Our “christian” culture is the way it is because our “christian” families and churches are the way they are.
The Problem
Rather than quote a long string of statistics, we can firmly state that we just somehow KNOW that things are broken. Peruse these articles for various viewpoints regarding the decline of our culture:
http://www.christianinformation.org/article.asp?artID=88
http://allanturner.com/article14.html
http://www.brutallyhonest.org/brutally_honest/2005/02/whats_wrong_wit.html
http://www.christianpost.com/blogs/christianity/2009/05/something-is-wrong-with-the-church-04/index.html
The Solution
Discussion of the solution to the problem assumes that those who profess to be followers of Christ are being true to their profession. “9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9, 10) One who is not a true follower of Christ is said to be “dead in trespasses and sin.” A dead person cannot influence family, church, or culture.
Very simply, we must begin operating with a renewed mind. “ . . . be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
The Christ we claim to follow tells us we are to be the salt and light in the culture. “13Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13 – 16)
Thankfully, we still have many pastors / teachers who are willing to run counter to the culture and encourage Christian families to build stronger churches and positively influence the culture. See the following resources for a small sample:
http://www.redbankbaptist.org/resources.html
http://shop.churchandfamilyreformation.org/What-He-Must-Be-If-He-Wants-to-Marry-My-Daughter-BKWHMBVB.htm
Conclusion
Our “christian” culture is the way it is because our “christian” families and churches are the way they are. What will you do to create positive change?
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Hell Invading Helena?
You decide:
http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=37368
http://www.helena.k12.mt.us/images/documents/curriculum/HealthCurriculum/K12FinalHealth.pdf (See Page 45 ff)
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/09/montana-school-proposes-controversial-sex-education-program/
Good reasons to home school!
http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=37368
http://www.helena.k12.mt.us/images/documents/curriculum/HealthCurriculum/K12FinalHealth.pdf (See Page 45 ff)
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/09/montana-school-proposes-controversial-sex-education-program/
Good reasons to home school!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Every Believer a Witness (1)
My life before I met Jesus:
I was born in Winchester, VA, the youngest of four siblings. My sister and two brothers are still living there in my hometown.
I was very sad when my parents divorced when I was ten years old. School was a great way for me to lose myself in academics. I also remember watching the Washington Senators on TV with my mother. I learned to play a clarinet in school.
My mother sent me to Sunday School, but I stopped going when I turned ten. My life as a teenager was wrapped up in school. I especially enjoyed amateur radio in those years. I thought I had everything going my way until I went off to college.
After high school graduation, I went off to state university, but that did not last long. Although I had been brought up in a non-religious home, I had received moral teaching. My morals and state university did not mix. So, I went off to a Christian university.
Next installment: How I came to accept Jesus into my life
I was born in Winchester, VA, the youngest of four siblings. My sister and two brothers are still living there in my hometown.
I was very sad when my parents divorced when I was ten years old. School was a great way for me to lose myself in academics. I also remember watching the Washington Senators on TV with my mother. I learned to play a clarinet in school.
My mother sent me to Sunday School, but I stopped going when I turned ten. My life as a teenager was wrapped up in school. I especially enjoyed amateur radio in those years. I thought I had everything going my way until I went off to college.
After high school graduation, I went off to state university, but that did not last long. Although I had been brought up in a non-religious home, I had received moral teaching. My morals and state university did not mix. So, I went off to a Christian university.
Next installment: How I came to accept Jesus into my life
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Stop Sign, Part 8
The Stop Sign, Part 8
The warm reception by his parents gave young Jimmy Wilson a sense of doing the right thing, and knowing that he was now on the right road, not only to heaven but also to a life of goodness. Little did he realize that he would eventually leave that road.
The departure came gradually. It was hard, he thought, to put a finger on the precise moment when things began to change but it seemed that there were subtle things in the air when he began high school. It was there, he recalled, that teachers were not so kind to the words of the bible. They began casting some doubts on it. At first, he thought, this was a horrible thing but he discovered that in order to get a good grade in the class, he would have to accept what the teachers were saying. Initially this was a problem but eventually it became easier to see that what they were saying was “more scientific” and must be right…and the bible, somehow, incorrect…maybe even downright wrong.
