The Tucson tragedy has made all too obvious the toxic atmosphere of these times. By atmosphere, I am not referring to a political rhetoric that has become violently inciting or to how easy killing machines get in the hands of people or even to how neglected mental health attention to college students is. I am talking about a totality, about a complete sum of the culture, not to aspects or particles of it. I believe that it is this core what needs to be addressed now. For we have to find, as people, the wisdom and the will to make of this moment a decisive turning point in our history, the point where the nation corrected its spiral down path.
In this context, what the country clamors is not for the typical bandage solution because, in truth, the disease is already too big and too advanced. For our very survival as a nation, our democracy, is at stake deeply challenged as it is by the economic crisis and the embittered political divisions. Therefore, the longing is for a new vision, for a new meaningful unifying definition of what it means to be an American today.
So, it is to that end that I want to advance the following insight in, perhaps, the hope of starting the national conversation that we so critically need on this theme. To start, I perceive that there is a glaring need to search for the roots of our divisionism. To begin in that direction, we have to go way back in time and space. For it was historian Hans Kohn who used to call the Jews "the people of the ear"(they listened to the voice of God) and the Greeks "the people of the eye"(they saw the beauty and balance of creation). Indeed, the history of the Western world cannot be understood without studying the interplay of these two fundamental forces, the Judeo Christian on one hand and the Greco Roman on the other. It needs to be asserted here that, at depth, these are the two quarreling worldviews that in tearing each other apart are threatening our democracy these days.
Strictly, the American political divide is spiritual. It revolves around how we perceive God. Historically, the Judeo Christians with their belief in the relational biblical God and its derivative emphasis on personal freedom, individual responsibility and limited government has been with us since our beginnings. Today, they are largely found in the "in between" states and in the small towns of America. In this hypothesis, the closer an individual is to this belief system, the more likely he will be Republican or conservative. On the other side, the Greco Romans who tend to think of God as Someone or Somebody up there (an abstraction) or no God and strongly believe in the intellectual and artistic side of man and solidly developed with the European immigration to the coasts in the nineteenth century. Subsequently, the closer an individual is to this belief system the more likely he will be Democrat or liberal.
To be sure, some may object to this clear cut division since indeed many of us are “hybrids”, individuals who share beliefs from both groups. Catholics, for example, who have adopted Greek values under the influence of scholasticism often fall into that category. Others such as the philosophy influenced social gospel groups belong there too. Indeed, this hypothesis is not only rooted on western history but also on two well evidenced facts: our kind of belief in God informs our values and people with the same belief system tend to group together.
Now, at this quite crucial moment of our history there’s no emergency as critical as the integration of these two separate worldviews into our national soul. This is the more urgent with the economic crisis literally tied up to the drastic interplay of their opposite positions. Conservatives propose that the primary role of government is to unleash the creative forces of the people and liberals that it is to attend to economic justice. But, in truth, the America that needs to emerge has to be of a vision that transcends both.
Only then, when we finally grasp that vision, the Tucson victims didn’t die in vain.
Felipe Fernandez
Ffernan305@aol.com
lunes, 31 de enero de 2011
martes, 26 de febrero de 2008
022608
There has been much talk these days concerning the teaching of evolution in the public schools. I have to admit to my disappointment at how little the debate has concentrated on a strictly scientific, independent analysis of the merits of the evolutionary concepts. In truth, the time has come for the scientific community to provide a complete, thorough revision of Darwin’s ideas which indeed are so often dogmatically taught to our children.
Fortunately, I have lived long enough to witness the transformation of the attitude in society towards science: from one of actual worship in the fifties to the sober one of today. For our own health we not only have learned to appreciate its transcendental contributions but also about its glaring limitations and , yes, its foibles.
A very much case in point is the insistency of some otherwise reputable scientists to explain the decisive question of the origin of our universe by an element of chance. The blatant irrationality of such a concept lies on its gruesome violation of a very much scientific principle: the law of cause and effect. So, we witness how those who earnestly preach us the law of causation totally dismiss it when explaining how our universe was formed.!
