I've been thinking lately how many of the underlying assumptions of society are a result of the Christian roots of western society. I know I've been studying some of the premises we use and I don't even always recognize them as Christian and I am familiar with Christianity and Christian thought. Alot of the premises that built our western society are Christian in origin and we don't even realize it.
So it bothers me when people fail to recognize the origins of our premises and are trying to remove Christianity from western society. Because, while it may not happen overnight, removing Christianity from Western society will also remove many of the premises that act as a foundation for our modern society.
Look at human rights. Underlying them is an ideal of human worth that derives from Christian teaching. Thomas Jefferson that it was self evident that all men are created equal. But really it's only self evident when you share a moral background of the worth of souls. For thousands of years prior to the establishment of our nation, this truth was
not self evident. Societies and cultures generally took a view that some people were better than others, IE the elites and nobles of society were better than everyone else.
Yet if our Christian foundation is uprooted and replaced with other values (regardless of the source) how difficult would it be to imagine a world where the equality of mankind is not viewed as a self evident truth? is it really that difficult to imagine a world where a Social Darwinian approach is used where people believe in survival of the fittest, that the strongest have a right to take what they want from the weaker? Or perhaps an Islamic extremist point of view where women and children are inferiors who shouldnt be allowed out in public with a man? Where would our equal rights be without the Christian premises underlying it?
Or another Christian premise: the world has laws that govern it and we can learn these through observation, reason, and revelation. It's a claim that there is an absolute truth and it's discoverable. This is the basic premise of our entire scientific existance in the western world. Without this belief that the universe has laws that govern it and that we can learn them, what motivation is there to study the sciences? What is the point of trying to learn without some sort of faith that we can learn it?
We may not see the fallout from these premises immediately, but over time things will change. And chances are a society without these basic premises (among many others) would be much worse than the society we have now.
There are many other premises that underline our society. I was surprised studying law how many of the ideas i found within them derive from judeo-christian ideals. In property and contracts in particular there were premises I saw from Christianity that helped me understand better my faith and the law.
Society is balanced on the edge between our Christian past and an unknown future. We may be the first generation in centuries that ends up leaving our children in a worse position than we were blessed with. Obviously it's still too early to know for sure.
But don't think I am writing this to be all doom and gloom. I am writing this because I have a great hope for the future. And it starts first with us taking responsibility for our own lives and embracing the values which our civilization was built upon. And once we do that for ourselves, we need to have children and teach them the truth. We need to teach them how God is no respecter of persons and how Christ came to save all men if they will accept His grace. We need to teach them personal responsibility and we do that through faith and repentence. We need to teach them the Christian work ethic that created this nation. We need to teach them humility. We need to teach them to let virtue garnish their thoughts unceasingly that their confidence may wax strong in the presence of the Lord and to have their bowels full of Charity towards all people.
In short, we need to know our faith, we need to live it, and we need to teach it to our posterity and those around us. We need to become Christ-like.
If none of us do, if we sit around and hope someone else will do it. If we think that there is nothing we can do. Then we will help rush our civilization to its end. And we will lose the freedom we cherish as will all those not of our faith who depend on us.
Like I said, it's just what's been on my mind lately.
And the winner is....
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Originally Posted by Yurt
