Freedom to think. It is a commodity that has been highly prized throughout the ages and a freedom that has been hard won. If I were to ask the general population around me whether we have freedom to think what we want here in Australia, the consensus would be that we do indeed have that freedom. But do we?
Information is a tricky thing to define. Many a debate has occurred (even within my own friend group) about putting a value on information and ideas. Our democratic society would claim that we have a right to information about the world around us in order for us to make better decisions in our voting. So are we getting this freedom in information? I would argue that we are not.
I am a pre-service teacher (which means I'm currently doing my teaching degree) and I have had the opportunity to work in schools, the very foundation of our society, with young people. As a science teacher, I have had the challenge of teaching evolution to students. Not only am I required to teach evolution (which I have no problem teaching it as the theory it is) but I am not allowed to teach the theory of intelligent design, despite the overwhelming amount of evidence that supports it. If people have a right to information, then why are we limiting the information we give to our young people? Could it be that we are scared that they may make the decision for themselves of what to believe? Could it be that the information we are not able to teach could change everything? And if it could, why are we so afraid?
I'm sure that many would agree with me that dictating what a child should be learning about, in the act of omitting the facts that would disagree with our societal foundation, is a form of oppression. It is a an act that not only diminishes the intelligence of human beings in being able to form a judgement, but that dooms them to a morality of hopelessness and depression. For what hope can there be without purpose. What enjoyment is there to working hard if the goal is merely to die with the most money? Why would we wait to enjoy the intimacy and preciousness of sex if we are merely animals?
Why is information not shared? Why is it that we teach children to be unsure of their sexuality, and fail to tell them that every sexual connection they make with someone will form a permanent bond with that person for the rest of their lives? Why is it that we tell children that they are formed by a cosmic accident and fail to tell them of the evidence to show the intelligence and love in the design of their bodies?
Why do we teach children not to think?
Because once people are allowed to think, they are ultimately led to Him who created them to think. The world will not permit people to think because once we start thinking, we know we are more then just atoms accidentally thrown together, and that our collections of atoms are accountable. And the one thing the world fears more than anything else, is being accountable for the evil actions it has committed, continues to commit, and will commit in the future.
So is there really freedom to think or are we just free to think what society tells us?
Wednesday 7 October 2015
Sunday 6 September 2015
The hidden thought...
I was reading today a blog about a teacher who was helping her students through hard situations and something struck me. A reader left a comment saying; "It's sad to read these, but it's even sadder to think that this sort of poverty is still around these days." These days? What is this reader trying to say? That these days are different to the days 100 years ago. When I read this I was struck by how much evolutionary theory has infiltrated societies mind. 'Evolutionary theory you may ask? How does evolutionary theory show in a simple comment like this?'
It is simply the assumption that we should be better by now. That the world should be fixed up by now.
After all, a million years ago our ancestors were beating each other's brains out with clubs right? Look how far we've come, from being mere animals to being moral humans. It is a reasonable assumption if you start with the idea that there is no significance to our existence, that there is no legitimate reason for the world being the way it is apart from the assumption we haven't reached that evolutionary stage yet where life is better. And yet have we changed so much even from the "dark ages" where people were being bled of their life's blood under the instruction of "qualified doctors"? If we look at where we are now, is the world any less tragic? I would say not. Our families are disintegrating with the silence of parents. Our children are alone and disconnected and can not relate without a screen. There are hundreds fleeing wars they have no part in, being fought with machines they couldn't even read the name of. Depression is rising, divorce is rising, addictions are rising and we say that we're better? At least we assume we should be.
What if there was a different start? What if we started with the premise that the world fell at the beginning and that sin and pain was increasing from the beginning. What if we were not becoming more evolved, but more like animals with our hate and protection of those nearest us? Then things begin to make more sense, then we begin to see a picture that represents the world we see better. If we start with a world, with a people with a profound knowledge of a God and watch as the world walked, and then ran away from that deity, then does it not make sense that the pain of the world is increasing? When we hurried away from the idea of God, we hurried away from the idea of ultimate morality and accountability. Without God there is no standard, just a physiological happening that we hope accounts for what is our conscience. When we watch as history split from it's conscience is it such a surprise when we see the world as it is today?