In high school he began to hear more and more about evolution, especially in biology(i) but also in other science classes; even in things dealing with politics and economics. It seemed that wherever he turned, someone or some book was talking about evolution. Seeing it mentioned in so many ways, Jimmy Wilson had to assume it was true. And increasingly he set aside his determination to hear and read what God had to say about things. “Those things in the bible are only myths,” he kept hearing from teachers, people he was expected to honor. Besides, could they be wrong, he thought.
When he started college and was working his way through the years of undergraduate and graduate studies he became committed to the evolutionary perspective, setting aside all he had ever thought to be true of God. He stopped attending church by this time, though he knew that he shouldn’t have. About the only time he returned to church was the day he married Sally Witherspoon, a beautiful gal from Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was a music major at the time and later gave private voice lessons in their home, all of that followed the addition of three children to their home: two boys and a girl. After graduation, with a Ph.D. in biology, Wilson secured the job he has been holding for nearly 30 years, a job he was about to leave.
It was much the order of the day for him to teach evolution as he had been taught. Of late, however, the task had not been so easy. Several years earlier he had come to read some books that cast serious doubts on the idea of evolution. Maybe the first was Michael Denton’s book: Evolution-A Theory in Crisis. Other books followed this and lectures, all of which cast dark shadows on the things he thought were true. He came to realize that the orientation of amino acids didn’t make sense in a world unless they were created. He came to see that there was no way the complexity he observed in living organisms could have occurred through chance. He understood that the design he saw in nature was not an “apparent” design but was real design, requiring a designer. Increasingly he felt tension in what he was hearing and reading and what he was telling his students. But he had tried to ignore this tension, arguing that it wouldn’t be long and he would be outside the campus, no longer having to worry about what he taught or what he said. If he could only hang on, he thought, just a little longer until retirement, then he would be able to shed the cloak of evolution which had so much been a part of his life but which he now knew to be wrong and unscientific.
It is hard, he thought, to admit he was wrong….but Sally knew something was awry.
“What’s the problem, Jim? She would ask this over supper. She had a way of knowing these things but he seldom had the courage to admit the real problem. “I’m alright,” he said…”Maybe a little tired.”
Dan Schobert, W9MFG@charter.net
"(i)..you could say that I lost the last remnants of my faith in God during biology class in high school when I first was taught that evolution explained the origin and development of life. The implications were clear. Charles Darwin's theory eliminated the need for a supernatural creator...."
So says Lee Strobel in his 2000 (Zondervan) book, The Case for Faith which I had the occasion to read this week, on audio tape. Strobel's work follows closely on the heels of his earlier piece, The Case for Christ. Strobel, a former atheist and award winning legal editor at the Chicago Tribune, used the approach of a journalist by raising important questions, in this particular case about faith and going to several experts in the field for reasonable answers. On the question of faith and science, he spoke with Walter Bradley. Though I believe Bradley might be classified as an Old Earth Creationist, he did point out the vast data which points, on the basis of the information, to an initial source of intelligence.
Perhaps more than anything, this work of Strobel builds the case for understanding and accepting the Word of God as being true. This book is easy to read and a handy tool to give unbelieving friends.
(Footnote added in May 2004): Strobel has now added another book to this discussion. The Case for a Creator, from Zondervan became available in 2004 and, like the earlier works, presents information which places into question much of what has so often presented as evidence for evolution.
The warm reception by his parents gave young Jimmy Wilson a sense of doing the right thing, and knowing that he was now on the right road, not only to heaven but also to a life of goodness. Little did he realize that he would eventually leave that road.
The departure came gradually. It was hard, he thought, to put a finger on the precise moment when things began to change but it seemed that there were subtle things in the air when he began high school. It was there, he recalled, that teachers were not so kind to the words of the bible. They began casting some doubts on it. At first, he thought, this was a horrible thing but he discovered that in order to get a good grade in the class, he would have to accept what the teachers were saying. Initially this was a problem but eventually it became easier to see that what they were saying was “more scientific” and must be right…and the bible, somehow, incorrect…maybe even downright wrong.
In high school he began to hear more and more about evolution, especially in biology(i) but also in other science classes; even in things dealing with politics and economics. It seemed that wherever he turned, someone or some book was talking about evolution. Seeing it mentioned in so many ways, Jimmy Wilson had to assume it was true. And increasingly he set aside his determination to hear and read what God had to say about things. “Those things in the bible are only myths,” he kept hearing from teachers, people he was expected to honor. Besides, could they be wrong, he thought.
