Is the world really getting worse?
Does the sin of today mean a shorter tomorrow?
How can we view the scientific data of today objectively? On one hand we have Hal Lindsey and Jack Van Impe predicting doom and gloom to come. They view the war in Iraq as a sign of the times and pile it upon the natural disasters of Tropical Storm Emily as a reason to predict the second coming of the Christ.
But is our point of view just skewed? Is this really the majority point of view? While the world was losing it's mind during the Y2K scare and predicting cataclysmic events, Pope John Paul II had predicted that the world would make it through Y2K with no major incidents. Not only would the world go into Y2K without incident, he also believed that the next 1000 years would be another great step up for the church. It would be another church age.
Now I am not Catholic, but I do respect the person of Pope John Paul II. He was a man who kept his head when the protestant majority would have had us running for the nearest bomb shelter (regardless of the fact that they believe in a rapture, which would make us escape all the evils of such a thing like the tribulation, which was to begin at Y2K). He encouraged his people to keep their heads up and be encouraged for the coming millenium. Why?
I believe that Pope John Paul II understood something that too many Christians do not comprehend. The Catholic church is probably the oldest organization that exists in the mainstream and they are probably one of the best record keepers in the world. It is my assumption that they hold data which gives them an opinion outside of their contemporary concerns. They can view history objectively through their knowledge of the past, and not allow the sins of the present to move them into a false eschatology predicting doom and gloom in the coming years. What is it that they know?
The world is a much BETTER place today that 100, 1000, and possibly, 10,000 years ago.
- Scientific study of weather over the past 200 years is not enough time to determine if the world is dying. In a world that could be as old as 10,000 years, how can 200 years tell us that natural disasters are occuring more now that ever before? We have recorded and carefully observed maybe 2% of weather history and we think that is enough to predict doom to the planet? Do we know the earth has not slowed down before and sped back up? Do we know that the the world has not suffered greater damage from natural disasters before? Do we know that natural disasters are disasters at all to the planet and not "growing pangs?" 200 years is not enough data. Talk to me in 2,000 years.
- Can we walk down the streets of Paris, New York, London or even Berlin and see people dying of the plague? Do they even lie in the streets dying of aids? This common situation from not even 300 years ago is not common anymore in our world. In all civilized societies the sick and dying can now be cared for by the common people. Dignity is given to those who would have in the past, died on the side of the street and buried without markings. Now that situation is kept to the 3rd world nations, who are now even being supported by the nations with cities like New York, London and Paris so that they may also increase their standard of living. This is not just a Christian doing, it is a change in the fabric of human society that has improved over the last 300 years.
- The war in Iraq has taken less lives in 2 years than even one battle in the Civil War claimed, and the benefit of that reduced number of losses is a nation freed from it's oppressor, and a people liberated and emboldened to fight for their own freedom. These wars, for freedom and to battle evil like terror and communism, are the only wars of the world today. Petty land grabbing battles and even genocide are not the practice of civilized nations today, and are even being rooted out of the 3rd world little by little by the civilized nations with the guts to stand for justice.
The reasons given for a world that is dying do not stand up in the ligh5t of social, political and scientific history. In some cases we do not have the data to say that the world is getting worse, in other cases, the data screams the opposite. The earth is being civilized. Thanks to Christian influence, which points out the evils of slavery, genocide, caste systems, aristocricy, etc, the world is increasingly getting better.
God Bless,
Nate
Does the sin of today mean a shorter tomorrow?
How can we view the scientific data of today objectively? On one hand we have Hal Lindsey and Jack Van Impe predicting doom and gloom to come. They view the war in Iraq as a sign of the times and pile it upon the natural disasters of Tropical Storm Emily as a reason to predict the second coming of the Christ.
But is our point of view just skewed? Is this really the majority point of view? While the world was losing it's mind during the Y2K scare and predicting cataclysmic events, Pope John Paul II had predicted that the world would make it through Y2K with no major incidents. Not only would the world go into Y2K without incident, he also believed that the next 1000 years would be another great step up for the church. It would be another church age.
Now I am not Catholic, but I do respect the person of Pope John Paul II. He was a man who kept his head when the protestant majority would have had us running for the nearest bomb shelter (regardless of the fact that they believe in a rapture, which would make us escape all the evils of such a thing like the tribulation, which was to begin at Y2K). He encouraged his people to keep their heads up and be encouraged for the coming millenium. Why?
I believe that Pope John Paul II understood something that too many Christians do not comprehend. The Catholic church is probably the oldest organization that exists in the mainstream and they are probably one of the best record keepers in the world. It is my assumption that they hold data which gives them an opinion outside of their contemporary concerns. They can view history objectively through their knowledge of the past, and not allow the sins of the present to move them into a false eschatology predicting doom and gloom in the coming years. What is it that they know?
The world is a much BETTER place today that 100, 1000, and possibly, 10,000 years ago.
- Scientific study of weather over the past 200 years is not enough time to determine if the world is dying. In a world that could be as old as 10,000 years, how can 200 years tell us that natural disasters are occuring more now that ever before? We have recorded and carefully observed maybe 2% of weather history and we think that is enough to predict doom to the planet? Do we know the earth has not slowed down before and sped back up? Do we know that the the world has not suffered greater damage from natural disasters before? Do we know that natural disasters are disasters at all to the planet and not "growing pangs?" 200 years is not enough data. Talk to me in 2,000 years.
- Can we walk down the streets of Paris, New York, London or even Berlin and see people dying of the plague? Do they even lie in the streets dying of aids? This common situation from not even 300 years ago is not common anymore in our world. In all civilized societies the sick and dying can now be cared for by the common people. Dignity is given to those who would have in the past, died on the side of the street and buried without markings. Now that situation is kept to the 3rd world nations, who are now even being supported by the nations with cities like New York, London and Paris so that they may also increase their standard of living. This is not just a Christian doing, it is a change in the fabric of human society that has improved over the last 300 years.
- The war in Iraq has taken less lives in 2 years than even one battle in the Civil War claimed, and the benefit of that reduced number of losses is a nation freed from it's oppressor, and a people liberated and emboldened to fight for their own freedom. These wars, for freedom and to battle evil like terror and communism, are the only wars of the world today. Petty land grabbing battles and even genocide are not the practice of civilized nations today, and are even being rooted out of the 3rd world little by little by the civilized nations with the guts to stand for justice.
The reasons given for a world that is dying do not stand up in the ligh5t of social, political and scientific history. In some cases we do not have the data to say that the world is getting worse, in other cases, the data screams the opposite. The earth is being civilized. Thanks to Christian influence, which points out the evils of slavery, genocide, caste systems, aristocricy, etc, the world is increasingly getting better.
God Bless,
Nate
posted by Nathan DuBois | 9:06 AM
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