In my last post I talked about the necessity of morality for a society to function normally. For a society to function normally; it is necessary for all people, particularly leaders, to exhibit some degree of self-restraint. If they don't, then the whole society descends into some twisted coalescence of anarchy and statism. We observed this in the USSR, Cuba, Egypt, and Pakistan.
And so the question is, why is this significant? Or IS it significant?
I think it is, and for this reason: Humans are the only beings on earth where we observe this phenomenon. With regard to every animal on earth, dogs, horses, wild cats, etc; the only thing that benefits me and mine is for me to be the biggest, baddest, meanest, one in the pack.
There is one exception to this; and that is the phenomenon of symbiosis. In symbiosis, what we see is two individual members of separate species working together to benefit each other. And this is a phenomenon that we observe with humans too, though with us it is across multiple species. We provide a dog with a home, food, and water; he provides us with joy. We provide a horse with corn cobs, sugar cubes, a stable, and in turn he works for us. In doing this, it benefits us to be kind to others.
But it is significant this is a cross-species occurrence. With the exception of immediate family, (and in many cases not even then) We do not observe an intraspecies Luke 6:38 (For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you) phenomenon anywhere in nature. Humans are the only beings to exhibit this trait.
Nowhere else do we observe a relational trait that is unique to that kind. There is nothing unique in the way that cats relate to other cats, lizards to other lizards, flies to flies; what have you. Humans are the only beings in the universe that are unique in the way we relate to each other.
This is significant. Evolutionarily; this makes absolutely no sense. If you subscribe to the theory of evolution, only the strong survive; and it seems an unlikely branch on the evolutionary tree to suddenly evolve caring and kindness for the other members of your species as opposed to only you and yours. So why is this? Why is this a reality for the human race?
The answer comes in two parts:
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Put another way, God is in charge, and this is the way that He designed reality. With all the facts laid out in the previous post and this one; it seems that this is the logical conclusion.
Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us reason together,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
A Moral Society
I have been kicking this around in my head for awhile now, and it is now time to get it out on paper.
In order for a society to function normally (between the ditches of anarchy and statism), some degree of self-restraint is required. Here is what I mean:. If I decide to show absolutely no self-restraint, and do whatever I feel like in the moment, than a lot of people, including me, would wind up hurt. But I do restrain myself; and as a result of that, my life flows more smoothly. This principle scales upward, and I mean all the way upward; to the global view of society. And here is why.
There's this thing called the PAR principle: Privilege, Accountability, Responsibility. As Privilege rises, so must Accountability and Responsibility. As people want to take the P without A and R; governments must clamp down, limiting people's privileges
A couple of examples:
I know a man who has done some work with houses; and he told me one time about a house that he'd worked on in Stop Six. (For those innocents or non-Fort Worthians, Stop Six is the part of town that you should not go to if you don't have to). And he told me that in Stop Six, when you go to sell a house, you sell it without carpet and without air conditioning. If you do put in A/C and carpet while the house is not occupied, than it will not be there the next day. PAR has been violated, over and over again in this neighborhood, and as a result, the whole society is negatively affected; descending into some sort of twisted combination of anarchy and statism. Anarchy occurs regularly, whenever carpet or A/C is stolen. Statism occurs on the rare occasion when the police come to town, they assume that everyone is a criminal; and with impunity, they start putting everyone they see in handcuffs.
Another example: I saw the movie Dredd recently (which I do NOT recommend doing.) It was exremely graphic; but it was a look at a society that has completely descended into this statist-anarchist combination. The society has become so utterly amoral, that the government is forced to give the Judges the combined powers of Judge, Jury, and Executioner, because they don't have the time or the money to give everyone a fair trial; and because most people are guilty, the judges assume that everyone is guilty until they are proven innocent. This is what happens when PAR is repeatedly violated.
Now, here is the part that I've been working through. It is clear to me that society functions in this way because God has ordained it from above.
Proverbs 14:34
Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a disgrace to any people.
Psalm 81:13-14
If my people would but listen to me,
if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!
Psalm 144:14
Blessed are the people of whom this is true;
blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.
If you follow the logic train that way, it makes total sense: God is good, and he has designed reality so that when it functions according to how he has set up reality, the results are more beneficial for everyone. But here's what I want to know: Is it possible to reverse that train, and reverse-engineer this principle, (that when society functions morally, it works out better for everyone) to logically show that there is a God who has designed reality to work this way? I think there is, and the process of that will be coming in the next post. If anyone has any ideas on how that might work, comment below, or email them to me at achristianpolitician.gmail.com.
Stay Tuned!
In order for a society to function normally (between the ditches of anarchy and statism), some degree of self-restraint is required. Here is what I mean:. If I decide to show absolutely no self-restraint, and do whatever I feel like in the moment, than a lot of people, including me, would wind up hurt. But I do restrain myself; and as a result of that, my life flows more smoothly. This principle scales upward, and I mean all the way upward; to the global view of society. And here is why.
There's this thing called the PAR principle: Privilege, Accountability, Responsibility. As Privilege rises, so must Accountability and Responsibility. As people want to take the P without A and R; governments must clamp down, limiting people's privileges
A couple of examples:
I know a man who has done some work with houses; and he told me one time about a house that he'd worked on in Stop Six. (For those innocents or non-Fort Worthians, Stop Six is the part of town that you should not go to if you don't have to). And he told me that in Stop Six, when you go to sell a house, you sell it without carpet and without air conditioning. If you do put in A/C and carpet while the house is not occupied, than it will not be there the next day. PAR has been violated, over and over again in this neighborhood, and as a result, the whole society is negatively affected; descending into some sort of twisted combination of anarchy and statism. Anarchy occurs regularly, whenever carpet or A/C is stolen. Statism occurs on the rare occasion when the police come to town, they assume that everyone is a criminal; and with impunity, they start putting everyone they see in handcuffs.
Another example: I saw the movie Dredd recently (which I do NOT recommend doing.) It was exremely graphic; but it was a look at a society that has completely descended into this statist-anarchist combination. The society has become so utterly amoral, that the government is forced to give the Judges the combined powers of Judge, Jury, and Executioner, because they don't have the time or the money to give everyone a fair trial; and because most people are guilty, the judges assume that everyone is guilty until they are proven innocent. This is what happens when PAR is repeatedly violated.
Now, here is the part that I've been working through. It is clear to me that society functions in this way because God has ordained it from above.
Proverbs 14:34
Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a disgrace to any people.
Psalm 81:13-14
If my people would but listen to me,
if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!
Psalm 144:14
Blessed are the people of whom this is true;
blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.
If you follow the logic train that way, it makes total sense: God is good, and he has designed reality so that when it functions according to how he has set up reality, the results are more beneficial for everyone. But here's what I want to know: Is it possible to reverse that train, and reverse-engineer this principle, (that when society functions morally, it works out better for everyone) to logically show that there is a God who has designed reality to work this way? I think there is, and the process of that will be coming in the next post. If anyone has any ideas on how that might work, comment below, or email them to me at achristianpolitician.gmail.com.
Stay Tuned!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Waiting For The One.
This is possibly the most romantic thing I have ever read; and I highly recommend it.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/14/staying-celibate-before-marriage-was-best-thing-ive-ever-done/?intcmp=features
Saturday, September 8, 2012
On Target
Having worked in the construction industry, I can say without a doubt that he is on the money!
http://www.mikeroweworks.com/2012/09/the-first-four-years-are-the-hardest/comment-page-1/#comments
http://www.mikeroweworks.com/2012/09/the-first-four-years-are-the-hardest/comment-page-1/#comments
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