The American Humanist Association is spending nearly $40,000 to place ads on busses which read: "Why Believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake."
Amazing. I'm going to start a campaign and spend about $40,000 to ask "Why believe in lucky charms?" On second thought, since I don't feel threatened by a belief in lucky charms, I think I'll save my money for something more worthwhile like, say, a lucky rabbit's foot.
I'm watching O'Reilly right now and Fred Edwords, Executive Director of the American Humanist Association, is speaking of people who don't believe in God but "who believe in goodness and have good values."
If there is no God, no eternal, ultimate source of goodness in the universe, to what is he referring? How can he decide what is goodness and what is badness and what are good values and what are bad ones? If there is no God, what is his reference point?
All the talk of goodness in the same breath as atheism reminds me of a few observations by C.S. Lewis in The Abolition of Man: First, "a great many of those who 'debunk' traditional...values have in the background values of their own which they believe to be immune from the debunking process." He also noted,"If we are to have values at all we must accept the ultimate platitudes of Practical Reason as having absolute validity..." Again, "If nothing is self-evident, nothing can be proved. Similarly if nothing is obligatory for its own sake, nothing is obligatory at all."
2 comments:
One of my favorite quotes:
"The word good has many meanings. For example, if a man were to shoot his grandmother at a range of five hundred yards, I should call him a good shot, but not necessarily a good man."
--G. K. Chesterton
The Abolition of Man was awesome... good source. C. S. Lewis is diesel. And as far as those humanists are concerned, I would say, "to hell with them" but, I know I shouldn't say that. So instead, I'll say God help them and may He enlighten them as He did so many other people throughout history.
We should always lead by example... and this is actually two-fold method. In the spirit of the NFL season, one is an offensive approach and the other is defensive.
First, OFFENSE: Matthew 5:16 is definitely one of my favorite verses - "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and praise your Father in heaven." That means through God's grace and our actions, people will see how awesome the Holy Spirit is! Remember Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Dude, ALL THINGS! That's diesel.
Also 1 Peter 3:15, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear." This is especially important because of the need & importance of HUMILITY. Never need to rub someone's face in it, right? And Matthew 5:48 (another favorite) "Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect." God doesn't want you to be average or to just get by... He wants you to be AWESOME. Just be humble, too. That means when you're playing Madden 2009, at work, school, home, whatever, whenever, humility is key. Start now!
Now let's do defense. St. Paul said it smashingly in Ephesians 6:13-15, "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace." What do you think that means? That means believe in God wholeheartedly and follow Him wholeheartedly. From the music you listen to, to the shows/movies you watch, to the books you read, to the way you cheer for a team, to random acts of kindness, to the way you greet the day. Program yourself correctly... sorry, more accurately, let God's programming REMAKE you. Their is a heavenly guarantee to that saying you will most definitely be happier. TRUST ME.
An addendum, DEFENSE also applies to defense of others. That means watching our for or taking care of "the brethren." These are those that are closest in your life, from kids (make sure they are being taught correctly in their schools -- a NJ organization that is on our side is the NJ Family Policy Council. Check them out... http://www.njfpc.org/), to your siblings, your spouse, parents, relatives, co-workers, dear homeys, etc... Fight to make sure they are not being led astray.
Naturally, in the end, regardless of their age, they will decide for themselves, but God willing, they'll choose the right path.
That's all for now. Stay strong. Fight the good fight. And God bless America!
+Harvey!
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