Christian beliefs combined with Western philosophy have led to the incredibly wonderful world we live in. There is no reason that we, as the human race, aren't still living in a feudal system. Except, Greek and Christian philosophy led us to having iPhones and efficiently using our resources.
Nuclear energy has always been possible. It took centuries of stability in a society to find it. There is no reason it wasn't discovered two thousand years ago except that our society didn't provide for its discovery. The previous dominant societies didn't allow for our current mentality about individual freedoms. The provision of those freedoms is what makes great strides forward possible.
The more we celebrate and promote divergent belief systems, the longer it will take our society to move forward. Western, Christian beliefs make shit pretty. It is what makes poor people fat. It is what makes poor people have cable and cell phones. It is what makes it obvious that governments starve people, not localized drought.
When you hear moral relativism and say nothing, you support the burning of the library in Alexandria. You support the end of new knowledge in the Islamic Empire. You declare the world flat. You reject Truth.
I agree, but I think the burning of the Alexandrian library was done by Islamic people, not moral relativists. Also a threat to Western Christian civilization.
ReplyDeleteNuclear energy has always been possible
ReplyDeleteSo has air travel, combustion engines, solvent extraction, mole sieve filtering, what have you....
I like this post and agree, who burned the library notwithstanding
ANyone who believes all cultures are equal should come experience Africa. And I don't mean "buy curios and watch ,native dances' at commercialised tourist attractions like Moyo at Spier Wine Estate". I mean come here and listen to African talk radio, read the newspapers, look at what happens on the sidewalks, watch the 19:00 news, drive the N2 highway past the settlements.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
ReplyDeleteThe church has done a HUGE disservice to God by ignoring its history and the good things that it wrought.
We have seen the fulfillment of John 14:12, yet most churches fail to preach that; most don't even recognize that. They believe that verse refers to miracles, and want to stay away from it b/c we don't see many miracles and that's a "scary" subject. But read it and you'll find it doesn't mention the miraculous (although that's fine) it simply refers to great works done if we have faith. Faith meaning obedience to God's ways: honesty in our business transactions and science, fairness in how we treat different people (including strangers).
Rodney Stark discusses some of this in his book "The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success". And it's a sin (with some dire consequences) that churches have let this fade from their teachings.