Nature Abhors a Vacuum

...following on from my post on the meaning(lessness) of life, this from MercatorNet...

There has been a lot of talk about greed on Wall Street in recent months, but the greed of Black Friday shoppers in the United States takes some beating. Wall Street barons may have done some wicked things, but have they, individually or en masse, physically trampled anyone to death?

That is what some main street New Yorkers managed to do last Friday in their frenzy to bag bargains at a Wal-Mart store on a day designated the “start of the holiday-shopping season” -- once known as Christmas shopping.

Before rushing ahead with “the moral of this story is” observations, let’s pause to take in exactly what kind of death 34-year-old shop worker Jdimytai Damour died. A shrieking mob of fellow human beings burst through the front doors of the store, knocked him down onto the linoleum tiles and streamed right over him and around him, injuring him and robbing him of air. He was a hefty man, 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds, but he died of asphyxiation.

It is an horrific death. Imagine the shock and terror of being hit and enveloped by that tsunami of solid flesh, pounding feet and frenzied voices -- your last conscious image of the human race...

...Nature abhors a vacuum. If people have nothing higher to fill their imaginations and get them out of bed in the morning than a super-discounted 42-inch flat screen television -- or, for the Wall Street crowd, a luxury yacht and a subtropical retreat -- that is what they will go after. The death of Jdimytai Damour shows where that spiritual poverty leads. It is not the only sign, of course, but it is a compelling one, and a call to action for all those who value the transcendent dimension of the human being.

Click here to read the entire article.

Truth

In John's Gospel, Chapter eight and verse two, Jesus Christ says to his listeners, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free". King Solomon says - as to his son, in Proverbs 3:3,

"Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart"

In John 17:17, Jesus says - speaking of God the Father, "Your word is truth", and then in John 18:37, "Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice". And again, in Deuteronomy 32:4, Moses writes that God is "a God of Truth". The word Truth is used in the Bible no less than 224 times.

In John Bunyan's all-time #2 best-seller, Pilgrim's Progress, Christian - the main character, and his companion Faithful are walking through Vanity Fair. As they pass through this ungodly mess, "One chanced mockingly, beholding the carriage of the men, to say unto them, "What will ye buy?" But they, looking gravely upon him, answered, "We buy the truth."." - quoting from Proverbs 23:23.

From this small selection of references, we see that the Bible holds truth in high esteem.

It should come to us as no surprise then, when we find that secular curriculums worldwide are striving to teach that there is no such thing as truth. The concept of truth is actively attacked and undermined. Students are informed that there is no ultimate truth, no right or wrong. There is only what they believe to be true and false - and what society believes to be right and wrong. No explanation is given for the obvious and inherent inconsistencies that result from this teaching. Some even say that "yes, there are right and wrong, true and false" - but that these are derived from Reason. All I can say to that is "what is Reason, and how do you know that it is necessarily true?".

Take the high-school students of today as a prime example of a generation without hope. I walk down the boulevards and can't do anything but feel an intense pity for the young people I see around me. They are sent to state-run schools, more often than not against their will. Here they are instructed in the religion of atheism. They are taught the gospel of evolution, whose logical conclusion is that it's students are merely advanced apes, evolved from slime an almost inconceivably long time ago. We are creating for ourselves a new generation of hopeless citizens. There is no ultimate purpose to their lives; there is only now and me.

We look around us and wonder why everything's falling to pieces. Why the child-abuse, the rapes, the murders, the suicides? Why do we have a binge-drinking problem? Well, without truth, can we even say that we have a problem?

Deterioration of Society Accelerating

I'm sick and tired of this new wave of low-quality, low-budget marketing. Advertising these days is increasingly plagued by filthy images and ideas, radio-adverts laden with disgusting innuendos, and overall, a fascination with sin.

Bus-shelter outside Riccarton Mall, Christchurch, New Zealand

There was a day when a sign on a bus-stop like this would prompt outrage from members of the public and officials alike. At the top of the can of Demon energy-drink are the words "demonic energy". Sadly today, advertisments like these are becoming common-place, with corporations lowering themselves to attacking people or belief systems, or promoting evil - all for the purpose of raising their sales.

I have had a can of Demon - was given it for free, and I can assure you, you're not missing out on anything. Stick to V or Lift+ if you're feeling a bit tired or something.

The Bible speaks to this in Romans 1:18-23...

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Click here to read the rest of the chapter, where the writer goes into further detail of the corruptness of mens heart's, and actually outlines for us the sort of depraved things that are becoming more and more prevalent, today, in our society.

Another favourite verse on this subject is Isaiah 5:20, where Isaiah says...

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

And on that note, I will just quickly mention a small thing that those of us who are Christians can do in response to this verse. Let's make a deliberate effort not to say "mean", "sick", or "wicked", when what we actually mean is the opposite. This principle is also found in Matthew 5:37, "let your yes be yes and your no be no".