Saturday, April 07, 2007

No other God (part 1): Dt 5:7

"You shall have no other gods before Me." (Deuteronomy 5:7)
God never intended nations and governments to be secular in nature. Each nation is to remember that they exist at the pleasure of God and for His purposes. It is God who establish nations and it is God who overthrows them if He wills. When a nation places other "gods" before the one true God, problems arise. Here are some example of "other gods" that nations can and have adopted and the troubles it causes for a society and its government.

The Creation
"and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them." (2 Kings 21:3)
"and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever." (Romans 1:25)
One name for choosing the creation over the creator is "environmentalism". While it is important for each citizen to do what they can to protect their environment, for some, environmentalism has become their religion. In my country, religious environmentalists are actively involved in trying to establish their philosophies as public policy. The problem is that these policies express a greater concern for the state of the environment then they do for the state of mankind. Religious environmentalists forget that, in all of creation, man is special. God spoke all things into existence, but man He formed with His own hands. It was to man that God gave dominion over all His creation, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Geneses 1:28) The earth was made subject to man, not the other way around. However, many environmentalist policies would punish man for his consumption of natural resources and place him in subjection to his environment. In my country, the mantra of the religious environmentalist is "conserver, conserver, conserver" while they concurrently seek to forbid the exploration, development, and production of existing stores of natural resources; such resources that could be used to better the lives of millions of people. We are told we must "do with out" and we must "sacrifice for future generations" yet the resources we need have already been plentifully provided by God, we need only to find and develop them; something the religious environmentalists would seek to prevent us from doing. The religious environmental policies do not honor the place that God has given mankind in His creation, and in doing so, have not helped mankind.

Another name for choosing the creation over the creator is "evolutionism". Evolution purports to be a theory of how all life evolved from inorganic chemicals guided only by the processes of random chance. However, around the world this theory has been adopted as religious "fact" by the faithful. In some school systems in my country, it is no longer allowed to teach competing theories, such as creationism, and evolution is taught as "fact" and not "theory". Not only is the adoption of evolution as a "religion" dangerous to the individual, but its destructive effects are multiplied when it is embraced by a nation and by a government. God created man, and he created him fully "evolved". However, having accepted evolution, nations and governments had believed that some humans are more evolved than others to the extent that, in the name of natural selection and survival of the fittest, they have sought to eliminate from the gene-pool those who were thought to be "less" evolved. In my country there have been documented cases where forced sterilization was used to prevent the poor, the crippled, and the undesirable from being able to reproduce; all in the name of achieving genetic purity. This movement was known as the Eugenics Movement and produces such leaders as Margret Sanger who was the founder of Planned Parenthood. It was this same movement that helped shape Adolf Hitler's ambivalence towards the Jews. It was in an attempt, in part, to purify the gene-pool in Germany and to see the rise of a superior race, the Arian Race, that Hitler set about to eliminate those who were less desirable, those who were not the "fittest", that only the "best" would survive. These public policies, with their roots in evolutionism, led to the slaughter of millions of innocent human lives.

Finally, when we place the creation before the creator, we loose our ability to apply biblical ethics in the face of advancing science. In my country, the rapid advancement of science has led us to difficult ethical and moral challenges. For example, modern science has opened the door for fetal stem cell research and human cloning, both which require the taking of life for the purpose of extending their research. Proponents of such research have touted the potential benefit to mankind if their research is successful. However, the question for governments is, is such research ethical? If we have replace God with a devotion to science, then how do we decide? Especially as science becomes more secular and more dogmatic in their rejection of God as a real and personal spirit being that is involved in everyday life, how then do we decide on the ethics of scientific advances? There are other issues, such as late term abortions, upon which government must make decisions based on the morality and ethics of such practices. Will such practices be allowed to continue? Does government have the right and/or responsibility to intervene in such practices? Without a moral foundation these questions become difficult and their resolution often arbitrary and subjective. However, with a proper foundation and relationship to God, the governmental solutions to these issues become clear. When we place God first we see that He is the creator of all life and that all life is precious. We also begin to understand that it is a fundamental right and responsibility of governments to protect and defend innocent life. Based on these principles, it its well within the purview of governments to restrict and prohibit such research and practices that involve the taking of life, even pre-born life.

More to come... David Robison

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2 comments:

  1. Hey,

    This note is to let you know that I've awarded you the Thinking Blog Award for blogs that make you think. If you'd like to participate in this award:

    1. Simply add the graphic to your blog and link it back to The Thinking Blog.
    2. Write a post awarding 5 of your favorite blogs that make you think.
    3. A link back to the person's blog who awarded you would be appreciated =)

    That's all there is to it! I'm presenting this award to you because your blog make me think on a regular basis. Be blessed and pass it on!

    The graphic can be found here:
    http://www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/02/thinking-blogger-awards_11.html

    That is also the link to the post detailing the award which you should link your award to.

    Here's the link to my post mentioning your blog:
    http://jayadkins.net/archives/169



    Blessings,

    Jay Adkins
    http://www.JayAdkins.net

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  2. Anonymous10:31 AM

    Letters
    Santa Maria (CA) TIMES 4/6/07

    NOTICE:
    April 2007AD

    1. The Shroud has now produced three-dimensional images of
    a body moving in space. Please seek your own trustworthy
    sources of verification.

    2. The scientific world of physics is now undergoing a revolutionary
    change: a paradigm shift of universe proportions and implications.

    Sir Isaac Newton would not be surprised. Joel 3:14 kjv

    Have a truly Happy Resurrection Day!

    semper fidelis
    Jim Baxter
    Santa Maria, CA COPY

    ReplyDelete