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Secular Humanism
Reason
and intelligence are the most effective instruments that humankind
posses.
If life started
as impersonal matter (chemicals) which became single cell organisms
that over billions of years became us (evolution), how do we know
we are reasonable and rational? We're just $1.67 worth of chemicals.
Yes, science
and technology, powered by man's reason and intelligence, have accomplished
some amazing things.
What has that
reason and intelligence brought us? It has given us the internet,
without which you would not be reading this. Drugs and medical treatment
that have prolonged our lives. Television. Mustard gas. Genocide
in Bosnia. Hitler. Stalin. The killing fields in Cambodia. And a
car dealership in Washington state that sold 18 cars in one year
to an elderly man who did not drive, taking nearly all his savings.
These are all
the result of human reason and intelligence.
Eat, drink
and be merry, for tomorrow we may die, this is what our human
intelligence tells us. Our human wisdom gives us self-centered attitudes
and leaders who become leaders to satisfy their greed, vanity and
lust for power. Our human wisdom gives us "eat, drink and be
merry" and that is all there is to life.
What
has Christianity -- God -- given us?
The history
of the Christian church does have a dark side. The Crusades, the
Inquisitions, the witch burning and exploitation of native people
by missionaries. The problem is that the church is made up of people.
People are not perfect. We have a sinful nature, so we sometimes
do things we should not do. However, Christianity, guided by God's
principles, has by far done more good throughout history.
"Christianity has been a boon to mankind... (and) has had
a beneficent effect upon the human race... Most people today who
live in an ostensibly Christian environment with Christian ethics
do not realize how much we owe Jesus of Nazareth... What goodness
and mercy there is in this world has come in large measure from
him." -
Dr. James Kennedy, Christian(*)
As an American,
it is hard to see the effect of Christianity on the world. Even
non-Christian countries, including Muslim countries, have adopted
some Christian values. However, if we look at history, before Christianity
we see a brutal, cruel, uncaring world. As Christianity spread,
so did a moral ethic based on love -- a moral ethic that has changed
the world.
A question for
you: Can your human reason and intelligence answer this question?
What is the meaning of life? Why are we here?
Christianity
can.
We are interested
in reading your comments
* The Dr. James
Kennedy quote is from the book,
The Case for Faith, by Lee Stobel
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