Years ago, I became acquainted with a man who had been through some of the worse battles of WW2. He had a great vocabulary; used all 60 of the 26 cuss words in the English language. He was not prejudiced, he talked like he hated everybody equally. In spite of the fact that the man made every effort to be obnoxious, I loved him. Never could figure out why.
One day he told me; "I was in the 82nd Airborne Division, I was a paratrooper, I was a gung-ho young SOB, I had so many decorations that I couldn't close the lapel on my dress uniform, and if I had it all to do over again I would not do anything for this country. This country is now run by a bunch of crooks and draft dodgers."
In the course of another conversation, he said, "You know, the most terrible thing in the world is religion."
Indeed. If religion doesn't provide any solutions, then what does?
John Lennon wrote a song that doesn't go back as far as WW2, it was written in 1970 when a very controversial war was transpiring in Southeast Asia. John Lennon wrote a song called "Imagine" that offered a solution to the problem caused by war and strife. Imagine "No countries"."No religion, too". The "brotherhood of man". "And the world will live as one". The song "Imagine" offered a solution that is designed to be diametrically opposed to religion; humanism.
What is humanism? I think that humanism originated a long time ago, when two people decided to buy into a mentality that seems to be really clever, but is distinct and separate from the type of wisdom that God has to offer. The basis of humanism is "the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 3:5).
What is wrong with the "knowledge of good and evil"? There is nothing "wrong" with the knowledge of good and evil, per se, aside from the fact that people get to use their own judgment about what is "good", and about what is "evil" .
Oh, of course there are some things that most of us agree on, you shouldn't harm anyone without just cause. But what is just cause? That one leaves room for a lot of discussion, and discussion sometimes becomes violent.
No two groups of people are in exact agreement about what is "good" and about what is "evil".
Does God accommodate the "the knowledge of good and evil", and the disagreement that goes with it? I don't know.
The best answer that I can offer is found in the sermon that St. Paul gave to the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens. Acts 17:26-28; "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all of the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they may seek the Lord and find Him, though He is not far from each of one of us; for in Him we live and breath and have our being".
How about that?
The verses in Acts reflect the words of Jesus from Matthew chapter 24. "And Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" (v7). "And this gospel will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then shall the end come"(v14).
What is the "end"? Is the "end" the end of the world; or is it just the end of the the period of time when humanism and the "knowledge of good and evil" are the prevailing schools of thought on this planet? Even most of what we refer to as "religion" is actually a form of humanism, when you get right down to it. " There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 14:12)
The world may "live as one" after Christ returns and starts running things, but it isn't going to happen as long as the human race is running it.
One day he told me; "I was in the 82nd Airborne Division, I was a paratrooper, I was a gung-ho young SOB, I had so many decorations that I couldn't close the lapel on my dress uniform, and if I had it all to do over again I would not do anything for this country. This country is now run by a bunch of crooks and draft dodgers."
In the course of another conversation, he said, "You know, the most terrible thing in the world is religion."
Indeed. If religion doesn't provide any solutions, then what does?
John Lennon wrote a song that doesn't go back as far as WW2, it was written in 1970 when a very controversial war was transpiring in Southeast Asia. John Lennon wrote a song called "Imagine" that offered a solution to the problem caused by war and strife. Imagine "No countries"."No religion, too". The "brotherhood of man". "And the world will live as one". The song "Imagine" offered a solution that is designed to be diametrically opposed to religion; humanism.
What is humanism? I think that humanism originated a long time ago, when two people decided to buy into a mentality that seems to be really clever, but is distinct and separate from the type of wisdom that God has to offer. The basis of humanism is "the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 3:5).
What is wrong with the "knowledge of good and evil"? There is nothing "wrong" with the knowledge of good and evil, per se, aside from the fact that people get to use their own judgment about what is "good", and about what is "evil" .
Oh, of course there are some things that most of us agree on, you shouldn't harm anyone without just cause. But what is just cause? That one leaves room for a lot of discussion, and discussion sometimes becomes violent.
No two groups of people are in exact agreement about what is "good" and about what is "evil".
Does God accommodate the "the knowledge of good and evil", and the disagreement that goes with it? I don't know.
The best answer that I can offer is found in the sermon that St. Paul gave to the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens. Acts 17:26-28; "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all of the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they may seek the Lord and find Him, though He is not far from each of one of us; for in Him we live and breath and have our being".
How about that?
The verses in Acts reflect the words of Jesus from Matthew chapter 24. "And Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" (v7). "And this gospel will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then shall the end come"(v14).
What is the "end"? Is the "end" the end of the world; or is it just the end of the the period of time when humanism and the "knowledge of good and evil" are the prevailing schools of thought on this planet? Even most of what we refer to as "religion" is actually a form of humanism, when you get right down to it. " There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 14:12)
The world may "live as one" after Christ returns and starts running things, but it isn't going to happen as long as the human race is running it.