Humanism vs. Christianity

Living Water at Christianity Oasis

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out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

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Humanism vs. Christianity

The Polarization of America

Welcome to Christianity Oasis Purity Publications. This E-book is titled Humanism vs. Christianity - The Polarization of America written by Author Patrick Vosse. Christianity Oasis in association with Purity Publications proudly presents you with this Humanism vs. Christianity E-Book free of charge for your enjoyment.

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Table of Contents

Prologue

Part 1 Evolutionism vs. Creationism

Chapter 1 ... In the Beginning
Chapter 2 ... Types of Creationism
Chapter 3 ... Creationism is Poor Science
Chapter 4 ... Creationism is Misused Theology
Chapter 5 ... A History and Description of Evolution
Chapter 6 ... Probably Improbable but We Believe

Part 2 Know the Foe

Chapter 7 ... If Not Science What is It?
Chapter 8 ... The Pirates
Chapter 9 ... Flatlanders
Chapter 10 ... Of Friends and Foes
Chapter 11 ... The Inevitable Tide
Chapter 12 ... The Gnostic Connection

Part 3 Polarization of America

Chapter 13 ... Implementing the Humanist Agenda: Progressive Politics
Chapter 14 ... Down the Slippery Slope and Through the Back Door
Chapter 15 ... Agendas that Polarize

Part 4 A Spiritual Island in a Sea of Secularism

Chapter 16 ... The Perfect Storm
Chapter 17 ... Community
Chapter 18 ... Decisions

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Appendix 1 ... Classification of Organisms
Appendix 2 ... Genetics
Appendix 3 ... Human Manifesto
Appendix 4 ... Statements from the NEA's 10^th Annual Yearbook
About the Author

Figures

Figure 1: Gaussian distribution or "Bell Curve"
Figure 2: Richard Dawkins' Improbable Mountain
Figure 3: Four giant steps in the development of Man
Figure 4: Graphical representation of Christian Church as described by biblical prophesy
Figure 5: Plato's concept of existence
Figure 6: Neo-Platonic Gnostic modification of Plato's concept of existence
Figure 7: Comparison between conservative and liberal judicial activism
Figure 8: A comparison between the scriptural order of nature and the secular order of nature
Figure 9: The slippery slope from evolution to abortion
Figure 10: The slippery slope from evolution to anti-Christianity
Figure 11: The slippery slope from evolution to eugenics and euthanasia
Figure 12: The slippery slope using a series of crises to establish a world government
Figure 13: Percent of federally owned land in each state
Figure 14: Comparison between various concepts of salvation
Figure 15: The perfect anti-Christian storm
Figure 16: Chromosome mutation and four types of gene mutation

Tables

Table 1: Survey result regarding Christian belief in evolution
Table 2: Summary of hominid data
Table 3: Estimated probabilities for human existence by natural means
Table 4: Political orientation of American university professors
Table 5: Political orientation of university professors by sector
Table 6: Political orientation of faculty members by age
Table 7: Political orientation of faculty members by age and radical left or activist
Table 8: Comparison of the Communist Manifesto and the actions of Progressives
Table 9: Summary of the Humanist-Christian polarization
Table 10: Pew religion survey results regarding Christian beliefs about God
Table 11: Reported frequency in witnessing about Jesus by selected Christian traditions

Bible quotations are taken from the
New International Version of the Bible
Copyright © 2002 by Zondervan
except as indicated
the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1987 by Zondervan

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

I Corinthians 1:20-25

Prologue

Hot buttons. Press one and prepare yourself for a heated argument. It used to be that politics and religion were the hot buttons but, in the last few decades, we define the hot buttons with greater precision. Abortion, socialism, euthanasia, liberal sex education in the schools, pornography, homosexuality, recreational drugs ... the list goes on. The passion, pro or con, in these arguments is intense and growing. The buttons are more numerous and getting hotter. Typically, participants in the arguments were often labeled "Conservatives" on one side and "Liberals" on the other side. These labels were appropriate if discussing economics, taxes, and the power of government; however, the new hot buttons have merged with the old hot buttons creating a new dynamic in every aspect of society. The old labels do not define the fundamental cause of today's polarization, "Christianity" and "Humanism." I use these words in quotes because they are labels that require further definition. These issues are not debated like intellectuals sitting at their gentleman's club with brandy and cigars quietly deliberating the pros and cons of the issues. Rather is it like adolescents in a verbal street fight hurling names at each other. I have also observed that, over the past few decades, the debates have become institutionalized.

It is interesting to note that 150 years ago these terms were not hot buttons. In fact, most of American society was in agreement on these issues. Then, about 150 years ago, a fundamental change began in the American (and Western society) and with it a new hot button – evolution. Evolution is tightly linked to most of the hot buttons mentioned above. Humanism, although already a well-developed philosophy, surged into popularity at the same time. By the early 20 ^th Century, Humanism was established throughout much of the Western world as Socialism, Communism, and Progressivism, all of which are joined at the hip with the glue of Humanist philosophy.