When he started college and was working his way through the years of undergraduate and graduate studies he became committed to the evolutionary perspective, setting aside all he had ever thought to be true of God. He stopped attending church by this time, though he knew that he shouldn’t have. About the only time he returned to church was the day he married Sally Witherspoon, a beautiful gal from Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was a music major at the time and later gave private voice lessons in their home, all of that followed the addition of three children to their home: two boys and a girl. After graduation, with a Ph.D. in biology, Wilson secured the job he has been holding for nearly 30 years, a job he was about to leave.
It was much the order of the day for him to teach evolution as he had been taught. Of late, however, the task had not been so easy. Several years earlier he had come to read some books that cast serious doubts on the idea of evolution. Maybe the first was Michael Denton’s book: Evolution-A Theory in Crisis. Other books followed this and lectures, all of which cast dark shadows on the things he thought were true. He came to realize that the orientation of amino acids didn’t make sense in a world unless they were created. He came to see that there was no way the complexity he observed in living organisms could have occurred through chance. He understood that the design he saw in nature was not an “apparent” design but was real design, requiring a designer. Increasingly he felt tension in what he was hearing and reading and what he was telling his students. But he had tried to ignore this tension, arguing that it wouldn’t be long and he would be outside the campus, no longer having to worry about what he taught or what he said. If he could only hang on, he thought, just a little longer until retirement, then he would be able to shed the cloak of evolution which had so much been a part of his life but which he now knew to be wrong and unscientific.
It is hard, he thought, to admit he was wrong….but Sally knew something was awry.
“What’s the problem, Jim? She would ask this over supper. She had a way of knowing these things but he seldom had the courage to admit the real problem. “I’m alright,” he said…”Maybe a little tired.”
Dan Schobert, W9MFG@charter.net
"(i)..you could say that I lost the last remnants of my faith in God during biology class in high school when I first was taught that evolution explained the origin and development of life. The implications were clear. Charles Darwin's theory eliminated the need for a supernatural creator...."
So says Lee Strobel in his 2000 (Zondervan) book, The Case for Faith which I had the occasion to read this week, on audio tape. Strobel's work follows closely on the heels of his earlier piece, The Case for Christ. Strobel, a former atheist and award winning legal editor at the Chicago Tribune, used the approach of a journalist by raising important questions, in this particular case about faith and going to several experts in the field for reasonable answers. On the question of faith and science, he spoke with Walter Bradley. Though I believe Bradley might be classified as an Old Earth Creationist, he did point out the vast data which points, on the basis of the information, to an initial source of intelligence.
Perhaps more than anything, this work of Strobel builds the case for understanding and accepting the Word of God as being true. This book is easy to read and a handy tool to give unbelieving friends.
(Footnote added in May 2004): Strobel has now added another book to this discussion. The Case for a Creator, from Zondervan became available in 2004 and, like the earlier works, presents information which places into question much of what has so often presented as evidence for evolution.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Families – Threats – Morality not being taught in schools
From our Introductory Post:
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – Morality not being taught in schools
In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically Pornography. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, Morality not being taught in schools.
We must understand from the start that this blog considers all Morality to be Biblical in nature because true morality derives from the Bible, the Word of God. Some may disagree with this approach, and that is your privilege, but the only reasonable approach is that morality is objective. Any morality that is subjective can change and, therefore, is not truly morality.
“In Colonial America the schools were mostly run by the churches. The first settlers in America felt that it was important that children learned to read so they could read their Bibles.” This statement from http://www.schoolprayerinamerica.info/ provides the basis for teaching Biblical morality in American schools. Students of that day read the Bible and the New England Primer. “Daily school prayer was a natural part of this educational system. After the American Revolution, Noah Webster introduced the Blue-backed Speller which also used Bible verses to teach reading and spelling. In 1836 the McGuffey Reader was introduced which also featured Bible verses to teach moral values. This school system produced some of the world’s brightest inventors and set the Industrial Revolution in motion. The schools continued to be run mostly by Christian Churches until the 1890's at which point States started to take control of the existing schools. By 1900 many other text books were in use and they all had Bible quotes in them.”
