Posted on 04/20/2009 8:26:10 AM PDT by GodGunsGuts
Slouching Toward Columbine: Darwin's Tree of Death
April 20, 2009
David Klinghoffer
I've long been fascinated by the image of the Tree of Death, parallel to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden and cryptically referred to in mystical texts explaining the Hebrew Bible:
And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the Tree of Life also in the midst of the garden, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:9).
Come and behold: as soon as night falls, the Tree of Death rules in the world and the Tree of Life disappears high above. Then the Tree of Death is the sole ruler in the universe, and all inhabitants of the world taste of death (Zohar III:119a).
The image, and today's gruesome Columbine anniversary, provide an occasion to reflect on Darwinian evolution's social consequences, from school shootings to Nazi racism and more.
Charles Darwin's theory of evolution with its Tree of Life is applauded by most sophisticated Americans and Europeans as a scientific idea pure and simple, without the aura of dread and terror that, properly, should surround it in our minds.
Why should we so regard it? Not necessarily because of any judgment about whether the idea is right or wrong as science, but rather because of the uncanny way evolution has had of supplying the rationale and creating the backdrop for the most twisted, monstrous social movements that have sprung up in Western culture in the past century and half.
On April 20, 1999, two boys at Columbine High School in Colorado massacred 12 fellow students and a teacher, wounding 23 as well before shooting themselves...
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.beliefnet.com ...
Yes it may SEEM more like an infestation (Especially when they are the ONLY statistics you bring to hte table- ignoring hte myriad other cases where there are NO offenses such as those!!!)- however, they are ONLY a SMALL MINORITY of the whole- something you apparently don’t care to admit-
Satan’s goal is to DESTROY God’s church- Destroy His people, and to tear down God’s institutions- This is a FACT Atlaw! And no matter how many times you bring your little stats to the table- you are proving NOTHING MORE than htis FACT! Those peopel that commit such acts are NOT Christians! That is NOT to say Christians don’t occasionally fall prey to sin liek that- but the VAST majority of those cases were committed by NON Christians who ABUSE God’s church by taking positions they are NOT qualified for because they are NOT TRUE CHristians to begin with-
Your hatred of Christianity is showing htrough Atlaw- Must be terrible harboring such bitterness all the time- looking for anyhtign with which to try to topple somethign you can’t stand- and by hte way- 2 billion+ other Christians who are spiritually discerning also agree with me- they are able to recognize their own- just as I am- so your attempt to downplay the situation just again shows your contempt and willingness to misrepresent the FACTS! As I said- it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to spiritually discern that those that committed such acts were NEVER SAVED in the first place- Those TRUE Christians were being murdered by hte millions while the FAKES, who lusted after the things of htis world, abused their ill gotten positions- You can rant on about ‘the church’ all you like- but it’s irrelevent because you are someone on the outside who obviously are unable to spritually discern the what is obvious to billions of spiritually discerning TRUE Christians
I agree.
Seems I misunderstood, atlaw. So what is your religion, by the way? Your belief system if you will.
Feel free to post back anytime. I’ll be back this evening, gotta run now. Use the time to think carefully, as I will be doing. See you later.
Christian, specifically Lutheran (ELCA), though I don't place a great deal of emphasis on denominations and synods.
You may have surmised otherwise based on the rambling rants from CottShop, who says I "hate" Christianity. But then, CottShop's view of Christianity is, well, parochial, and he tends to declare just about everybody a heathen or a heretic eventually.
My original point, obviously lost this deep into the thread, was that it is as equally unfair to blame the theory of evolution for the criminal acts of Harris and Klebold as it is to blame Christianity for the criminal acts of those identified in my links.
And ancillary to that point, I was rebutting CottShop's claim that criminality is disproportionately rare amongst Christians when compared to atheists. I have never seen any evidence to this effect, and the links I provided certainly indicate otherwise.
[[But then, CottShop’s view of Christianity is, well, parochial, and he tends to declare just about everybody a heathen or a heretic eventually.]]
Wooops BZZZZT Another Atlaw LIE-
[[My original point, obviously lost this deep into the thread, was that it is as equally unfair to blame the theory of evolution for the criminal acts of Harris and Klebold as it is to blame Christianity for the criminal acts of those identified in my links.]]
