"Is Incomplete Truth, Really Truth--Freeing Truth?"

In the current political discourse here in the USA, there is an attack upon truth.  Oh, I suppose one could out and out lie but that is not the real danger.  It goes back to the matter of having a superior truth paradigm that gives permission to toy with the truth to support your particular position.

In particular one political party seems to think that their superior position means that they can engage in nefarious activities.  What activities?  Of the many strategies, there are four that bear directly on truth and come to mind.  

1. For example over-shading the genuine truth. 
2. Another is giving an answer with only a portion of the genuine truth. 
3. Then there is diverting attention away from the genuine truth.
4. The final one to consider is to approach a genuine truth from an angle (a back door) that supports a particular agenda.

All of these and others like them are giving "incomplete truth."  Thus the question, "Is incomplete or shaded truth really truth?"

If you have studied or been involved in the situational ethics movement you've probably been involved in an exercise which played off some genuine truth with a conflicted situation.  You will recall that very quickly one can get caught up in the periphery of the basic question and soon transcendent, objection, universal truth is overshadowed by circumstance.

However, the basic truth is still a basic truth no matter the circumstance in which it is situated and not matter how that situation might challenge the basic truth or how that situation treats the truth.  No amount of over-shading, partial truth, diversion of attention, or back door approaching, genuine truth remains genuine truth!

The next time you hear the principles in the current national debate expound their positions be on guard and listen carefully to what they say and what they do not say and then ask yourself two very basic questions.

First, is this person taking liberties with the truth, making it say what his or her agenda wants it to say or are they presenting genuine truth?


Second, is this person seeking to divert attention away from genuine truth?

A GREATER DANGER

However, there is a greater danger--that of doing these same things with the Bible--God's Word!  There are those who explain away the Scriptures, read them with bias, look only for those Scriptures that offer some promise or another, those who proof text some doctrine or another, and/or fail to consider the Scripture in the context in which it is set.  These are but a few of the ways in which the Bible is distorted to fits one's agenda(s).

An example is found in this statement which was often quoted by an American personality who for many years appeared on mid-day television.  Though that person rose from poverty to great wealth, it seems that there was a certain poverty when it came to a greater understanding of truth.

As much as she quoted the following, I doubt that person ever took the time to read in context the quote that she were so fond of quoting.  Here is the statement.

"The truth will set you free."

Accepted on face value, that is a warm and comforting statement, however for a greater understanding one must consider more than these few words.  Consider the context in which it was originally given.

"So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, 'If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth,and the truth will make you free.'" (John 8:31-32, NASU)

Notice if you will the four parts of the statement.  Breaking it down then we arrive at these parts that make up the promise(s).

The context: "So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him..." Key:  Believe 

The condition (in an if-then statement):  'If you continue in My words, then you are truly disciples of Mine;...'  Key: Continue in Jesus words, being disciples of Jesus

Intermediary promise: "...and you will know the truth..."  Key: Know the truth

Concluding promise: "...and the truth will make you free."Key:  Freedom

However, may we notice that "Freedom is not free!" and that there is a cost involved to the whole business of continuing in Jesus' words and being a disciple of Jesus.  However, consider the following.

The writer of the Proverbs gives this advise.  "Buy Truth..." (Proverbs 23:23, NASU).  Know this, truth at any cost or inconvenience is a bargain because genuine truth brings about freedom where it cannot be taken away--within the heart which is then lived out through the life!

Now the obvious conclusion is that when the heart is not completely committed to truth you find the condition which was described at the beginning of this post.  The reality is that such is true.  More to follow.

"Chicago Teachers - Calling or Profession"

 "Is Teaching a Calling or a Profession?"

The Chicago Teacher Strike brought to mind some of the teachers of my youth.  Yes, there were the duds--those who should have found something else to do in life.  However, there were those who were every bit the professional as today's teacher but to them it was a sacred calling.  To them it was serving the children and in some cases their parents. To them it went beyond contracts to calling. 

You see, there are some "professions" which call upon those who serve in those areas to keep a firm grip on a sense of "call."  Included would be the obvious like pastor, priest, and rabbi.  However, there are others such as police officer, fire fighter, and yes, teacher. 

Thinking back to my teachers, it was understood that the pay would not be the best but that there were other pay offs as for instance seeing your former student graduate high school and go on to work in the trades or off to college.  There was certain gratification that a paycheck or a retirement plan could not offer.  It was the gratification of what one might instill character and knowledge in the life of a child.