In discussing the polarization caused by the Humanism - Christianity debate, it is necessary to be clear about the terms "Humanist" and "Christian" as used in this book. A complete understanding of Humanism is best gained by reviewing Appendix 3, The Humanist Manifesto and we will explore the depths of it later in the book. However, for labeling purposes, we can describe a Humanist as person who believes:

• The universe exists without any divine influence, all organisms, including humans evolved by natural selection
• There is no God, there is no spiritual existence, and the only existence is physical
• Religion is an impediment to the advancement of society
• Morality is relative and defined by the individual and/or society. Moral standards change with the preferences of society
• Sexual perversion, abortion, and drug use are individual rights not to be condemned by society
• Perfection of humanity is based on the advancement of society, collectively.

The description above is painted in broad strokes. Actually, there are many flavors of Humanism just as there are many flavors of Christianity. Humanism will be discussed in greater detail in Parts 2 and 3 where we will reveal the relationship between Humanism, Liberalism, Socialism, and Progressivism. Christianity is more difficult to define. The basic definition of a Christian is stated as follows: A person who believes that:

• There is a Triune God who created all physical and non-physical existence
• Man is a unique creation made in the image of God
• God cannot be known through philosophy or reasoning but he, and his plan for humanity, is revealed through the Holy Scriptures
• Man is sinful by nature and is doomed to hell
• God begot a son, Jesus, who became a sacrifice for the redemption of all humanity through his death and resurrection
• Repentance and faith in Jesus and the efficacy of his death and resurrection is sufficient for an individual's salvation.

But, as discussed in Chapter 4, this definition does not cover the various "human artifacts" introduced into the practice of Christianity as we observe the "Political Church", "Philosophical Church", "Social Church", and more recently, the "Scientific Church".

One can see that, by the definitions alone, the potential for conflict between Humanists and Christians is great. The conflict becomes even more intense when the basic philosophies of each are implemented. The intensity of the conflict began with Darwin and his theory of evolution by natural selection (atheistic evolution). A quick glance at the contents page of this book reveals that nearly one-fifth of the book is devoted to the Creationism - Evolutionism" debate. One might legitimately ask, "Why devote so much of this book to evolution when hundreds of books have already been written on the subject?" I must admit I deliberated on this for quite some time; however, there are three important reasons to revisit this subject in the context of Humanism, Christianity, and the polarization of America.

The first reason is that evolution in itself is an important element in the Humanist - Christian conflict. As such, it is important to see both sides of the argument. The issue is far more complicated than the efforts to prove one side or the other wrong. In order to understand how Humanists promote and use evolution as a tool in advancing their agenda in other areas, we must understand how Humanists established evolution as fact without meeting the rigor of the scientific method necessary for other legitimate scientific pursuits. The methods used in promoting evolution are used today in advancing the anti-Christian agenda described in the Humanist Manifesto. As Sun Tzu says in his book, The Art of War, we must know the foe and a good way to gain insight to how Humanists promote their agenda is to study how they promote evolution.

The second reason is that evolution is a thread that runs throughout the fabric of Humanism. Humanists use it to support Atheism, abortion, and anti-Christian policies in our society and government. It is the justification for eugenics and euthanasia. It is the door that opened our public schools to the Humanist philosophy.

The third reason is that evolution is one of the cornerstones without which Humanism would collapse. Humanism is based on the presumption that there is no God and, therefore, Man is the highest expression of existence in the universe. This argument can only survive if there is no divine Creator and evolution by natural selection offers a "proof" that there is no God. For the Humanist, the philosophy of Evolutionism is far more important than the science of evolution.

Although an important element in the Humanism - Christianity conflict, evolution is just the beginning. In Part 2, we explore how the concept of Secular Humanism developed among the Enlightenment philosophers and is now expressed in modern Socialism and Progressivism. Although Humanism, as the organized movement we see today, is a relatively new philosophy, it has been with humanity for millennia, at least in spirit, and we will investigate how the values expressed by Humanists today were and integral part of the Roman Empire as it began its decline. In fact, the conflict between Humanism and Christianity has been an integral part of the Christian struggle from the beginning.

The major polarization of America began in the 1960's. As courts with activist judges and liberal agendas supported abortion, pornography, teaching evolution in public schools, and banned prayer or religious references in schools and other public venues, it became apparent that Christian values were under attack; not just by people who held a different view as in the past but by courts and government institutions. Humanism was becoming institutionalized. A Christian could not pray in school, but the teacher could explain how we got here without any divine intervention. Students who raised objections to natural selection, prayed or wore a crucifix might find themselves suspended for a few weeks. The principles of Humanism were gradually replacing the principles of Christianity as the basis of social morality and ethics.

The implementing arm of Humanism is progressive politics and it has been a factor in America for over 100 years. In Part 3, we will explore the development of Progressivism and specific impacts it has on religion, education, morality, economics and, particularly, the Christian community. Also discussed are solutions and actions the Christian community can take to survive and thrive in an increasingly hostile climate. How can we raise our children in a society that promotes sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, and abortion? What should the response be to a society that increasingly considers "Christian" as a derogatory word? How should a parent react when they find out the school has arranged for their daughter's abortion without their knowledge and the courts support the school? What should a parent do when a child is suspended from school for wearing a crucifix? How can the Christian community engage and witness to the secular community? Part 4 investigates solutions to these issues. The early Church was faced with similar challenges. However, those Christians did not merely survive they thrived. Perhaps the solutions for the challenges facing the modern Church can be found in the early Church.

Talk about "hot button" issues! However, as bleak as this picture appears, there is a solution. And every Christian already knows what it is – it just has to be implemented.

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