Some of you may have questioned what I wrote in earlier posts, that anarchy and chaos will result if a society does not observe the Ten Commandments. Of course it’s not really about the Ten Commandments, but about a relationship with God. Out of that relationship comes observance of the first four commandments. Out of that relationship with God and observance of the first four come observance of the last six, with the result being a better and more humane society. – not a perfect society but one that is more just, fairer, and more caring.
Despite this, there are those who are working hard to eliminate God from American life, using a gross misinterpretation of the Constitution as its weapon. As a result of this progressive elimination of God, American society has deteriorated. If you don’t think there’s a correlation, look at life in the 1940s and 1950s compared to life today.
If you don’t believe our society could get worse, look at Germany. That country was the most cultured in Europe: music, opera, art, literature, cinema. Before World War II it was a leading scientific research center. Most scientists elsewhere had to learn German so they could read the research papers coming out of Germany. German theologians were at the forefront of biblical and theological studies. Their academic works have an influence on theology to this day.
How could such a “highly evolved” society deteriorate so quickly? How could someone like Hitler gain such influence on a people brought up in a Christian, tolerant, and cultured milieu? I suspect at least some of the problem was that religion in Germany had become cold, stale, and uninspiring. The liberal theology coming out of the universities left pastors confused and skeptical. How can you effectively preach when you aren’t sure what you believe yourself? So German society deteriorated, decadence set in, and many of the people took their eyes off God. In doing so, Hitler became their god. We can’t let the true God be eliminated from our public consciousness.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
Order vs. Anarchy: The Ten Commandments (Part 2)
This is a continuation from an earlier post about the Ten Commandments.
Our founding fathers understood this need for God, the Bible, and religious practice in society, as we read in some quotes:
“The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained.” — President George Washington
(The “eternal rules of order and right” refer to the Ten Commandments)
“It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.” — President George Washington
(He recognized that without a transcendent moral compass, a nation would soon sink into anarchy)
“I have lived a long time and am convinced that God governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?” — Benjamin Franklin, 1787
(He recognized that God is involved in human affairs)
“Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.” – William Penn
(Although he wasn’t a founding father, his sentiment is true. If a people don’t follow the Ten Commandments, then harsher laws will be put into place to restore order)
“Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.” — President Ronald Reagan
(Although Reagan was old when he became president, he wasn’t a founding father. However, he understood that following the Ten Commandments gives freedom – the flip side of William Penn’s statement above)
Despite all this, there are powerful forces at work trying to eliminate God, religious practice, and the Ten Commandments from our society. If they succeed, and they appear to be – at least for now – then the result will be disaster. We are seeing it already in rampant drug usage, crime (both violent and white collar), cheating and immoral behavior (sports stars, politicians), high divorce rate, and a generally ruder and cruder society. Today’s younger generations did not live back in the 1940s and 1950s, and so have no basis of comparison between life today and life back then. While life then certainly wasn’t ideal, we didn’t have the magnitude of problems we are seeing today.
We must get back to a nation “under God” so that we can truly have “liberty and justice for all.” If we continue down the path we’ve been following, I shudder to think what will happen.
More on this topic in a future post.
Our founding fathers understood this need for God, the Bible, and religious practice in society, as we read in some quotes:
“The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained.” — President George Washington
(The “eternal rules of order and right” refer to the Ten Commandments)
“It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.” — President George Washington
(He recognized that without a transcendent moral compass, a nation would soon sink into anarchy)
“I have lived a long time and am convinced that God governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?” — Benjamin Franklin, 1787
(He recognized that God is involved in human affairs)
“Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.” – William Penn
(Although he wasn’t a founding father, his sentiment is true. If a people don’t follow the Ten Commandments, then harsher laws will be put into place to restore order)
“Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.” — President Ronald Reagan
(Although Reagan was old when he became president, he wasn’t a founding father. However, he understood that following the Ten Commandments gives freedom – the flip side of William Penn’s statement above)
Despite all this, there are powerful forces at work trying to eliminate God, religious practice, and the Ten Commandments from our society. If they succeed, and they appear to be – at least for now – then the result will be disaster. We are seeing it already in rampant drug usage, crime (both violent and white collar), cheating and immoral behavior (sports stars, politicians), high divorce rate, and a generally ruder and cruder society. Today’s younger generations did not live back in the 1940s and 1950s, and so have no basis of comparison between life today and life back then. While life then certainly wasn’t ideal, we didn’t have the magnitude of problems we are seeing today.