However, now things are different.  It seems that the more that any profession has become enamored with the classification, "professional" the more that profession has lost touch with the notion of "calling."  That is not to say that all teachers have done so but for most who wave their union signs and demand this or that benefit, it seems to be little more than a job.  It seems that such people find serving below their dignity and thus will not stoop down to that level.

As the camera's sweep the strikers, I try to imagine Mrs. McClary, Mrs. Mayer, Mr. Peterson, or Miss Grimes in and among the crowd.  For the life of me, I cannot imagine these and others going on the news denigrating the school board or the school administration. 

Was it that they were well paid, had benefits, and a short school week with planning days built in?  No of course not, nor did they expect that teaching would be easy.  They knew that the challenges would be many, the problems huge, and the pay low.  But for them it was an opportunity to train children in skills that would be needed throughout life. 

From Mrs. Mayer teaching basic addition up through Miss Grimes teaching Algebra and Geometry, there was no thought of professional standing and strikes.  It was all about teaching. It was all about training young people to be responsible adults with enough skill to not be a burden on society.

Mr. Joe Peterson?  He was a combat injured Marine who understood what Jr. High young men needed.  A firm but fair hand that was realistic and who dealt with the harsh realities of life.  We knew he was tough.  We knew that he could not hit us but we did not believe it.  He was a man's man that by his life demanded the respect of some very troubled young men.

So, Chicago Teachers, if you care for the kids the way you say you do then I have one very simple question.  Why are you on strike?  Why do you listen to the union thugs?  Why don't you get back to teaching and prove to the citizens of Chicago and the country that you are there because it is a calling, not just a job? After all, you are among the highest paid teachers in the nation.  Well, maybe you are just out to give new meaning to the word, greed!


As you strike you know that you even now are teaching your kids.  You are teaching them that it is okay to demand your way.  You are teaching them that if they do not get what they want, behaving like a barbaric thugs is okay.  Then when they behave in the classroom as you are now you wonder how is it that they can do this?  The answer is simple.  You taught them by how you walked off the job, created havoc for families, and thought only of yourselves.

Whoever you are, what a fine example of a teacher, a role model you present.

If you are the professional teacher that you say you are, then go back to your kids and teach them by your life that even when life is unfair, a person of character presses on with the task at hand.  That lesson will do more for them than all the picketing, the catcalling, the demanding, and all else that is a part of this strike.

Oh, Mrs. McClary?  The last time I saw her (she died at a young age of breast cancer) it was after the school day, she was in her car, burning her own gas, delivering cupcakes and party favors to a student who had been home sick and thus had missed a party in her classroom.  Now that is a teacher who was every bit a professional but who taught and related to her kids with a sense of calling and never got around to worrying about the notion of being a professional.

Where it in my power, I would fire the lot of you and bring in men and women who understand call, character, and commitment.  Men and women who deliver cupcakes and party favors on their own time, using their own resources.

9-11 Remembered

In honor of those who gave their all on that day eleven years ago I thought it well to share some thoughts and some pictures.



Most of us remember where we were that day and many remember seeing the second plane fly into the second tower.


There were those with their cowardly actions thought that they could break us, make us fear, cause us to cower in our homes.

Some who believed in their cause stood with them and their dastardly act and then went out celebrating, hating, dancing, and rejoicing at our tragic loss. There are no words to describe these insensitive and evil people!!!



 




Some like Chaplain, Fr. Michael Judge gave their all!  Thank you Fr. for caring enough to run to the danger with your firefighters and not away!

Most of the civilized world prayed with us and for us.  From Russia to Australia, from Japan to South Africa, all around the world many hundreds of thousand expressed their concern and care.

Honors for the lost took place at thousands of memorial services and with the placing of wreaths, candles, flowers, but most of all their hearts.



The world's voices of compassion and care drowned out the voices of rejoicing and celebration at our loss.  Not at all sorry to say the barbarians once again lose!

Some people took action...

Our people took over an airplane and crashed it in order to save people.

Your people took over airplanes and crashed them to kill people.

 


Then there were those who served, who ran into the burning buildings to save those who who could not help themselves.
 

Yes, there were pictures that will live in our minds.

There are pictures that will come to us one day and they too will live within us.