Nope sorry- not true again- that was ONE of your ‘points’ however, then you tried to villify Christianity by pointing to isolated incidents of abuse and to a period that was controlled NOT by TRUE Christians, but by people drunk with power- People God specifically points out are NOT saved, but rather heritics- just as the Sadducees and Pharisees were- NO differences between htem and the early Catholic church which was governed and controlled by Secularists and who set up Secularists in positions they did NOT deserve!
[[And ancillary to that point, I was rebutting CottShop’s claim that criminality is disproportionately rare amongst Christians when compared to atheists.]]
BZZZZT Another LIE- I NEVER made the comparison- I am pointing out your misrepresentations, distortions, and flat out lies-
The links you pointed out indicate only a VERY small percentage of the overall Christian world- anyone can call themselves a Christian, and anyone can wear the robe these days- but their actions prove they are either TRUE Christians, or imposters- the fact that you can’t tell them apart in no way villifies TRUE Christianity, but again, only goes to show that the hearts of Secularists put in positions of authority in the church are FAR from God- again, you’ve managed to indict those you associate with- not Christianity contrary to your apparent hopes and dreams
Oh, and by the way, I agree with this. Religion in general has historically provided fertile ground for charlatans and criminals, and this fact cannot be ignored or facilely dismissed.
Your words. That sure looks like a claim that criminality is disproportionately rare amongst Christians when compared to atheists.
You don’t need to point out the SINS of hte Catholic Church to me sir- those people are NOT God’s representatives- they are NOT true Christians
Your words. That dismisses 1.098 billion Christians as either heathens or heretics. Add to that all the Christians you dismiss as either heathens or heretics because they accept the theory of evolution or disagree with your narrow "interpretation" of Genesis, and parochial doesn't begin to describe your views.
[[Your words. That sure looks like a claim that criminality is disproportionately rare amongst Christians when compared to atheists.]]
Your words- I NEVER said atheists- anyone can be Godless- EVEN people CLAIMING to be Christian- infact there are myraids of people that CLAIM to be Christians who most certainly are NOT- Again- you would need somethign you don’t possess to understand what makes a person a TRUE Christian and what makes htem a Phony Christian- a person who NEVER accepted the salvation of Christ but who nonetheless still want the prestige and power and recognition they do NOT deserve
[[Your words. That dismisses 1.098 billion Christians as either heathens or heretics.]]
DO NOT assume to speak words for me that I NEVER said- What I said does NOT dismiss everyone who is Catholic- there are MANY TRUE born again Christian Catholics who love hte Lord very much- I know quite a few personally myself, and htere are TRUE CHristian Catholics all over hte world- You’re problem is Atlaw, that you consistently MISREPRESENT and apparently intentionally make crap up and read into statements sentiments or intentions that are NOT implied! That’s why I hate arguing with you- You just make crap up as you go, and there simply is no reasoning with someone who does that- You move3 goalposts as you go, you ionsinuate crap that is never said, and you consistently misrepresent, apaprently intentionally- al lthe time! I NEVER EVER Said that Christians couldn’t be mistaken and beleive that we evolved- Christians are NOT above being mistaken- so again- don’t presume to speak for me because you’re doing a VERY CRAPPY job of interpreting what I have said and WHY I say what I do!
IF you want ot step it up a notch, and inject some actual intellectual honesty into your arguments, instead of deceitful misrepresentations of what I’ve said, I’ll be more than happy to discuss issues with you- but so far- your past record shows you aren’t willing to do so- So adios!
[[Oh, and by the way, I agree with this. Religion in general has historically provided fertile ground for charlatans and criminals,]]
Well by golly- you’ve just managed to say what I’ve said right along- these Charlatans and Criminals are NOT Saved people- regardless of what position they hold in the church- Hmmm- you might be catchign on a bit-
If you disagree with your own words, maybe you need to take a little more time preparing those words. May I suggest hitting spell check once in a while, which would give you a chance to review what you’ve written, and permit a breath or two between keyboard-hammering and posting.
...No? What of the wholesale mass murder carried out by the National Socialists and Communists during the Twentieth Century? I don't count Nazi worship of Hitler and his religion as a religion at all. It was a sham, and worshiping false idols. Empty.