We must get back to a nation “under God” so that we can truly have “liberty and justice for all.” If we continue down the path we’ve been following, I shudder to think what will happen.
More on this topic in a future post.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Order vs. Anarchy: The Ten Commandments (Part 1)
The Ten Commandments are summarized as follows (with broader understanding in parentheses):
1. You will not worship other gods.
2. You will not make any idols.
3. You will not make wrongful use of the Name of God.
4. You will observe the Sabbath and keep it holy.
5. You will honor your father and mother (and all lawful authority).
6. Do not murder (or hurt anybody).
7. Do not commit adultery (or commit any sexual sin).
8. Do not steal (or cheat).
9. Do not bear false witness (or lie, gossip, or misrepresent).
10. Do not covet anything that belongs to someone else.
There are two parts to this list:
Commandments 1-4 have to do with our relationship with God.
Commandments 5-10 have to do with our relationships with others.
If our relationship with God is good, our relationship with others should be good. If we have little or no relationship with God so we are not following the first four commandments, then our relationship with others won’t be as it should be and we will end up breaking most of the last six commandments.
God put into place the Ten Commandments so that we would be able to live the kind of life God intended for us: having the right relationship with God and one another. God wants us to have an orderly and caring society rather than anarchy and chaos. Because Europe and the Americas have a Judeo-Christian heritage, we see there a respect for life and a more humane society than is typically found elsewhere.
More on this topic in a future post.
1. You will not worship other gods.
2. You will not make any idols.
3. You will not make wrongful use of the Name of God.
4. You will observe the Sabbath and keep it holy.
5. You will honor your father and mother (and all lawful authority).
6. Do not murder (or hurt anybody).
7. Do not commit adultery (or commit any sexual sin).
8. Do not steal (or cheat).
9. Do not bear false witness (or lie, gossip, or misrepresent).
10. Do not covet anything that belongs to someone else.
There are two parts to this list:
Commandments 1-4 have to do with our relationship with God.
Commandments 5-10 have to do with our relationships with others.
If our relationship with God is good, our relationship with others should be good. If we have little or no relationship with God so we are not following the first four commandments, then our relationship with others won’t be as it should be and we will end up breaking most of the last six commandments.
God put into place the Ten Commandments so that we would be able to live the kind of life God intended for us: having the right relationship with God and one another. God wants us to have an orderly and caring society rather than anarchy and chaos. Because Europe and the Americas have a Judeo-Christian heritage, we see there a respect for life and a more humane society than is typically found elsewhere.
More on this topic in a future post.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
The Royal Baby
I am fascinated by the attention being paid in the United States to the royal baby and the royals in general. We broke from England and established a nation that had no king or queen, only elected citizens who were supposed to serve for limited periods and then go home to resume their lives. Yet there seems to be this inborn desire for a king.
Over in Newburgh, NY during the Revolutionary War, one of George Washington’s officers suggested that he be made king once the new nation was established. Washington not only rejected this suggestion but was angry with the officer for even suggesting such a thing. Sadly, we’ve turned the presidency into a sort of royal office with special music played when the president enters the room (“Ruffles and Flourishes” and “Hail to the Chief”). Is that really necessary?
Because of this natural tendency to want a king or queen, we Americans follow the British royals as if they were our own. However, we have our eyes on the wrong king. We should remember the words of Psalms 47:6-8
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the king of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm.
God is king over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
Let us follow what we read in Psalms 145:1-3
I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you,
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
God is above all earthly powers. Let’s keep that in mind and turn our eyes toward God, the creator and sustainer of life.
Over in Newburgh, NY during the Revolutionary War, one of George Washington’s officers suggested that he be made king once the new nation was established. Washington not only rejected this suggestion but was angry with the officer for even suggesting such a thing. Sadly, we’ve turned the presidency into a sort of royal office with special music played when the president enters the room (“Ruffles and Flourishes” and “Hail to the Chief”). Is that really necessary?