You may have caught us off guard because we as a nation believe the best of people.  You may have taken advantage of our hospitality as your evil people enjoyed the comfort and safety of our country.  You may think that you would break us but you did not.  We are Americans and we do not cower.  We still went to church, ball games, fairs, memorials, and other gatherings.

You see the pictures of us.  Do we hide our identity?

It is you who do not have the courage of conviction to let people see who you are.  

It is you who send innocent children to kill themselves while we protect our children .

On that 9-11, we may have been broken for the moment but do not take the shock of that moment for weakness.  Our national resolve was strengthened.Our determination was renewed. Our resilience demonstrated. 

"Special Truth" - A House of Cards

Do you remember the last instance in which  you met someone with some special truth or another?  How did the conversation go?  What effect did it have on you?  Did you feel built up and affirmed or did you feel left out and deflated?

Recently I met such a person--one with special truth.  In fact I met several within a two week period.  One had the answer to all of our family's health needs.  Another had special truth that would meet our spiritual needs.  Then there was the one whose candidate would fix Washington D. C.  Then there was the one who had special insight into investments and his program would give the follower durable wealth in turbulent times.

Certainly there are more than were just listed--people who claimed special truth, special insight, superior ideas, or some similar thing.  However, upon closer examination, it seems to me that there are pitfalls into which the one with "special" or "exclusive private" truth might fall if great care is not exercised.

Disclaimer:  Before continuing perhaps it would be well if consideration is given to the fact that there are legitimate truths that are unique.  

First, there are truths which are unique in that they are universally true across the earth and throughout time. 

These truth are unique because they can be objectively applied. 

These truth share a third quality and that is that they are transcendent, that is from outside of the human experience. 

The final quality is that they are generally accessible and not at all the private property of a special few.

As well, consider that the elements of this disclaimer are a way to examine the veracity of a particular "truth" for if such a truth does not meet these four standards plus one more we will consider in a moment, it very likely that such truth will not stand the acid test of time.  

It is also to be noted that this is not a matter of one offering this opinion or that and thus goes well beyond the exchange and examination of ideas or thesis.

Presuppositions

 The question that one must take to the discussion is the matter of what does one suppose to be true for such "special" truth to be genuine and real.  Much of the power of special truth and/or superior truth is decided by what one holds to have veracity and thus be taken as foundational truth.

An example would be the conspiracy theorist who holds that they have special truth about some international banking cartel that is in control of the world money supply.  Another example would be that government is in a clandestine operation to remove a citizens personal rights.  

In terms of religious faith, it is the one or the many who believe that God has given them some "special" revelation or another. For example one group holds in high regard their translation of the Bible which is at variance with Hebrew and Greek rules of grammar.  These and other suppositions are not without consequence in one's relationship with the foundations of genuine truth.

Entrapped by Special Truth

As sure as an animal can be entrapped in a net, so too there is the danger of being entangled in one's special truth.  This is the situation in which a person is so caught in their suppositions and the resulting truth paradigm(s) that insights into reality are colored deeply by this special truth. Just as an animal struggles to be free to only become more tangled in the net so too this person except that they do not struggle to be free.

This is not the kind of truth that liberates and grants a freedom of insight but one which restricts and holds in it clutches all other thoughts and views.  It is that truth that indeed traps the one who embraces it.  It soon becomes the paradigm through which all other notions and ideas are measured and when facts to the contrary are offered there is a certain selective perception or even loss of touch with reality.

Loss of Reality

One of the very serious outgrowths of special or superior truth is an unrealistic view of the possible.  It goes so far as to present as a loss of touch with what is realistic.  One such position is that of the person who votes for a particular candidate although there is no possible way for their candidate to carry the election.  Two examples from the political past is the presidential candidacy of Ross Perot and/or Ralph Nader.  

 

Both of these men against all the data presented still in all seem to believe that they could be elected as president of the United States of America.  Never mind that even their own poll numbers would not support their contention.  

Thus they developed followings who also lost a realistic perspective. All that happened in the case of Mr. Perot was that the conservative vote was split and the election went to the candidate who was the polar opposite of the ideas upon which he campaigned.   

The prevailing attitude seemed to be then and now is that all one needs to do is to vote consistent with their particular political agenda.  Again, at times superior truth tends to mitigate against being realistic.  There is a very real danger that this could happen again in the next election. 

