"Nature is cruel, therefore we too can be cruel."
~ Adolf HitlerWhen a person has cancer and survives, every day and every event of any meaningful proportion is a cause for reflection.
Over the last several days, nine black-robed men and women, acting as the self-appointed High Priests of American Morality, chose to destroy the traditional structure of the Marriage Institution.
The fact that millions disregard the purpose and sacred boundaries of marriage each day is irrelevant. Adultery, fornication, and multiple partners - these are engaged in every day by literally millions upon millions of people. But with this decision, something has changed.
Every man and woman decides the meaning marriage will have on their lives; it is not a governmental decision; yet, the American government has now taken that decision and placed morality and acceptability in their own hands rather than the hands of the populous.
I fear we have sawed off the lower branches of the tree on which society was built.
In this decision, the proponents have mistaken societal limits on their life for living life itself.
No society in the history of the world has attempted to live without a belief in the sacred; from ancient times we have idols and statues and "holy men" conducting religious rights and ceremonies.
Yet, with the dawning of the Twentieth Century, something changed; humanity began to look for 'other' explanations to our existence and to the basis for our values.
Today, we are only beginning to recognize the consequences of what we have allowed to happen when we lost the sacred.
Many Americans of our day live in a constant state of confusion; they cannot answer the big questions of life that have always engaged the human race - our meaning, our purpose, the nature of reality, etc.
Due to the fact that we have silently consented to the elimination of the sacred, we have changed the story, purpose and meaning to life.
As a result, less people with a Christian faith today in this country than ever before, as evidenced by the fact that every Christian denomination has declined in the last 10 years.
What is left is men and women, who are now adults, who have no idea as to what the over-arching story of humanity may be; feeling lost and alone, there is not promise in the future.
To millions, we live in a universe governed by chance
Yet, most people in world history have experienced the world where pain, suffering and tragedy is somehow linked to the sacred.
If you remove the sacred, you remove the meaning to the pain; and if you remove the meaning, then you remove hope of redemption and restoration.
Why would any person want to continue in a world such as this?
Years ago, Einstein remarked that the modern age has the perfect means, but confused ends. How much more true is that today?
For we know how things work, but we really don't know why.
Some scientists and evolutionary theorists have claimed that we have a "selfish gene" and the reason we do the things we do is because it is all a form of self-glorification or in seeking a reward.
For example, Mother Theresa did not minister to the destitute and dying out of compassion or calling, she ministered because she expected a reward from Christ.
Therefore, Mother Theresa acted out of selfish desires.
No reasonable thinking person can subscribe to this idea of a 'selfish gene' because if it was true, rape would be a normal part of natural selection.
It would be a mere technique in the spreading of seed by the most powerful.
In the real world, science fails when attempting to take morality from God; as do governments.
In nature, there are signs of compassion among animals - moral acts that are very human-like.
For example, chimps will aide their wounded, dolphins will risk their own lives to save or help their companions in the sea.
And if nature has a type of ethical code or law, doesn't it stand to reason that ethics and morality come from a Moral Law Giver who is not influenced by our reason or thought?
Yet, appealing to nature for an ethical code is not absolute; nor is it a wise move.
The same chimps who aid their wounded also resolve disputes by engaging in orgies.
On the other extreme, a Preying Mantis will eat its partner as it mates. Mallard Ducks will gang rape and then drown other ducks, and Chipmunks regularly eat their babies.
Therefore, all we can conclude by looking to nature is that there is an ethical code and both animals and humans will violate it.
As humans, we are outraged when Alzheimer's Patients are 'dumped,' or when children are pushed out of a Hi-Rise.
Twenty years ago, the country was sickened by Susan Smith, who drown her own children; we were also shocked when a professional football player was acquitted of murdering his wife.
But if morality is evolved, on what ground do we feel outraged at these things?
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| Temple? or Court? |
The answer isn't government.
It's God...and God and the government are not one and the same, although society would rather you go to your government for help rather than God.
But I digress.
The uneducated, primitive people of centuries ago realized and knew within themselves that there was something sacred to this world.
Every culture had an additional god in their religious structure, 'the god beyond.' They knew there was a God beyond the mountain or water, but had not yet discovered Him.
The point is that they knew He existed without even being told; and they worshiped Him.
Sadly, we can know Him by name; yet, we ignore Him.
The Psalmist celebrates the created world as an expression of a Person.
How can personhood and beauty be ascribed to accidental collisions of matter?
It can't.
Our society today desperately needs a moral tether; or at the very least a sign post pointing to a Moral Teacher.
And that is the purpose of the modern Church.
In the 1990's through the early 2000's, society glorified the 'Anti-Hero'.
Television shows glorified men and women who played outside the rules and beyond the system to bring justice to a meaningless world.
Our society is still struggling to place meaning in the world because they have no direction or guidance; it is the responsibility of the church to do that very thing.
And until we point to God as we should and shoulder this responsibility, society is not going to change.
You don't change society or people for that matter, by forcing a new standard or by out voting them. Every person who changes, changes their life because their heart changes.
And that can only happen at the foot of the Cross.
Until next time, be true to yourself and God; win won for the good guys.
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