

Sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic, April 15, 1912

The sinking of the Titanic was the first of several shocks the world of the early 20th Century would receive. Just two short years later, (July, 1914) for the first time in history, the entire world would be engulfed in the First World War. In 1918 when the war ended, over 10 million Allied & Central command soldiers were dead, not including civilians. The results of WWI set in motion the gears which led to the Second World War when Adolf Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.[2]

WW I also had a profound effect on some of the greatest artists (Picasso, M. Duchamp, etc…) and literary minds of the 20th century. Among them was J.R.R. Tolkein whose Lord of the Rings series came right out of his gruesome experiences of fighting in the trenches on the Western Front. One of his biographers makes a telling comment. He writes:

This biographical study arose from a single observation: how strange it is that J.R.R. Tolkein should have embarked upon his monumental mythology in the midst of the First World War, the crisis that disenchanted and shaped the modern era.[3]

“The crisis that disenchanted and shaped the modern era…”

What can we learn from this and the other tragedies of the last century?

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

In conclusion, I would like to ask if there are any lessons we can learn from these opening decades of the 20th Century? Are we, in the 21st Century, still clinging to 19th century ideals which lead to the disillusionment of so many? I assert that we certainly are. We are holding on to at least three of them and we are once again setting ourselves up for even greater disillusionment or even worse:

(1). Belief in the innate goodness of man. (Is human nature basically good?)

“The belief in the innate goodness of man had its roots in the eighteenth century when it appeared to many that man was born good and free but was everywhere distorted, corrupted, and enslaved by bad institutions and conventions. As Rousseau said, Man is born free yet everywhere he is in chains.

Obviously, if man is innately good and needs but to be freed from social restrictions, he is capable of tremendous achievements in this world of time, and does not need to postpone his hopes of personal salvation into eternity.”[4]

If the Twentieth-Century and our own experience has taught us anything, it is that man is not innately good – but has a fallen nature. People automatically don’t do the right thing and despite all of their valiant efforts[5], atheists & materialists fail to ground absolute goodness in reality. Similarly, if there is no God – no absolute standard, then there is no ultimate grounding for right and wrong (morality). If there is no God (in reality) then (in reality), there is no difference between Mother Theresa and Hitler.

(2). Secularism (Is ‘religion’ just a hangover from our past?)

Secularists have a strictly materialistic & mechanistic view of human nature and because of this they utterly fail to account for man’s religious nature which they will never eradicate nor will they understand with the methods of the sciences. For most of human history people have had the desire to worship. This is certainly not to say that all religions are the same or that they are all equally true, but merely to point out that the desire to worship and the desire for transcendence is part of what it means to be truly human.[6] Secularism just doesn’t get it! The ultimate question is which religion is true? Which religion corresponds to reality? If the laws of logic apply to all of reality then they apply to religious claims as well. Only one can be true.

(3). Faith in science (Will “science” solve our problems?)

“Science” is touted by many today as the only true view of reality and an inoculation against the claims of religious masses who still live in ignorance & stupidity. These are the ones who still believe that “science” will answer all of our burning questions and solve all of humanity’s problems. But lest we forget, we have the 20th Century as a guide. It is intimately familiar to us. We have lived through much of it. It is analogous to all of human history because of the simple fact that human nature remains the same and many are still trusting that “science” and the scientific worldview is the way forward.

Why are things not improving now in the first decade of the 21st Century – the most well-informed, well-educated and scientifically minded centuries to date?

Surely the sciences and technology have brought us much good (curing diseases, saving lives, etc…), but they are ill-equipped to solve our greatest problems which are spiritual & moral in nature.

Many critics will surely point to religious extremism and the turmoil happening in the Middle East as the prime example that “religion” is at the core of the world’s problems. They fail, however, to make vital distinctions between contradictory religious truth claims (especially in the Theistic religions of Judaism, Islam & Christianity). Yet it is only in the religion of Christianity – whose message is the reconciliation of fallen humanity (made in God’s image) to the Creator by the God-Man, Jesus Christ who died on a cross for the sins of the world – that there is hope for the future.

There simply is no unity, order or peace apart from Him.

[1] Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time (New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1966), pp. 24-5.

[2] And of course, WW2 ended with the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

[3] John Garth, Tolkein and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003), xiii.