Excluded by Exceptional Truth 

Another of the problems associated with this special truth is that of exclusion.  Such excluding may be as overt as discrimination and shunning or a subtle as simply avoiding.  It is brought about by a certain pride on the part of the one embracing such truth.

This exclusion is based in the notion that if one does not embrace such special and exceptional truth they are to be viewed as being religiously, politically, intellectually, ethically, or in some other way inferior.  This only serves to divide people and especially so when one's emotions and attitudes enter the discussion.

The outcome is that the proponents of that exceptional truth "circle the wagons" and begin to fend off outsiders and then feed off of one another with the consequence that convictions deepen.  The problem is that one become so enmeshed that to think one's way out is nearly impossible.  Not that they would want to as it would bring rejection by their referent group.

Superior Truth's Permission

Another attitude which frequents those with superior truth is that of permission.  This is the notion that because of a superior truth one is not bound by nor governed by the principles of those with lesser truth.  

For example one with superior truth might believe they have permission to deal in falsehood.  The prime example of this is found in the political extreme left who believe that because of their superior truth paradigm regarding government that they have permission to create and distort statistics.


It is not the extreme political left alone for certain religious cults believe that they have superior revelation that is not available to most.  Such superior revelation then grants permission to do what is necessary to put their superior truth forward to including being less than truthful.  

Of course should one "join up" by the time that they can see the distortion of the truth they will fall into one of two positions.  They might well buy into the notion of superior truth and in principle if not fact agree with the notion that the ends justify the means.  The second is born out of the fear of being shunned.  In either case they stay engaged and over time become more deluded.

Consider a Question or Two

So it is that  the original four principles of truth come again to the fore.  Here is the question.  

Is that which you believe universally true across the earth and throughout time; can it be objectively applied; is it transcendent, that is from outside of the human experience; and is it generally accessible and not the private property of a special few?  

We might add another and that is the question of the foundation of that truth.  Does that foundation share the four aforementioned qualities?  Durable truth does!

For a person's truth paradigm to not fulfill these five criterion it seems to me that then the life is as fragile as a house of cards.  So much the more so if it is so fragile that it has to shield itself from criticism with claim terms such as superior, special, or exceptional.

Finally, there is a truth that will liberate and set free.  There is a truth that will entrap and confine.  Which kind of truth have you built your life upon?

"Welcome Home Buddy!"

The following all began a few weeks earlier when I was out and about doing my chaplain thing, visiting in the various maintenance shops, offices, and squadrons of Travis AFB, CA.  In doing so, on one particular day, I happened into a squadron commander's office where there was discussing regarding a mission to the Ice (Antarctica).  

When I said that I was interested in going along, the commander rather tersely, responded that they would not be taking "strap hangers," those who serve no mission purpose just go along for whatever reason--usually to say they had been someplace or another.  Wishing to go to say I had been there was my only reason except that wherever I went out with an aircrew, I kept clearly in mind that I was there to serve as a chaplain and in whatever need, did so.

In that group was a Christian pilot I knew from an early morning Bible study I attended.  He later came and apologized for the commander's comment.  No problem. That sage advise, "Do not ask the question if you cannot live with the answer," is true beyond the words it takes to say it.  I had gone about my chaplain duties giving it little or no further thought to the matter.

Later that same pilot came to me and offered a much more important mission, one which was at once a great honor and very humbling.  It was a C-141 mission to bring home a Major shot down some 30 years earlier in Southeast Asia.  Of course I agreed to go.  It was to be a two day mission, out one day and back the next.

A few days later we departed Travis AFB, CA and began the few hours necessary to get to Hickam AFB, HI.  We landed, parked the airplane, shut down engines, did the normal maintenance debrief, loaded on the crew bus, and made the customary stops around the base.  No billeting on base and so we ended up spending the  night on Waikiki.  

I always considered it a great honor to fly above the line (as part of the aircrew) and not below the line as a passenger.  As a matter of fact because of the nature of the mission we took no passengers.

Next morning we again loaded onto the crew bus for the return to the base and after stops at base ops and a weather brief we went to the airplane and if memory serves moved and staged it in a DV spot near the terminal.  The load master dropped the ramp at the rear of the airplane. We then waited.

I remember that it was a sunny morning and very comfortable with the gently blowing prevailing trade winds.  Soon more and more people arrived.  There was an honors team present; senior officers representing the uniformed services, no one lower than an O-6; and also present were several Vietnam Vets.  