In today’s schools people expect the continued teaching of “morality,” but many of them think of morality in terms of a humanist approach, as in http://www.freeinquiry.com/teaching-morals.html . Cities are concerned about the incidence of crime and feel that the problem can be addressed through the educational system. “While everyone in our city (New Orleans, LA) should seek to comprehend why so many high school- and college-aged people are involved in violence, educators have a particular responsibility to understand the problem and take action.” See http://blog.nola.com/guesteditorials/2009/01/why_schools_must_teach_moralit.html . Some school systems approach the teaching of morals as “character education.” Such terms as “fairness” and “respect” are used without explaining the basis of these character traits. See http://www.hcde.org/site/partners/character_ed/default.aspx .
All approaches are doomed to failure except a return to Biblical morality. How can anyone argue with a system that produced the greatest republic in the history of the world? Even with all of our present problems America is still the shining light attracting people from all over the world.
Summary
This post has examined morality not being taught in schools as a major threat to families. We discovered that the solution is found in returning to the Biblical morality of our founding ancestors. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Poverty.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”
Families – Threats – Morality not being taught in schools
In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically Pornography. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, Morality not being taught in schools.
We must understand from the start that this blog considers all Morality to be Biblical in nature because true morality derives from the Bible, the Word of God. Some may disagree with this approach, and that is your privilege, but the only reasonable approach is that morality is objective. Any morality that is subjective can change and, therefore, is not truly morality.
“In Colonial America the schools were mostly run by the churches. The first settlers in America felt that it was important that children learned to read so they could read their Bibles.” This statement from http://www.schoolprayerinamerica.info/ provides the basis for teaching Biblical morality in American schools. Students of that day read the Bible and the New England Primer. “Daily school prayer was a natural part of this educational system. After the American Revolution, Noah Webster introduced the Blue-backed Speller which also used Bible verses to teach reading and spelling. In 1836 the McGuffey Reader was introduced which also featured Bible verses to teach moral values. This school system produced some of the world’s brightest inventors and set the Industrial Revolution in motion. The schools continued to be run mostly by Christian Churches until the 1890's at which point States started to take control of the existing schools. By 1900 many other text books were in use and they all had Bible quotes in them.”
In today’s schools people expect the continued teaching of “morality,” but many of them think of morality in terms of a humanist approach, as in http://www.freeinquiry.com/teaching-morals.html . Cities are concerned about the incidence of crime and feel that the problem can be addressed through the educational system. “While everyone in our city (New Orleans, LA) should seek to comprehend why so many high school- and college-aged people are involved in violence, educators have a particular responsibility to understand the problem and take action.” See http://blog.nola.com/guesteditorials/2009/01/why_schools_must_teach_moralit.html . Some school systems approach the teaching of morals as “character education.” Such terms as “fairness” and “respect” are used without explaining the basis of these character traits. See http://www.hcde.org/site/partners/character_ed/default.aspx .
All approaches are doomed to failure except a return to Biblical morality. How can anyone argue with a system that produced the greatest republic in the history of the world? Even with all of our present problems America is still the shining light attracting people from all over the world.
Summary
This post has examined morality not being taught in schools as a major threat to families. We discovered that the solution is found in returning to the Biblical morality of our founding ancestors. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Poverty.
I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.
“Mr. Phil”
Friday, February 12, 2010
The Stop Sign, Part 7
The Stop Sign, Part 7
Soon the hall was empty except for Billy and the professor who remained sitting on his desk. Shortly Billy rose from his seat, grabbed the loops of a backpack and walked down the slanted aisle to where the professor sat. Reaching into his pack, Billy took out a brown paper wrapped item, a gift with a colorful red ribbon and placed it on the professor’s brief case. Billy extended his hand to the professor.
“I really appreciate your thoughts,” he said. “I think it was difficult to share those in today’s class. Good luck as you retire.”
The professor grabbed Billy’s hand and shook it but not sure exactly what it meant. In his heart he wanted to confirm what Billy Lynch had said but it seemed unwise at the moment as he simply wanted the day to end, not knowing what might happen next as the word spread among the students that he had actually questioned the validity of evolution.
“Thanks,” he said. “Thanks for being in my class today. What is in the package,” he asked, lifting it from its place on the desk and balancing it in his hand.
“It is something I’ve been holding for you,” said Billy. “I hope you enjoy it.”
With that, Billy Lynch left the professor sitting on the desk, walked up the stairway to the hallway and disappeared.