[4] Summary of Quigley, p. 24.

[5] One of the latest is Sam Harris’s, The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values (New York: The Free Press, 2010).

[6] For an excellent study on the relationship between science and human nature I strongly recommend Brendan Purcell’s excellent work, From Big Bang to Big Mystery: Human Origins in the Light of Creation and Evolution (Hyde Park, New York: New York City Press, 2012).

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How Will Same Sex Marriage Hurt You?

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If you think that push for same sex marriage and so-called “non-discrimination” laws are all about love and tolerance, you couldn’t be more wrong.  A decision out of the New Mexico Supreme Court this week couldn’t be more intolerant and un-American.  According to the court, a Christian photographer violated a New Mexico non-discrimination law by politely declining to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony.  She now must pay nearly $7,000 in court costs to the Lesbian couple who brought the complaint.

Attorney Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defending Freedom, who argued the case for Elane Photography, will be on our radio program next week to explain why this decision violates First Amendment rights, and what it means for the future of religious freedom in the United States.  In the meantime, you can see his interview with Shannon Breem here:

 

Let me make four quick points here before I discuss it on radio today and next week with Jordan:

1) Refusing to photograph a same sex wedding is not the same as refusing to service on account of race.  Race has no bearing on one’s behavior, but homosexuality does have implications on behavior.  Race can’t hurt anyone– it has no moral dimension.  But sexual behaviors can and do hurt people, and that’s why morality is intrinsic to them.

2) Elane Photography was not refusing service because the clients identified as lesbians.  She was not refusing service on account of attractions (sexual orientation).  She declined service because she did not want to use her artistic talents to advocate homosexual actions that went against her moral and religious beliefs.  Elane Photography was happy to work with lesbian clients on other projects that did not involve advocating homosexual behavior.

3) The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was put in place to prevent exactly what the New Mexico Supreme Court has done:  forcing citizens to advocate (not just tolerate) ideas and behaviors that contradict their deepest religious beliefs.  If you don’t like Elane Photography’s religious or moral position, be careful:  imagine a homosexual photographer being forced to video a speech that a conservative makes against homosexual behavior and same sex marriage.  Should that homosexual photographer be forced to do so?  Of course not!  Then why Elane Photography?

4) This is just another in a long line of examples where people of faith and conscience are being discriminated against in the name of “tolerance” and “non-discrimination.”  This is not tolerance or non-discrimination.  It is exactly the opposite.  It is totalitarianism– see it our way, or else!  And unless the church and other people who love freedom begin to speak up and get involved in politics, education, the media, and the law, we will lose the very freedoms that allow us to live our lives as Christians.  Soon you will not be able to even preach the Gospel without paying a very heavy price.

 

 

 

 

 

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This Saturday on the National Mall in Washington, It's the Unreasonable Rally

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This Saturday, March 24, on the National Mall in Washington D.C., atheists and secularists from all over the world will gather for a day of entertainment from guest speakers, comedians and musicians. The Reason Rally, which claims to be the “the largest secular event in world history,” features such notable figures as Richard Dawkins, Michael Shermer, Dan Barker, David Silverman, James Randi, Lawrence Krauss, and PZ Myers.

But is the Reason Rally all that it advertises itself to be? I, for one, very much welcome the celebration of reason over superstition, delusion and irrationality. I am also very strongly an evidentialist inasmuch as I maintain that justifying belief requires having rational substantiation for it. Surely, genuine “skepticism” is not a position one takes, but rather an approach to evaluating claims.

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The Intolerance of those Fighting for “Tolerance”

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This is an article on my I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist presentation that a homosexual group protested last night at Ohio University. Notice one student said that I shouldn’t be speaking because anyone opposed to homosexual behavior and same-sex marriage is “hateful.”  The people who say they are fighting for “tolerance” are often the most intolerant! All Americans– regardless of our moral or religious views– need to speak out against such totalitarianism before we are not able to speak at all.

Overall, the evening went very well.  Most of the protesters (whom I thanked for coming) stayed for the entire two hour presentation and heard the evidence for Christianity and the Gospel.  Despite the content of the presentation, the protestors  only asked questions relating to morality and homosexuality– nothing about the evidence presented for truth of the Bible.

 

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