These were the Majors brothers from Vietnam, veterans from the "place," from "in country."   This was not just another Major, this man was one of them, a brother in the profession of arms. They had come back to an unwelcoming country and now they were there to insure he, though posthumously would be welcomed home.

When all was at the ready, the Major who had been at the Identification Lab was brought out by coach to the airplane.  All was done in silence.  The only sounds came from the commander of the honors team as he gave the appropriate order for the team and all present to honor this man who had given the full measure for his country.  It was solemn, humbling, and the feelings engendered were not unlike those of being in church.

The Major was brought on board the aircraft in his flag draped casket and then that casket was secured.  Very quietly and very reverently.  Once carefully place on board, the honors team exited the air craft, the aircrew closed the ramp, and went through the normal engine start sequence.  Once that was done, we received clearance, taxied out to the end of the active runway, launched and soon we were air born headed for home. 

It was not possible to see from where I sat on the flight deck but I suspect there were those who stayed, standing watch until we had launched and were out of sight. I do not know for sure but I believe because of the DV we had on board we were priority traffic which meant that other ground traffic would be held and such air traffic as we encountered on our course, would be vectored away from our aircraft, not we from them.  What an honor it was to carry our one passenger, to take him home.

Within a few hours we landed at Travis, taxied off the active runway, and staged waiting for the honors team, DVs and others to assemble.  When all was ready we taxied down the taxiway to a parking spot across the tarmac from base ops and shut down engines.  This was near the DV parking spot and truth be told no DV was worthy of more honor than this man and his fallen brothers.   The aircrew by now had taken the straps off of the Major's flag draped casket.  Once parked the load master opened the ramp and and shortly the honors team would come to retrieve the Major. 

You can tell a great deal about a country by how they honor their war dead. 

We, the aircrew at the command of the aircraft commander, then exited out the crew entry door and lined up off the nose of the air craft in order to pay respects to the Major as he came by.  So it was I did not see the honors team as they carried the Major down the ramp and onto his country's soil.  Oh I know he had been in Hawaii for identification but now he was home.  "Welcome home Sir and thank you." 

Soon the Major was placed into the coach from the Port Mortuary and was solemnly driven down and off the flight line.  There may have been others following, in the procession, I do not remember.

As he came by and on the command of the aircraft commander, we the aircrew rendered a hand salute.  Looking across the tarmac there were a number of people, civilians, base dignitaries, and then there were old soldiers from WWII and Korea who had came to pay respects to one of their own.  Most importantly there were Vietnam Vets there that day. 

What became of the Major?  Though I regularly visited the Port Mortuary, I do not know.  Some such as he are welcomed home by family and friend.  Some are not and last I heard were still at the Port Mortuary waiting.  Whether he was received by his family and friends and given honors, I do not know but I do know this. 

For a few hours the Major was honored by his country and his fellow warriors.  But warriors being warriors he would have said, "Who me?"  Give the honors to the guys who really deserve it.  Well, sir, no one deserves it more than you.  Oh, the Vietnam Vets over across the Tarmac, if you looked they were saluting but if you listened ever so carefully you heard them each one in turn, just under a whisper honor their brother, "Welcome home buddy."      

Would I have liked to have gone to the ice.  Yes, I would have but would I trade this flight for going to the ice.  Not for a million dollars nor in a million years would I do so.

"Thank you Major and welcome home!"

"Washington D.C. I Know You Think It’s You But..."

Recently I saw this magazine cover posted on face book and it set me to thinking and reflecting. Perhaps the thoughts are not all that profound but just maybe it is worth it for us to remember back to the man who homesteaded the land upon which that house was built.

There were hundreds of thousands just like him, immigrants who came to this land of opportunity or perhaps it was a first generation child.  These were men who worked the land, were close to creation, and who were men of honor and integrity.   They settled and farmed the Dakotas, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, on and on the list goes. 

They were from Ireland, England, Norway, Finland, Germany, Russia, and many other places.  Their names differed, their languages differed, their locations differed, their farms differed but underneath those worn out bib coveralls they were the same. 

They were part of an international brotherhood of the land, seed time and harvest, poverty and plenty.  Few ventured far but any one of them could step into another man’s boots and with little explanation work his land.