Oh, and by the way, I agree with this. Religion in general has historically provided fertile ground for charlatans and criminals, and this fact cannot be ignored or facilely dismissed.
Well, it appears that that mankind as a whole needed redemption, through the blood of the Lord.
When you take His rule book (The Bible of course) and throw it out the window, you are going to stray from the path. It's inevitable.
Lastly, I seem to have lost Boxen in post 98.
I'm sure I could be wrong, but I'm wondering if he/ she isn't one of the types in my post #98. Just a thought.
At any rate, I won't be addressing him/ her in posts to you after this.
I see you’v3 apparently felt hte3 need to resort to childish insults per usual- I stand by what I said, and your attempts to twist what I said are futile and show your argument lacks credibility and strength and resorting to attacking my spelling is sadly typical of you antiChristians- if that’s the best you’ve got, then whatever- it just shows you aint got squat
As I said before: IF you want ot step it up a notch, and inject some actual intellectual honesty into your arguments, instead of deceitful misrepresentations of what I’ve said, I’ll be more than happy to discuss issues with you- but so far- your past record shows you aren’t willing to do so- So adios!
You'll recall that this was a discussion about contemporary criminality. Thus my ancillary point related to contemporary criminality (and indeed, historical criminality was specifically ruled off limits by the claim that the crusades, for example, cannot be referenced).
But if you really wish to argue about the nazis, then you need to consider that antisemitic nazi propaganda manipulated people by playing on caricatures of Jews that had their source in the predominant religious and cultural mythologies of the day. Examples abound. Hitler blamed Jews for “two great wounds upon humanity: Circumcision of the Body and Conscience of the Soul.” Der Stürmer spread the blood libel, telling Germans that Jews kidnapped small children before Passover because they needed the blood of a Christian child to mix with Matzah. Etc. As the dissident Catholic priest Hans Küng noted: "Nazi anti-Judaism was the work of godless, anti-Christian criminals. But it would not have been possible without the almost two thousand years' pre-history of 'Christian' anti-Judaism..."
And regarding communist atrocities, the more meaninful comparisons are between communist regimes and capitalist democracies (atheism being titularly offical in one and common in the other), and between communist regimes and theocracies.
The nazis and the commies just aren't particularly clear reference points on the issue of whether discrete criminality is disproportionately rare amongst Christians when compared to atheists.
And ancillary to that point, I was rebutting CottShop's claim that criminality is disproportionately rare amongst Christians when compared to atheists. I have never seen any evidence to this effect, and the links I provided certainly indicate otherwise.
My response is well within the boundaries of fairness. You opened that door. We're talking about 100,000,000 dead. Nothing in history comes close.
Did you read the rest of my post?
Yes. I’ll answer later. I’m really running late. I’ll post back, okay?
No problem.
If I'm understanding you correctly, in order to "step it up a notch" and "inject some intellectual honesty into my arguments," I'll need to post something similar to the following:
your indictment only reflects badly on folks liek you then - Secularists - So you might want ot rethink your little antiChristian crusade tactics - There are many denominations that are NOT TRUE Christians - Your hatred of Christianity is showing htrough - Must be terrible harboring such bitterness all the time- looking for anyhtign with which to try to topple somethign you can’t stand - You can rant on about ‘the church’ all you like- but it’s irrelevent because you are someone on the outside who obviously are unable to spritually discern the what is obvious to billions of spiritually discerning TRUE Christians - anyone can call themselves a Christian, and anyone can wear the robe these days- but their actions prove they are either TRUE Christians, or imposters- the fact that you can’t tell them apart in no way villifies TRUE Christianity, but again, only goes to show that the hearts of Secularists put in positions of authority in the church are FAR from God- again, you’ve managed to indict those you associate with- not Christianity contrary to your apparent hopes and dreams - you would need somethign you don’t possess to understand what makes a person a TRUE Christian and what makes htem a Phony Christian - your attempts to twist what I said are futile and show your argument lacks credibility and strength and resorting to attacking my spelling is sadly typical of you antiChristians-
Would that be notched-up enough?
Absolutely- somethign to htat effect would be just fine because everythign I psoted is factual- you on the other hand resort to making crap up as you go along- twisting the meanings of my statements to suit your own failing argument-
When you decide you want ot respond to what I say, instead of what you distort my statements to mean, then you just let me know.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.