Today, it is time to come to terms to the fact that much of what is said about evolution is completely unproven. Indeed,the number of brilliant and courageous scientists defying the establishment and stating their dissent keeps growing. For, among other things, how is it that after 150 years of active excavations all we have found is a scanty-and arguable- number of transitionals? Or how come is it that the lowest geological layer is full of all the major kinds of animals found today? To evolution”true believers”, I ask, where, then, are the ancestors of these animals?And, really, many more questions like these abound…
To be sure, evolution within a definite species ,ie man, can be seriously be discusssed in class. But transitional stages from one species to another? Darwin, no doubt, made an incredible contribution to science like Freud did to psychology or Marx did to economics and the social sciences and also like those two men he made some utterly fantastic statements. One day mankind would get a hearty laugh from this notion that we come from apes as we do now from those scientific authorities who claimed that the earth was flat a few centuries ago
Fortunately, I have lived long enough to witness the transformation of the attitude in society towards science: from one of actual worship in the fifties to the sober one of today. For our own health we not only have learned to appreciate its transcendental contributions but also about its glaring limitations and , yes, its foibles.
A very much case in point is the insistency of some otherwise reputable scientists to explain the decisive question of the origin of our universe by an element of chance. The blatant irrationality of such a concept lies on its gruesome violation of a very much scientific principle: the law of cause and effect. So, we witness how those who earnestly preach us the law of causation totally dismiss it when explaining how our universe was formed.!
Today, it is time to come to terms to the fact that much of what is said about evolution is completely unproven. Indeed,the number of brilliant and courageous scientists defying the establishment and stating their dissent keeps growing. For, among other things, how is it that after 150 years of active excavations all we have found is a scanty-and arguable- number of transitionals? Or how come is it that the lowest geological layer is full of all the major kinds of animals found today? To evolution”true believers”, I ask, where, then, are the ancestors of these animals?And, really, many more questions like these abound…
To be sure, evolution within a definite species ,ie man, can be seriously be discusssed in class. But transitional stages from one species to another? Darwin, no doubt, made an incredible contribution to science like Freud did to psychology or Marx did to economics and the social sciences and also like those two men he made some utterly fantastic statements. One day mankind would get a hearty laugh from this notion that we come from apes as we do now from those scientific authorities who claimed that the earth was flat a few centuries ago
martes, 9 de octubre de 2007
100907 Notes to Contemporaries
I have been carefully reading the denials frequently expressed in the culture concerning the reliability of the biblical record. I must start by indicating that largely they are quite familiar to me since I shared those same perceptions before I came to the knowledge and the acceptance of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ into my life.
In this direction, I have to affirm that the root of much of the denial taking place has to do with the scant acquaintance with Scripture exhibited in the points advanced by the deniers. Almost invariably, a rejection of biblical truth is simply expressed without providing sources or, when done, taking an incidental, almost anecdotal, view of Scripture. I confess to having done the same in the past and the explanation is quite simple: the lack of a comprehensive view of Scripture. I'm going to briefly illustrate this with an example taken from observed debates on hell. Usually, the point is advanced that a good God can't possibly "decree" such a punishment. Yet, on doing so, the basic point of the Christian message is ignored: that Jesus precisely came to rescue us from such a terrible destiny. This is said here not in connection with the "validity" of hell but to stress that without a full understanding of the role of Jesus the issue of eternal damnation cannot properly be discussed. This is why a comprehensive view of Scripture is totally decisive on biblical discussion. The incidental approach of just taking a verse, or even a chapter, in alienation from the rest of the text, as often practiced by some in our media, is simply not serious.
Then, there is the fact that much of what is expressed as biblical denial in the culture has to do not so much with the rejection of the text itself but with the rejection of the supernatural, period. The widespread presence of postmodernism in Europe like in here today, tends to perceive as suspect, when not biased, all supernatural reference. Today, Christians find themselves with the burden of proof on their shoulders as the Bible, in a curious reversal of basic legal principles, is now deemed guilty until proven innocent.