This man of the earth was most often quiet, not unfriendly, just quiet.  After all who is there to talk to riding fence, plowing, or harvesting?   When in town for supplies, talk would often turn to farming for that is what he knew best.  Then there was the concern over the weather, the price of wheat, and who was going to help the new widow the next quarter section over get in her harvest before she moved to the city.

These were those who were born, grew up, married, raised their families, saw their children grow up, and then ended their life's journey, never far from the land.  Indeed it is the likes of that man that provided the foundations for what we have today.  Sorry Washington D. C. I know you think it’s you but it is not!!  In fact you could disappear tomorrow and these are those hearty souls who would still be on the farm.  Why?  Because that is what farmers do!  In spite of what you think, it is not just farmers for there still are real people who believe in personal responsibility, their only help is down at the end of their arm, and that they are responsible for their own well being!!!

When one sees such a home, for it was a home, one should remember the man that built that house for his family, perhaps then writing to them to come from the old country.  This was the home in which he raised his family, it was on the land he worked, his children were born in that house, and lest we forget, illness and death also stopped by that home.  The difficulties of such a life were many. 

This is the man and his family who faced drought, range fires, plagues, and poor yields.  Oh and the take-over big conglomerate farms. Yes those difficulties at times outweighed the times of plenty but still he farmed on. He asked for no help except to help his neighbor for he knew that one day he would need help.  After all the only welfare that he had was that he and his fellow farmers had each other. 

Look again at the picture of the home.  That look should remind us that this weather beaten man got up before sun-up to do chores and often would work until there was no light with which to see. He took pleasure in a strait furrow that only he would see, a new-born calf, the lunch bell and time with his family, repairing his home, teaching his boys how to milk a cow, and other simple pleasures.  At the end of the day as he climbed wearily into bed it was with a sense of fulfilled accomplishment for he had done an honest days work.

He most likely was a church man so Sunday he stopped farming and went to church because it was the Lord’s day and one had to keep square accounts with the Lord.  It did not end there. This was a man who kept square accounts with other farmers, the local shop keepers, the banker, and others because they were all in this together.  When one failed, if they all did not fail, they all felt it.

He responded when there was a barn raising, the church bell rang out danger, and if someone was in need.  Yep, he will be over at the widows putting up her harvest.  Sure there was plowing to do but people needed him and he needed people.  He had his priorities right, God, family, and others.

We may feel separated from such people.  They certainly don't appear as they were in the writing of the revisionist historians.  However, we are not that far, for within one or maybe two generations there are those who homesteaded, who built homes such as this one with their bare hands, who farmed and ranched, and so much more.

It should humble us that we share life with such people as this. As well it should remind us that we do well to soldier on in the uncertainties of life which for him and his family were many!

So maybe the next time you are in a big hurry going who knows where for who knows what reason, speeding down the freeway and through life, maybe you could take one of those farm roads.  Maybe you could drive through the rolling hills, get a little dust on your shiny car, be surprised when that farmers grandson waves at you--a stranger, and maybe find one of these treasures, these monuments to a man of character.

Just maybe you could slow a bit and remember him, he is the one in faded bib coveralls and beat up hat, over there in the corner of the field bent over his now abandoned tiller. He is the one thinking, I sure hope it holds for just one more season cause I haven't quite got enough saved for a new one.  He is the one wishing and praying, Lore, sure hope I get a good yield this year this is not going to last much longer.

Oh, I know, he is not really there for he is gone but that home he built for his family and lived in, indeed it is still there, weather beaten, dilapidated, with doors stuck open, windows cracked and missing, and the porch at an odd angle.  No it will never be featured on the Washington Mall but none the less it is a monument.

So maybe you could take a minute before you go back to the freeway to go who knows where for whatever reason and think that maybe this is what life is supposed to be all about.  That empty place in your heart, maybe its in the busy pace of life that you've missed something.  Maybe you are missing what drove him--his faith, his values, his character, his integrity, etc.

So here is the question.  Do you, like that man who built that house and farmed that land go to bed at night thinking it was a good day?  At the end of the day as you climbed wearily into your comfortable adjustable bed is it with a sense of fulfilled accomplishment for having done an honest days work?  A sense of peace for having lived out faith, family, friends, and the higher values of life.   Monuments remind us of these things you know.

Bill Nye Science Guy—Really?

