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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