To be sure, the roots of the current assault on Christianity can be clearly traced to the work of the German liberal theologians and agnostic thinkers of the nineteenth century who trapped in the restrictive view of reality of rationalism and positivism literally made mashed potatoes out of Scripture. Fortunately, Christians have now available a formidable arsenal of facts to repel the attack and totally prevail over their prejudiced biblical misconceptions. For, as the roots of the prevalent secularism of the day were sowed in Europe, groups of quite peculiar people were with increasing aggressiveness digging holes all throughout the Middle East. As a result, we find that today the reading of archaeological journals is often recommended- if not required- reading in Christian seminaries. In complete assurance, it can be stated that Archaeology has knocked out the deniers as it strongly supports the biblical record. The abundance of findings confirming names and dates in the Bible, or simply providing parallel evidence( from the flood to the reality of the Hittites or of King Sargon (whose existence skeptic researchers had previously denied) and its corresponding literature constitute a powerful external evidence of the Scripture. On this regard, it is proper to indicate that the culture at large has not even began to register the durable impact that Archaeology is to have on contemporary thought. But a group of outstanding international archaeologists gathered at the Madison Biblical Archaeology Society of the University of Wisconsin has proven to be quite aware of its potential as shown by its scholarly work(1)
Yet, to be sure, as powerful as the found external evidence is, the internal evidence of Scripture is even more powerful. For how can it be explained that 66 books, written over a period of 1500 years in three different languages by at least 36 writers can possibly equate with each other as evidenced by our carefully researched reference bibles? The latter proof is overwhelming; the agnostics may still insist that there is not a guiding divine inspiration but can they possibly deny CONTENT?
Finally, the culture must candidly ask itself, what explains the on going, witnessed transformation all over the world of shattered lives, relationships, or health conditions in those who receive His
Spirit who later become committed Christians? In my book, these quite visible changes in the lives of people provide, more than anything else, proof of the power and of the truth of Scripture
(1) For the sincere seeker, I am going to list just two items from a growing volume of literature::a) The bible and recent archaeology. Kathleen Kenyon. Journal of New Eastern Studies. Vol.39, no.4. Oct.1980.b) Archaeological confirmation of the Old Testament. Donald Wiseman in C F Henry, Revelation and the Bible.
In this direction, I have to affirm that the root of much of the denial taking place has to do with the scant acquaintance with Scripture exhibited in the points advanced by the deniers. Almost invariably, a rejection of biblical truth is simply expressed without providing sources or, when done, taking an incidental, almost anecdotal, view of Scripture. I confess to having done the same in the past and the explanation is quite simple: the lack of a comprehensive view of Scripture. I'm going to briefly illustrate this with an example taken from observed debates on hell. Usually, the point is advanced that a good God can't possibly "decree" such a punishment. Yet, on doing so, the basic point of the Christian message is ignored: that Jesus precisely came to rescue us from such a terrible destiny. This is said here not in connection with the "validity" of hell but to stress that without a full understanding of the role of Jesus the issue of eternal damnation cannot properly be discussed. This is why a comprehensive view of Scripture is totally decisive on biblical discussion. The incidental approach of just taking a verse, or even a chapter, in alienation from the rest of the text, as often practiced by some in our media, is simply not serious.
Then, there is the fact that much of what is expressed as biblical denial in the culture has to do not so much with the rejection of the text itself but with the rejection of the supernatural, period. The widespread presence of postmodernism in Europe like in here today, tends to perceive as suspect, when not biased, all supernatural reference. Today, Christians find themselves with the burden of proof on their shoulders as the Bible, in a curious reversal of basic legal principles, is now deemed guilty until proven innocent.
