Posted on 02/14/2009 2:15:54 PM PST by RightResponse
Barack Obama is now leader of the most influential nation on earth. Are we yet capable of dancing to his song of hope?
Obama was elected by default by a desperate nation drowning in faithlessness and cynicism. He was simply the best bet for change.
This bleak outlook is the chronic disease of our day. We are pessimistic about our economic and ecological futures. We distrust government officials, officers of the law, bureaucrats and the principles of big business (while we scramble to enhance our own bottom line.) We doubt the trustworthiness and ambitions of people of other colours and other religions. We have our phones and e-mails rigged to monitor the fidelity of our mates.
We are a society shorn of hope and faith.
Every past society that devolved to a world view only admitting the materiality of the physical world eventually disintegrated. On the other hand, every political and spiritual genius of his particular time understood human nature and its needs. Those superior minds attempted to unite people "in one mind" -- of moral rectitude and faith; of faith in the ultimate triumph of goodness.
The vigour of Zoroaster's religion propelled ancient Persia to world-class status. Alexander the Great and Ptolemy Soter after him recognized the spiritual need in man and attempted to unite the Greek world with a "universal religion." Later, Caesar Augustus reinvented and reinvigorated the Roman religion, and Rome survived a few more centuries. Constantine recognized this human need and modern Christianity was born. Then came Mohammed, who lifted a fractious and barbarous people into the most civilized and scientifically advanced empire of the age.
We must seek God ... or Goodness (or Love, if you prefer) for our own mental health. Belief is our sustenance as much as is the food we eat and the air we breathe. Spiritual food gives us the confidence to walk into the future with clarity and optimism. A healthy individual and a healthy society must have hope and confidence that the ultimate outcome of all things will be for the good. That is the essence of religion and has been since antiquity.
Strong beliefs bond differing minds and group into a working whole. It creates internally integrated morals -- internal laws that need no outside coercion to ensure. It gives us the courage to live justly, and to die well.
If Barack Obama is indeed the political unifier that Americans -- and us -- have put our atrophied hopes in, perhaps he will take the steps so necessary to heal his nation of its distrust and cynicism. Perhaps he will have the courage to harness the will to believe in some transcendent goodness.
But he must lead. He must demonstrate how to believe again in what is demonstrably true: That there is something out there that is greater and grander than the individual.
We need faith, but the faiths of our fathers are tired now, or are spent forces. We must recognize this whether we are Muslims, Sikhs, Jews or Christians. We are now a global village, and only a global world view will suffice.
As in the past, this new and unifying faith must be novel, vibrant and inclusive. In this new global era of widespread education and immediate communication, this new faith must also be credible. It must align with scientifically obtained knowledge yet be aware also of the undiscoverable -- the great mysteries that hold us rapt and in awe.
The marriage of a believable faith with the husbandry of government is the union that must be contracted.
Only then can there be a United Nations, only then shall we have peace on Earth and goodwill toward all.
Terry Neal lives in Stoney Creek.
Good Lord, we need a revival, a renewal of our faith in the Lord who made the heavens and the earth, who sent his only begotten son to lead us back to God.
I’ve read them, and found it unsettling. I think everyone should read the series, but get them all at one time. I had to wait the six months to a year for each book. Once you pick one up, you cannot put it down.
“We need faith, but the faiths of our fathers are tired...spent forces. We are now a global village, and only a global world view will suffice.”
So just pick any old thing, as long as it’s global, and have faith in it? Let’s all start worshipping pineapples, then, will that suffice? You really can’t find anything objectionable about a pineapple, it should appeal to Christians, Buddhists, vegans, Muslims, so they can toss out those tired dogmas and just focus on a nice unifying, attractive fruit.
What a relief, we don’t have to worry about TRUTH anymore. There must not be any truth. Just a pineapple will do!
Good God....this is surreal...I'm truly at a loss for words...
Worship the Obama or you will surely die a thousand deaths or be doomed to eternal Conservatism.......the hell of all hells! (Blame Canada)
Jeez, why didn’t I think of that! I could have saved huge bucks going through College.
Not for long. Oh, he'll still be President, we just won't be very influential anymore. That's his plan.
THANKS MUCH.
Would you be able to post some of the most important excerpts from those onto this thread or start another?
I guess so people on FR can how insane leftists are.
Anything civilized about Islam they stole from other cultures, notably India. All Muslims brought to the table was the Koran and the scimitar. “Arabic” numerals are from Sanskrit, Unani medicine is from the Vedas, their architecture they got from India and actually used Indian slave labor a lot, many of their supposedly great buildings were built by others, their entire arithmatics they got from Sanskrit, etc.
They are just like locusts.
Terry, read the Bible sometime. You don’t have to believe it, but it might give you some insight into why a lot of people are warding you off with the sign of the cross right now.
He’s right. Let’s all join hands and close our eyes and sway back and forth, beatifically singing, “Obama, Obama . . .” The One will take care of us. /s
To me, what he says is “doublespeak”. It is designed to keep people confused, so if he says one thing, I simply repeat to myself the opposite of what he says so I won’t get puzzled by the doublespeak.
Where was the projective vomit alert?
projective = projectile (sigh)
The author doesn’t begin to have a 3rd grade education regarding the meaning of Christian faith. The entire article is framed from a worldly perspective envisioning a perfect environment may be man-made independently of God’s Provision.
Sheesh. I’d hate to be so weak-minded as to think that humans have the power to just conjure up a new kind of god to worship and have it mean something. Unbelievable.
MM
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