Toward something better…

I cried for the better part of the morning today. And I mean the word better as in “good, better, best” (rather than “most”) of the morning. And though my eyes were filled with tears (and I also happened to be sans tissues), I saw better (and both definitions will fit).

I was in my second day of biblical worldview training, and I think the information–so powerful!–finally traveled the 15 inches from my head to my heart–and softened it. We were looking at the Humanist Manifesto I and II, written in 1933 and 1973, respectively, and I was utterly shocked and amazed to see such purposeful anti-God thought within a document. Before this moment, I honestly thought people were simply mistaken when they did not adhere to a biblical worldview. After all, I was raised in public schools–even attended public universities–and majored in such liberal subjects as journalism and communications and education, and the indoctrination of the humanist worldview infiltrated the way I think. I certainly sympathize with the mistaken masses.

But within these documents (and there are sequels!), I see spelled out the same sin Adam and Eve committed in the Garden of Eden: rebellion against God, where man decided to throw off God’s rules and decide for himself what was good and evil. God said, “No fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil  for you!” Adam and Eve ate of it anyway. Within the Humanist Manifesto I and II, humanism thumbs its nose at God’s rules too.

It says:

1. Humanism is atheistic—“faith in God is an unproved and outmoded faith.”
2. Humanism is man-centered—“all associations and institutions exist for the fulfillment of human life.”
3. Humanism firmly believes in evolution—“man is part of nature and that he has emerged as the result of a continuous process.”
4. Humanism believes in moral relativism—“moral values derive their source from human experience.”
5. Humanism is socialistic—“a socialized and cooperative economic order must be established to the end that equitable distribution of the means of life be possible.”
6. Humanism believes in global government—“we look to the development of a system of world law and a world order based upon transnational federal government.”
7. Humanism promote sexual “freedom”—“The right to birth control, abortion, and divorce should be recognized…. the many verities of sexual exploration should not in themselves be considered ‘evil.’ “
8. Humanism promotes the “right” to die—“includes the recognition of an individual’s right to die with dignity, euthanasia, and the right to suicide.”

I had to ask. “Is the Humanist Manifesto the Word of Satan, sort of like his response to the Word of God, the Bible?”

The speakers said the documents may be a part of it–but that we must consider the other ways his message, usually more subtle, gets into our heads. Consider the television programs we watch. The movies. The magazines. Newspapers and news broadcasts. Political campaigns. Changes in political policies and laws.

I just look at the changes in values I have seen in our society in my lifetime.

I remember when the worst thing a teenage girl could do was to have premarital sex. “Easy” was not an easy reputation to remove. To get pregnant without being married? Your life was over. Doing drugs? Eggs frying in a pan expressed society’s view of your brain. Same sex marriage? Not even a consideration. A socialist United States of America? You have got to be kidding.

And, yet, I see within these humanist documents an agenda–crafted as early as 1933–that is being accomplished within this country that I love. And I cry. I cry for those people I love who I believe are mistaken. I cry that people exist who are so deceived they would craft–or sign their names to–these documents so against God’s laws. I cry that so much of this humanist agenda is almost prophetic; we see it being established before our very eyes.

And I cry because I wonder if I am strong enough to do something–to at least feast on God’s Word to the extent that I can recognize the lies and stand for the truth. That I can teach my students, sifting what I say through God’s truth, to make sure that I am not forsaking this sacred trust bestowed on me as a teacher in a Christian school.

All told, I cried for maybe a half hour within that lecture, and then another five minutes an hour later, but my heart has been touched, my spirit stirred, and my determination renewed.

For the better.

The Bible is clear that we should not go with the flow:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2).

I am willing. What about you? Is “biblical worldview” a term you understand and know? Are you with me?

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References
Humanist Manifesto I. (n.d.). American Humanist Association. Retrieved July 12, 2012, from http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_I

Humanist Manifesto II. (n.d.). American Humanist Association. Retrieved July 12, 2012, from http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_II

Schneider, E. D. (2004). Education from the Biblical Worldview: A Study in Philosophy of Education. Lexington, KY: Nehemiah Institute.