To be sure, the roots of the current assault on Christianity can be clearly traced to the work of the German liberal theologians and agnostic thinkers of the nineteenth century who trapped in the restrictive view of reality of rationalism and positivism literally made mashed potatoes out of Scripture. Fortunately, Christians have now available a formidable arsenal of facts to repel the attack and totally prevail over their prejudiced biblical misconceptions. For, as the roots of the prevalent secularism of the day were sowed in Europe, groups of quite peculiar people were with increasing aggressiveness digging holes all throughout the Middle East. As a result, we find that today the reading of archaeological journals is often recommended- if not required- reading in Christian seminaries. In complete assurance, it can be stated that Archaeology has knocked out the deniers as it strongly supports the biblical record. The abundance of findings confirming names and dates in the Bible, or simply providing parallel evidence( from the flood to the reality of the Hittites or of King Sargon (whose existence skeptic researchers had previously denied) and its corresponding literature constitute a powerful external evidence of the Scripture. On this regard, it is proper to indicate that the culture at large has not even began to register the durable impact that Archaeology is to have on contemporary thought. But a group of outstanding international archaeologists gathered at the Madison Biblical Archaeology Society of the University of Wisconsin has proven to be quite aware of its potential as shown by its scholarly work(1)
Yet, to be sure, as powerful as the found external evidence is, the internal evidence of Scripture is even more powerful. For how can it be explained that 66 books, written over a period of 1500 years in three different languages by at least 36 writers can possibly equate with each other as evidenced by our carefully researched reference bibles? The latter proof is overwhelming; the agnostics may still insist that there is not a guiding divine inspiration but can they possibly deny CONTENT?
Finally, the culture must candidly ask itself, what explains the on going, witnessed transformation all over the world of shattered lives, relationships, or health conditions in those who receive His
Spirit who later become committed Christians? In my book, these quite visible changes in the lives of people provide, more than anything else, proof of the power and of the truth of Scripture
(1) For the sincere seeker, I am going to list just two items from a growing volume of literature::a) The bible and recent archaeology. Kathleen Kenyon. Journal of New Eastern Studies. Vol.39, no.4. Oct.1980.b) Archaeological confirmation of the Old Testament. Donald Wiseman in C F Henry, Revelation and the Bible.
domingo, 16 de septiembre de 2007
09-16-07
The shortcircuits that seem to be affecting our cultural conversation in this country need urgent attention. A case in point concern biblical quotations in the media that are often taken as insulting by members from other faiths or even more so by secularists.
It is important for the sake of our unity as a nation that we learn to overcome this roadblock. And it all has to do with the constitutional "freedom of speech" that we all claim to support and to believe in.
Yes, often biblical quotations upset people and I dont see how it cant possibly be otherwise. Its in the very nature of the message of Jesus, we only need to remember how He ended up.But now, people have every right to express their opinions, cite verses from all their favorite spiritual books be it the New Testament, the Koran or the Torah. It is, I believe, high time that we acknowledge this and stop hurling insults and derogatory or demeaning remarks to those with whom we disagree no matter how. strong our feelings .Remember, friends, the beauty of America precisely resides on this magnificent "marketplace of ideas" In a true democracy, ideas are fought with ideas-anything else has a name, persecution.
So, if biblical quotations quotations upset you, thats part of what reading it is expected to accomplish. We, Christians, call it the power of conviction of the Holy Spirit. And yes, it upsets, as it did me before I accepted Him.
Frankly, if we cannot rise to the level of civility, we, as Ameicans, have become a very sorrow bunch.
It is important for the sake of our unity as a nation that we learn to overcome this roadblock. And it all has to do with the constitutional "freedom of speech" that we all claim to support and to believe in.
Yes, often biblical quotations upset people and I dont see how it cant possibly be otherwise. Its in the very nature of the message of Jesus, we only need to remember how He ended up.But now, people have every right to express their opinions, cite verses from all their favorite spiritual books be it the New Testament, the Koran or the Torah. It is, I believe, high time that we acknowledge this and stop hurling insults and derogatory or demeaning remarks to those with whom we disagree no matter how. strong our feelings .Remember, friends, the beauty of America precisely resides on this magnificent "marketplace of ideas" In a true democracy, ideas are fought with ideas-anything else has a name, persecution.