Because of this natural tendency to want a king or queen, we Americans follow the British royals as if they were our own. However, we have our eyes on the wrong king. We should remember the words of Psalms 47:6-8
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the king of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm.
God is king over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
Let us follow what we read in Psalms 145:1-3
I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you,
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
God is above all earthly powers. Let’s keep that in mind and turn our eyes toward God, the creator and sustainer of life.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Classism in America
With the recent verdict declaring George Zimmerman not guilty of murder in the killing of Trevon Martin, there’s been a lot of talk about racism in America. These are good discussions to have, but missing from much of rhetoric is another “ism”, classism. Let me give you a few examples of classism:
Suppose you were walking down a city street late at night, and a young black guy in a hoodie and jeans approaches you. Would you be apprehensive? Most likely you would.
Now, suppose you are on the same street late at night and a well-dressed young black man approaches you. Would you be apprehensive? Most likely you would not.
What’s the difference? The well-dressed young man is perceived to be of a better class and therefore less likely to rob you than the supposedly lower class guy. We trust better dressed clean-cut people of any race.
My guess is that if Trevon hadn’t been wearing a hoodie, he might not have been followed by Zimmerman. Wearing a hoodie that hides your face automatically makes you suspect in some people’s minds.
But dress isn’t everything. As we saw, we’d be apprehensive if a black guy in hoodie and jeans approached us late at night on a city street. Now suppose we noticed that he’s carrying a Bible. Would we be less apprehensive? I suspect we would.
While racism in various forms certainly does exist, so do other “isms” that are just as pernicious. Why do we have such persistent prejudices? It’s the fallen human condition. If you had a society in which the inhabitants were homogeneous except for the color of their eyes, do you think there would be no prejudice? My guess is that the brown-eyed people would hate the blue-eyed people, and vice-versa.
As long as we keep our eyes (no matter what color) on people and not on God, we’ll fall short. As long as we ignore God’s command (found in various forms in most religions) to “love your neighbor” and “do unto others” then we’ll have prejudice, persecution, tribalism, and war.
Let’s keep our eyes on God, who created heaven and earth (and it was good), and made human beings in his image.
Suppose you were walking down a city street late at night, and a young black guy in a hoodie and jeans approaches you. Would you be apprehensive? Most likely you would.
Now, suppose you are on the same street late at night and a well-dressed young black man approaches you. Would you be apprehensive? Most likely you would not.
What’s the difference? The well-dressed young man is perceived to be of a better class and therefore less likely to rob you than the supposedly lower class guy. We trust better dressed clean-cut people of any race.
My guess is that if Trevon hadn’t been wearing a hoodie, he might not have been followed by Zimmerman. Wearing a hoodie that hides your face automatically makes you suspect in some people’s minds.
But dress isn’t everything. As we saw, we’d be apprehensive if a black guy in hoodie and jeans approached us late at night on a city street. Now suppose we noticed that he’s carrying a Bible. Would we be less apprehensive? I suspect we would.
While racism in various forms certainly does exist, so do other “isms” that are just as pernicious. Why do we have such persistent prejudices? It’s the fallen human condition. If you had a society in which the inhabitants were homogeneous except for the color of their eyes, do you think there would be no prejudice? My guess is that the brown-eyed people would hate the blue-eyed people, and vice-versa.
As long as we keep our eyes (no matter what color) on people and not on God, we’ll fall short. As long as we ignore God’s command (found in various forms in most religions) to “love your neighbor” and “do unto others” then we’ll have prejudice, persecution, tribalism, and war.
Let’s keep our eyes on God, who created heaven and earth (and it was good), and made human beings in his image.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
The Zimmerman Verdict
A lot has been written recently about the verdict of “not guilty” for George Zimmerman. Nevertheless, I would like to add my two cents’ worth concerning the case.
First of all, I do believe Zimmerman was profiling Martin. The young man was wearing a hoodie, which automatically makes him suspect in some people’s eyes. Second, of course, he was black. As Martin’s father stated in an interview, if Martin hadn’t been black this whole thing would not have occurred.
Second, I believe that Zimmerman was the aggressor in that he followed Martin when he was told not to do so by the 911 operator. Who ended up on top of whom is almost immaterial, because Zimmerman continued to pursue the young man for no reason except, in Zimmerman’s eyes, Martin didn’t belong there.