Recently Bill Nye the Science Guy made the comment that "Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children." He proposes that the next generation must be raised as evolutionists or they would be lost to science and thus culture would lose out. His comments may be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHbYJfwFgOU

 So here are a few question for Bill Nye the nice guy Science Guy.

Bill Nye

 Creationists are largely made up of those of Judeo-Christian faith.  That being so let us assume for the moment that you are right.  Let us consider all of the good that has been done by the secular evolutionist.

Was it the evolutionist that with deep conviction sought to abolish slavery?

Was it the evolutionist that started hospice which then lead to hospitals, hotels and motels, and yes, hospice today?

Was it the evolutionist that started humanitarian aid organizations like the American Red Cross, World Vision, St Vincent de Paul, and the Salvation Army?

Was it the evolutionist that began such academic institutions as Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Harvard, and many, many others?

Was it the evolutionist that gave to us a country built upon the ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

Was it the evolutionist that gave to us such science as the study of genetics?

Was it the evolutionist that gave to us such great music as Handel and Bach?

Was it the evolutionist that started and led the American Civil Rights Movement?

Was it the evolutionist that went to the Pacific islands and worked among the lepers?

Was it the evolutionist that gave us great literature such as Shakespeare?

Was it the evolutionist that gave us laws that protect the innocent and punish the guilty?

Now Bill, if you apply your scientific methods to these questions you will find that it was people of Judaism and Christianity that did these things.  There is not one objection you raise that cannot be answered by the Creationists.

For example, who is to say that God did not create the stars and as well the light radiating from those stars so that man might observe them though they are billions of light years away?

Was it the evolutionist that originated not a changing theory (which it is since it has to flex and change to be compatible when true science proves it wrong as it has) but an immutable law?  Such sound beliefs that they have not changed since Darwin wrote?  No, Darwin did not include billions and billions and billions of years in his theory.  That had to be added later when his basic ideas were found to be flawed and untenable!

Oh, let me ask you another question.  Were you there to observe evolution?  Have you seen it in action?  Of the 50,000 fossils or more that we have cataloged, where are the intermediary life forms?   

Here is another one.  What about man’s capacity to make informed choices, why have not other lower life forms evolved to do that?  Why is it that man alone has the capacity to make decisions with the outcomes in mind?

Then there is that matter of love which is not at all compatible with the notion of survival of the fittest.

Another question.  If all animals evolved as you say they did, then why are eye structures fundamentally the same in all species?

Oh, and is not all creation (nature to you) winding down to entropy (heat death)?  Now you want me to believe that evolution is the exception?  

But here is a much greater and more important questions for you Bill Nye.  What has been the effect of evolution?  What has been the effect of leaving God out of the equation?  What has been the effect of secularism—this notion that there is no higher power to which one is going to give an account?

When the 10 Commandments were posted and prayer offered in schools those things served to remind students that there is a God to whom one is accountable, how many school shootings were there?  How many drug deaths?  How many unwed high school moms did we have? 

Bill would you like another one?  Try this one.  The effect upon the world of the secular evolutionist.  How many of the following were people of faith in God?

Adolf Hitler and WWII – Somewhere between 50 and 70 million dead.  Six million Jews exterminated.

Mao Ze Dong – 49 to 78 million dead

Stalin – 6 million some estimates are 20 million dead

Pol Pot – 1.75 to 2 million dead

Kim II Sung – 1.6 million dead

These are but a few from the site http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/dictat.html

What about the creationist and the use of Biological and Chemical weapons?  Just was it the evolutionist or the creationist that made and employed those things?

You are concerned that Creationists cannot do good science.  Further, you are concerned that those coming up behind must be freed by evolution and its companion secularism or the next generation of scientists will be lost.

You should be more concerned with something else.  You see Bill Nye Science Guy, those kids will be the ones who live their lives unrestrained and unaccountable and will become the Adolf Hitlers, the Cyber terrorists, the Pol Pots, the school shooters, and the drug dealers etc.

Understand this one thing.  Without the God effect, 

There is a way which seems right to a man,

But its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:12)

The way of death is not just for the person for the death of one effects the many.

The genuine reality, the real deal truth is that Judeo-Christian faith has been in existence much longer, is much more durable, and has in greater measure benefited the world than anything the secular evolutionist can offer!

Bill Nye, Science guy, I am sure that you are a nice man but sorry, you are wrong!  The harsh truth is that any system to include man, left alone will not evolve but will devolve to chaos and eventually entropy.