So, if biblical quotations quotations upset you, thats part of what reading it is expected to accomplish. We, Christians, call it the power of conviction of the Holy Spirit. And yes, it upsets, as it did me before I accepted Him.
Frankly, if we cannot rise to the level of civility, we, as Ameicans, have become a very sorrow bunch.
jueves, 13 de septiembre de 2007
09-13-07
Regardless of whether you believe that Moses was talking literally or handling symbols the Genesis account clearly established the following:
a) God created Man
b) God made Man inherently free (his freedom illustrated on the fact that he was given the option to disobey)
c)Man disobeyed God, evil entered into the world.
d)As a result, man lost grace, and he will know pain and death.
Here, the crucial point is whether you are going to believe the account or not since you are totally free to choose. As it is well known, the authencity of its contents is undisputable, the authorship of Moses strongly supported...
Now, from the beginning of Genesis itself,"he will strike your head", and throughout the Old Testament, the figure of a Redeemer, the Messiah, is often referred to. Different people have held different views about Who or What this Messiah can be
Jesus claimed to be this Messiah, "the one who takes away the sin (the condition of evil) of the world". This he did more than one time as illustrated in the New Testament whose authenticity of contents is beyond any especulation. Therefore, on deciding here, we are left with only three possible options: 1)He was a liar, 2)He was insane or 3)He was telling the truth
Jesus comes as one who is not, at any point ,compelling people to believe in Him. He INVITES
(remember the inherent freedom of man is solid biblical truth)people.
And what does this Jesus propose? That you receive Him into your heart. To me, it is amazing that an agnostic writer, Albert Camus, put it so well : "He only wanted to be loved and nothing else".
What is the result of receiving Him? You begin the walk towards the state of grace that was lost. It is a process, it is never completely finished. How is this possible? Because Jesus is a Spirit, the Spirit of God, Who coming to live in you transforms human nature into divine nature. But, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, you can't possibly understand this experience unless you live it.
Just like love.
Again, like Adam, you are completely free to choose.
a) God created Man
b) God made Man inherently free (his freedom illustrated on the fact that he was given the option to disobey)
c)Man disobeyed God, evil entered into the world.
d)As a result, man lost grace, and he will know pain and death.
Here, the crucial point is whether you are going to believe the account or not since you are totally free to choose. As it is well known, the authencity of its contents is undisputable, the authorship of Moses strongly supported...
Now, from the beginning of Genesis itself,"he will strike your head", and throughout the Old Testament, the figure of a Redeemer, the Messiah, is often referred to. Different people have held different views about Who or What this Messiah can be
Jesus claimed to be this Messiah, "the one who takes away the sin (the condition of evil) of the world". This he did more than one time as illustrated in the New Testament whose authenticity of contents is beyond any especulation. Therefore, on deciding here, we are left with only three possible options: 1)He was a liar, 2)He was insane or 3)He was telling the truth
Jesus comes as one who is not, at any point ,compelling people to believe in Him. He INVITES
(remember the inherent freedom of man is solid biblical truth)people.
And what does this Jesus propose? That you receive Him into your heart. To me, it is amazing that an agnostic writer, Albert Camus, put it so well : "He only wanted to be loved and nothing else".
What is the result of receiving Him? You begin the walk towards the state of grace that was lost. It is a process, it is never completely finished. How is this possible? Because Jesus is a Spirit, the Spirit of God, Who coming to live in you transforms human nature into divine nature. But, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, you can't possibly understand this experience unless you live it.
Just like love.
Again, like Adam, you are completely free to choose.
viernes, 7 de septiembre de 2007
Faith, culture and the 2008 elections
If one is listening well, religious beliefs are going to be a factor in 2008. It is interesting to hear questions concerning evolution or abortion included in the debates. It is even more interesting to watch Democratic Party candidates revealing their religious selves as was the case at the “Forum on faith, values and poverty”, widely seen on cable television. And it is crystal clear that long standing religious questions are back again in the public arena.