So I believe that the verdict should have been manslaughter, but the jury saw it differently. Sadly, this will set back race relations in this country. Blacks will feel frustrated and will believe that there is no justice for African Americans. There are no winners in all this, just losers. Martin’s parents have lost a son, and Zimmerman’s life will never be the same.
So where do we go from here? Hopefully, this sad affair will get us thinking about our own prejudices, subtle though they may be. While we might not go out and shoot somebody, we do harbor biases that may, at least to some extent, influence our behavior and attitudes. By the way, I’m referring to biases on both sides, not just on the part of whites. Martin referring to Zimmerman as a “cracker” may not be the equivalent of the “N” word, but it does reveal some prejudice on his part as well.
First of all, I do believe Zimmerman was profiling Martin. The young man was wearing a hoodie, which automatically makes him suspect in some people’s eyes. Second, of course, he was black. As Martin’s father stated in an interview, if Martin hadn’t been black this whole thing would not have occurred.
Second, I believe that Zimmerman was the aggressor in that he followed Martin when he was told not to do so by the 911 operator. Who ended up on top of whom is almost immaterial, because Zimmerman continued to pursue the young man for no reason except, in Zimmerman’s eyes, Martin didn’t belong there.
So I believe that the verdict should have been manslaughter, but the jury saw it differently. Sadly, this will set back race relations in this country. Blacks will feel frustrated and will believe that there is no justice for African Americans. There are no winners in all this, just losers. Martin’s parents have lost a son, and Zimmerman’s life will never be the same.
So where do we go from here? Hopefully, this sad affair will get us thinking about our own prejudices, subtle though they may be. While we might not go out and shoot somebody, we do harbor biases that may, at least to some extent, influence our behavior and attitudes. By the way, I’m referring to biases on both sides, not just on the part of whites. Martin referring to Zimmerman as a “cracker” may not be the equivalent of the “N” word, but it does reveal some prejudice on his part as well.
I'm Back!
After a prolonged absence, I am back to blogging. I know I haven’t submitted a post for quite some time, but the last six months have been very busy. As of July 1, 2013, I retired from full-time parish ministry. Since I was no longer pastor of the church I had been serving for 11 years, my wife and I had to move out of the parsonage. Since we were downsizing, the move required a lot of decision-making as to what to keep and what to discard. So the whole preparation and packing operation took several months. By the time we moved into our new place and got settled, we were exhausted.
Now that I have more time on my hands, I would like to resume blogging, hopefully providing you with helpful insights about religion and other topics. I also have a number of projects that I want to accomplish in my retirement, and we hope to take some nice trips. So I think we will both be pretty busy for the foreseeable future. Moreover, I believe God will reveal to us what ministries he would like us to participate in. I doubt if we will be involved in any full-time ministry – after all, we are retired. But I also don’t believe God’s going to put us on the shelf. It will be interesting to see what God has in mind for the two of us. But I think now is the time to focus on getting settled in our new home as well as getting into our new routine.
Although we are not from Dutchess County originally, we like it here and decided to stay in the area. I’m looking forward to communicating with you through the blog, and hopefully providing you with some thought-provoking opinions. You may not always agree with me, and that’s fine, but I hope to provide you with some insights that you might not get anywhere else.
Now that I have more time on my hands, I would like to resume blogging, hopefully providing you with helpful insights about religion and other topics. I also have a number of projects that I want to accomplish in my retirement, and we hope to take some nice trips. So I think we will both be pretty busy for the foreseeable future. Moreover, I believe God will reveal to us what ministries he would like us to participate in. I doubt if we will be involved in any full-time ministry – after all, we are retired. But I also don’t believe God’s going to put us on the shelf. It will be interesting to see what God has in mind for the two of us. But I think now is the time to focus on getting settled in our new home as well as getting into our new routine.
Although we are not from Dutchess County originally, we like it here and decided to stay in the area. I’m looking forward to communicating with you through the blog, and hopefully providing you with some thought-provoking opinions. You may not always agree with me, and that’s fine, but I hope to provide you with some insights that you might not get anywhere else.
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