The professor sat on his desk for a long time, pondering the comments he had just made and heard and wondering about the package he held. He wondered how it could be that he had drifted so far away from the goals he had embraced when a child. His mind took him back to moments when, as a ten-year-old lad at a church camp, he had decided that being a Christian was the right thing to do. His decision followed a week of camp fun; lots of swimming, hiking, singing and bon fires at Camp Lake Louise in Michigan. It was a great trip for a kid like him. He remembered the ride in a old green school bus which took the young people from their small country church near Bowling Green, Ohio to the camp not far from the big Mac bridge at the northern tip of Michigan’s southern peninsula. He could nearly smell the inescapable odors of the Cedar boards used in the construction of the cabins and the wonderful meals; the experiences came back to his mind as though they occurred yesterday. It had been a memorable experience. Each night at the campfire, the camp pastor would tell bible stories and challenge the young people to give their lives to Christ. On the last night little Jimmy Wilson (that’s what they called him) raised his hand and decided then and there that he would live for God the rest of his life.
When he returned to the Ohio farmhouse where he lived with his mother and father, he was quick to share the news of his time at camp, especially of deciding to be a Christian.
“This is wonderful,” said his father. “We have been praying for you even since you were born.” His mother hugged him and kissed him on the check. “We are so happy,” she said.
Dan Schobert, W9MFG@charter.net
Soon the hall was empty except for Billy and the professor who remained sitting on his desk. Shortly Billy rose from his seat, grabbed the loops of a backpack and walked down the slanted aisle to where the professor sat. Reaching into his pack, Billy took out a brown paper wrapped item, a gift with a colorful red ribbon and placed it on the professor’s brief case. Billy extended his hand to the professor.
“I really appreciate your thoughts,” he said. “I think it was difficult to share those in today’s class. Good luck as you retire.”
The professor grabbed Billy’s hand and shook it but not sure exactly what it meant. In his heart he wanted to confirm what Billy Lynch had said but it seemed unwise at the moment as he simply wanted the day to end, not knowing what might happen next as the word spread among the students that he had actually questioned the validity of evolution.
“Thanks,” he said. “Thanks for being in my class today. What is in the package,” he asked, lifting it from its place on the desk and balancing it in his hand.
“It is something I’ve been holding for you,” said Billy. “I hope you enjoy it.”
With that, Billy Lynch left the professor sitting on the desk, walked up the stairway to the hallway and disappeared.
The professor sat on his desk for a long time, pondering the comments he had just made and heard and wondering about the package he held. He wondered how it could be that he had drifted so far away from the goals he had embraced when a child. His mind took him back to moments when, as a ten-year-old lad at a church camp, he had decided that being a Christian was the right thing to do. His decision followed a week of camp fun; lots of swimming, hiking, singing and bon fires at Camp Lake Louise in Michigan. It was a great trip for a kid like him. He remembered the ride in a old green school bus which took the young people from their small country church near Bowling Green, Ohio to the camp not far from the big Mac bridge at the northern tip of Michigan’s southern peninsula. He could nearly smell the inescapable odors of the Cedar boards used in the construction of the cabins and the wonderful meals; the experiences came back to his mind as though they occurred yesterday. It had been a memorable experience. Each night at the campfire, the camp pastor would tell bible stories and challenge the young people to give their lives to Christ. On the last night little Jimmy Wilson (that’s what they called him) raised his hand and decided then and there that he would live for God the rest of his life.
When he returned to the Ohio farmhouse where he lived with his mother and father, he was quick to share the news of his time at camp, especially of deciding to be a Christian.
“This is wonderful,” said his father. “We have been praying for you even since you were born.” His mother hugged him and kissed him on the check. “We are so happy,” she said.
Dan Schobert, W9MFG@charter.net
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Stop Sign, Part 6
The Stop Sign, Part 6
Professor Wilson was surprised, as were his students, to hear such words in a University classroom, words that had not resonated there in many years, though it was commonly discussed in the early days of the institution, those days when the leadership and founders had dedicated the campus to the Glory of God. A lot had happened in the following years, decades of gradual decline until the present moment when it seemed that even the mention of God was like expressing an ugly word.