In truth, Clinton, Obama and Edwards may have found politically inevitable to talk about faith. For, have we heard right that regular church attendants massively voted for the other party in the last election? No doubt, the least a democratic candidate can do these days is to try to rescue a little bit of that vote. After all, it can’t possibly hurt to admit some degree of faith. The sad part of this is how little, they and, for that matter, the cultural establishment seem to understand this issue.
To begin with, it is time to declare once and for all, that contrary to the perception of American newsrooms, there is no such a thing as Christian Right or Christian Left. One can concede that the culture may have found this classification expedient- something like the White NonHispanic category in the census. We all know that this race doesn’t exist. It is another linguistic accommodation, the type of which is increasingly growing in a society where fictional, not real talk, is becoming the norm.
Gentlemen, “the law of the Lord is perfect”. For a Christian with an almost passing acquaintance with Scripture this means that the Message is complete and therefore, never in need of additions or subtractions or let alone, emphasis. To be sure, he found that the beauty of the gospel is precisely that, its complete harmony between its whole and its parts.
Now, what some groups, graciously defined by the media as social gospel Christians, do is to exalt the part at the expense of the whole which violates the law we just expressed it. In the Christian spirit the effect of an individual or group exalting a particular i.e the social gospel, is always the same, it disrupts the whole gospel. It merely suffices to remind the excesses this has led to, i.e “the theology of liberation” with priests joining the armed struggle against capitalism or the protestant National Council of Churches providing financial backing to Marxist guerrillas in Africa, among the most formidable abominations in recent church history.
Scriptures are literally full of exhortations to help the orphan, and the poor and the widow and to do justice. My readers friends, this IS the social message, there’s no need to start any particular movement. For the gospel is one, to be transmitted and practiced integrally, as a whole, not in segments. Indeed, one may properly say, that in the Spirit of Christ, loving and caring for the poor “comes with the territory”.
In truth, Clinton, Obama and Edwards may have found politically inevitable to talk about faith. For, have we heard right that regular church attendants massively voted for the other party in the last election? No doubt, the least a democratic candidate can do these days is to try to rescue a little bit of that vote. After all, it can’t possibly hurt to admit some degree of faith. The sad part of this is how little, they and, for that matter, the cultural establishment seem to understand this issue.
To begin with, it is time to declare once and for all, that contrary to the perception of American newsrooms, there is no such a thing as Christian Right or Christian Left. One can concede that the culture may have found this classification expedient- something like the White NonHispanic category in the census. We all know that this race doesn’t exist. It is another linguistic accommodation, the type of which is increasingly growing in a society where fictional, not real talk, is becoming the norm.
Gentlemen, “the law of the Lord is perfect”. For a Christian with an almost passing acquaintance with Scripture this means that the Message is complete and therefore, never in need of additions or subtractions or let alone, emphasis. To be sure, he found that the beauty of the gospel is precisely that, its complete harmony between its whole and its parts.
Now, what some groups, graciously defined by the media as social gospel Christians, do is to exalt the part at the expense of the whole which violates the law we just expressed it. In the Christian spirit the effect of an individual or group exalting a particular i.e the social gospel, is always the same, it disrupts the whole gospel. It merely suffices to remind the excesses this has led to, i.e “the theology of liberation” with priests joining the armed struggle against capitalism or the protestant National Council of Churches providing financial backing to Marxist guerrillas in Africa, among the most formidable abominations in recent church history.
Scriptures are literally full of exhortations to help the orphan, and the poor and the widow and to do justice. My readers friends, this IS the social message, there’s no need to start any particular movement. For the gospel is one, to be transmitted and practiced integrally, as a whole, not in segments. Indeed, one may properly say, that in the Spirit of Christ, loving and caring for the poor “comes with the territory”.
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