So what now? Are we left hopeless? To read the facts and see no hope of human intervention... yes. We are hopeless. But there is one who reached down with divine human intervention. When God saw the world corrupt at the very beginning, he knew the plan to save it. With the ultimate personal cost he had a plan to redeem it. So how can we save our society? We can't, because we are not evolving to be better. Instead, if you know Christ, you are conforming to his standards, to his conscience. With a new understanding of morality, then we can make better decisions.
As Christians we must stand against and guard for that quiet influence of a worldview that eliminates God. We need to know where the philosophies of our world come from so we do not get sucked into the pretty packaging of a false morality the world cannot even live without destroying itself.
It is simply the assumption that we should be better by now. That the world should be fixed up by now.
That we should have evolved out of sin.
After all, a million years ago our ancestors were beating each other's brains out with clubs right? Look how far we've come, from being mere animals to being moral humans. It is a reasonable assumption if you start with the idea that there is no significance to our existence, that there is no legitimate reason for the world being the way it is apart from the assumption we haven't reached that evolutionary stage yet where life is better. And yet have we changed so much even from the "dark ages" where people were being bled of their life's blood under the instruction of "qualified doctors"? If we look at where we are now, is the world any less tragic? I would say not. Our families are disintegrating with the silence of parents. Our children are alone and disconnected and can not relate without a screen. There are hundreds fleeing wars they have no part in, being fought with machines they couldn't even read the name of. Depression is rising, divorce is rising, addictions are rising and we say that we're better? At least we assume we should be.
What if there was a different start? What if we started with the premise that the world fell at the beginning and that sin and pain was increasing from the beginning. What if we were not becoming more evolved, but more like animals with our hate and protection of those nearest us? Then things begin to make more sense, then we begin to see a picture that represents the world we see better. If we start with a world, with a people with a profound knowledge of a God and watch as the world walked, and then ran away from that deity, then does it not make sense that the pain of the world is increasing? When we hurried away from the idea of God, we hurried away from the idea of ultimate morality and accountability. Without God there is no standard, just a physiological happening that we hope accounts for what is our conscience. When we watch as history split from it's conscience is it such a surprise when we see the world as it is today?
So what now? Are we left hopeless? To read the facts and see no hope of human intervention... yes. We are hopeless. But there is one who reached down with divine human intervention. When God saw the world corrupt at the very beginning, he knew the plan to save it. With the ultimate personal cost he had a plan to redeem it. So how can we save our society? We can't, because we are not evolving to be better. Instead, if you know Christ, you are conforming to his standards, to his conscience. With a new understanding of morality, then we can make better decisions.
As Christians we must stand against and guard for that quiet influence of a worldview that eliminates God. We need to know where the philosophies of our world come from so we do not get sucked into the pretty packaging of a false morality the world cannot even live without destroying itself.
Tuesday 14 July 2015
Dear me...
Dear younger me,
With much love,
I wanted to write in order to share some gospel truth with you. In your mind at the moment, the world swings between a devastatingly hard place to live, and paradise. But this is for you in your darker moments.
Sweet child I'm asking you to stop looking in the mirror and judging the girl you see there. Nay, I'm begging that you would stop that. Do you know how it will fill your life with insecurity? You need to see that it's going to affect how you look at yourself now that you are 20. You also need to know that it gets better. Oh I'm not talking about our looks, although with age comes a certain maturity and style. I'm talking about how we see our self. If only I would lend you my eyes for a second so you could see the new reflection. We look pretty similar but there is more to this reflection. A depth that is not explained by hormones or study. I can see a sadness in the eyes that wasn't seen before. I can see a trusting heart that has been betrayed a few too many times, cried too many tears. I can see an awareness of my sin more potently than ever. But there is something else mixed in. With the sadness there is a knowledge displayed of ultimate joy. There is the lingering fingerprints of the comfort of the Lord. There is a big part of your heart for your friends. The true friends who haven't betrayed you and never will. And I can see a depth that I didn't possess when I was you. My knowledge has grown, not only of the sin and depravity in this world but also my knowledge of grace and mercy. I can truly claim; 'where sin increased, grace increased all the more.' It hasn't been an easy couple of years, but I know now that God has been there every single step of the way.
With much love,
Erin
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