A Little Reflection…
How’s it going? Are you using your time wisely? Are you getting some work done around the house that has needed some attention for a while? Are you catching up on some reading that you have been putting off because you just didn’t have time before the universal lockdown occurred? Or, are you like many others just vegging on entertainment?
Perhaps you are seriously concerned about the state of your world. Perhaps you are vainly attempting to drive back the panic. You need to work, but you’ve been deemed non-essential. You have to work being some of the fortunate few that have been crowned essential, but fear of a viral plague has you nervously going about your day. Maybe you are hating the president right now. Maybe you think that he didn’t act quickly enough. Maybe you’ve swallowed the little blue pill and are lapping up every “truth” being poured into your eyes and ears regarding COVID-19.
Or, maybe you’re like me. You understood that the civil governments role is to protect their citizens from evil, from harm. You realize that there are those who have training and education that you don’t and so you value their opinions, suggestions, and expertise. At the same time, though, you are well aware of a fact that many find a bit ridiculous today—people are liars. There are evil, wicked men and women in this world that intend you harm. Sometimes that harm is in the form of a semi-automatic weapon. Sometimes that harm is in the form of domineering control. Sometimes that harm is found in the “educational materials” you’ve been given.
What Should be Obvious to All…
I was reading a biographical book about Winston Churchill the other day, and while I didn’t particularly enjoy the authors spin on some peripheral issues, there was something that he highlighted that is of utmost importance in our day. “What was it?” you ask. That Mr. Churchill was unique in his day for he recognized that people are not inherently good, but evil.
Good old Winston was raising his voice and pointing his finger to Britain and the rest of the world that there was a wolf afoot ready to tear the flock of foolishly unaware sheep apart. Mr. Churchill said “There’s a problem in Germany…a big one…and his name is, Adolf Hitler.” If you want to understand people like Hitler or Stalin or Pol Pot or Castro or any other despot individual, government, or movement that seeks to enslave people to their thinking and way of life, all you have to do is realize that they are selfishly driven.
We are selfish. Sometimes that selfishness is nothing more than ignoring our kids, spouse or friends. Sometimes that selfishness is nothing more than hoarding our favorite snack. But the fact remains, human beings are selfish, and that selfishness ought to raise our awareness to the fact that we are at base evil.
Now some may disagree. Some may say that this is true for the evil people that I mentioned above (perhaps you have in mind others that I did not), but not for everybody. Some may even challenge me on this point and say “What evidence do you have to support your accusation? People are basically good. Movies teach us this, higher education elites teach us this, literature supports this truth; it is false to say that people are inherently evil.”
I know, I know…many will join your side in this. A great consensus of human voices will triumphantly sing the chorus of the wonder of man, the general goodness of human beings. But you are nonetheless wrong. Any who support you are also standing on shifting sand.
A Little Evidence…
“What evidence do I have?” you ask. Where should I start? Do I dare say, look at your children? I dare.
Kids are notoriously selfish.[1] And since they have parents that refuse to discipline them by a standard higher than themselves, their behavior is constantly put on display. Temper tantrums. Telling their parents, they don’t love them or like them anymore because they tell them “NO” to some treat or toy. Refusing to do school work. Having their faces stuck in their electronic devices. Lying, cheating, stealing, hating…are these not behaviors we see in children.
When does this start? Only when they grow older? Do we not see it when they are infants? We do.
I realize that a baby must cry in order to communicate. Often, they do this to express a need (diaper change, feeling ill, hungry, wanting attention), but there are other times that this is done because they are not getting their way. They refuse to eat or be fed. They kick their head back and thrust out their feet when they are being placed in a car seat. They scream when they are denied some item that has drawn them in.
A Little Biblical Backing…
“Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him” (Prov 22.15).[2]
“…for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth…” (Gen 8.21).
“The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies” (Psa 58.3).
Why use babes and little children to point out that people are inherently evil? You mean besides the fact that the Bible teaches us this truth? Why do it? Because babes and little children grow up into adults and these adults are those that rise to power in a variety of fields.
Scripture also compares little children to arrows. It is said blessed is the man (father and mother) whose quiver is full of them. These children are to be shot out by their parents to inflict damage against their enemies. You often hear the phrase that children are our future. This is correct. But what sort of future do we suppose we inherit when our children have not been raised properly? What sort of future leaders will these children be when unloving parents refuse to discipline them in areas of right or wrong? Who will be their enemies? Who will it be that they will be shot against? (see Psa 127).
God’s View…
When God describes a wicked generation, here is how He identifies them:
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put to darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!” (Isa 5.20-23).
This is the result of the parental generation that has refused to “Train up a child in the way he should go…” (Prov 22.6).
A Little Rant…
I watch the political debacle that surrounds the current pandemic and I am sickened. I hear politicians like Governor Cuomo (NY) saying that we shouldn’t make this COVID-19 crisis political. Laughable really, when it has been political from the start. You say, “No its not, it’s been about the science!”
Really, then why are we quarantining the healthy? Why are we prohibiting people from providing for their families? Why are we saying that marijuana sales must be allowed, but purchasing lawn fertilizer is not? Why are we saying that politicians and other essentials may gather taking proper precautions, but that church gatherings are too dangerous even when they follow the same “guidelines.” Why is important data being dismissed? Why are social media elites determining what is good information, but censoring what they deem mis-information? Why, is the reason for the “Stay-At-Home” orders now being dismissed, when sufficient evidence is out there showing that our health care system is not overrun?
A Little Dose of Reality…
Anything that affects public life that has a bearing on society as a whole is by its very nature political. If it has a bearing on the policy of human living, it is political. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. For what do we find when we go back and do a little digging? We find the media lying talking out both sides of their mouths. We find the politicians lying talking out both sides of their mouth. We find the medical experts lying talking out both sides of their mouths.
A Little Probing…
How many times does a model have to fail before we throw it away? How many times does an expert have to be wrong before we stop listening to them? How long will you stand for one class of people (the elites) determining the quality of life–essential versus non? By what standard are they appealing to?
Finally, how long will you allow one class of people (the elites) to determine what data is appropriate and what is not? On this final question I have a response in a forthcoming post.
ENDNOTES:
[1] I can think of one clear example where all parents know this to be true and seek to correct it; especially, if the child in question has siblings or playmates. We teach them to share. Sharing does not come naturally, being selfish does. We may not like call it selfishness, but it is a clear example of this behavior being expressed. Selfishness is not reserved for toys or food either, but applies to all areas of life.
[2] All Scripture unless otherwise noted shall be of the English Standard Version (ESV).
Kristafal's Musings 