Billy Lynch appeared to be satisfied with the answer. “Thank you professor,” he said. “It seems to me,” he continued, “that if God is the one who provides absolutes, He would also be the one who could give important information about the origins of things. This being the case, it would seem necessary to consider His words. But the lectures we have been getting have pretty much tossed the Bible aside and asked us to believe that everything we see around us are the result of time and chance. I am aware that there have been many attempts to reconcile both views but, in my opinion, these have failed because, in the long run, they have tended to down play the role of God. So, perhaps, it comes down to trusting God.”
“But there is more,” he said. “Let’s say that I have a gun.”
He quickly pushed his right hand into his pocket. The students and Professor gasped, perhaps thinking they were going to be victims. Slowly Billy Lynch pulled his hand from his pocket but it was in the form of a gun, with his index finger pointing ahead and thumb erect, the kind of gesture kids make when playing. He pointed the “gun” around the room, finally taking aim at the professor.
“Imagine this is a real gun,” he said. “And I was about to shoot you or maybe some of my classmates, even myself. Though an illegal act, and besides the fact that you probably wouldn’t like me to shoot you or anyone else, on what basis can it be said that I shouldn’t do this? I mean, we have been hearing in this lecture series that evolution has always proceeded on the basis of survival. And maybe I sense that you and the others in this room are a danger to my survival and believe that removing you would increase my longevity. So, under the rules of evolution, I have every right to do just that, and not be punished for it because I would be acting in accordance with the rules of evolution.”
Billy slowly put his “gun” back into his pocket and sat down. The hall was quiet except for the hum of the air conditioner. Professor Wilson said nothing. He was stunned because he knew that what Billy Lynch had said was true. He knew it to be true and he also knew that most of his fellow professors, deep down, would agree.
Soon the students began to file out. Some paused at Billy’s desk, shaking his hand or giving him a thumbs up salute. “Way to go,” someone said in passing.
Not a few, however, shook their heads, believing Lynch to be some sort of fanatic. “You’re crazy,” one said. “What are you, a religious nut?” someone shouted.
Dan Schobert, W9MFG@charter.net
Professor Wilson was surprised, as were his students, to hear such words in a University classroom, words that had not resonated there in many years, though it was commonly discussed in the early days of the institution, those days when the leadership and founders had dedicated the campus to the Glory of God. A lot had happened in the following years, decades of gradual decline until the present moment when it seemed that even the mention of God was like expressing an ugly word.
Billy Lynch appeared to be satisfied with the answer. “Thank you professor,” he said. “It seems to me,” he continued, “that if God is the one who provides absolutes, He would also be the one who could give important information about the origins of things. This being the case, it would seem necessary to consider His words. But the lectures we have been getting have pretty much tossed the Bible aside and asked us to believe that everything we see around us are the result of time and chance. I am aware that there have been many attempts to reconcile both views but, in my opinion, these have failed because, in the long run, they have tended to down play the role of God. So, perhaps, it comes down to trusting God.”
“But there is more,” he said. “Let’s say that I have a gun.”
He quickly pushed his right hand into his pocket. The students and Professor gasped, perhaps thinking they were going to be victims. Slowly Billy Lynch pulled his hand from his pocket but it was in the form of a gun, with his index finger pointing ahead and thumb erect, the kind of gesture kids make when playing. He pointed the “gun” around the room, finally taking aim at the professor.
“Imagine this is a real gun,” he said. “And I was about to shoot you or maybe some of my classmates, even myself. Though an illegal act, and besides the fact that you probably wouldn’t like me to shoot you or anyone else, on what basis can it be said that I shouldn’t do this? I mean, we have been hearing in this lecture series that evolution has always proceeded on the basis of survival. And maybe I sense that you and the others in this room are a danger to my survival and believe that removing you would increase my longevity. So, under the rules of evolution, I have every right to do just that, and not be punished for it because I would be acting in accordance with the rules of evolution.”
Billy slowly put his “gun” back into his pocket and sat down. The hall was quiet except for the hum of the air conditioner. Professor Wilson said nothing. He was stunned because he knew that what Billy Lynch had said was true. He knew it to be true and he also knew that most of his fellow professors, deep down, would agree.
Soon the students began to file out. Some paused at Billy’s desk, shaking his hand or giving him a thumbs up salute. “Way to go,” someone said in passing.
Not a few, however, shook their heads, believing Lynch to be some sort of fanatic. “You’re crazy,” one said. “What are you, a religious nut?” someone shouted.
Dan Schobert, W9MFG@charter.net
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