Curtis Dahlgren
A tale of two worldviews (and a prayer for academe)
By Curtis Dahlgren
"I beseech you in the [name] of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken." – Oliver Cromwell
"Some are weather-wise, some are otherwise." – Benjamin Franklin
"THE WHOLE WORLD IS CRAZY except for me and thee, and I'm not sure about thee," someone said. Reading the local newspaper can be heart- wrenching. Since the "enlightenment" of the sixties, and since the nihilists became the Establishment, wicked man has waxed worse and worse. The local paper I read this week was the Charlotte Observer. One true story was about an 11-year-old-girl who had been living with her grandparents since her father was murdered in 2013. Then her grandparents were murdered. By her uncle. And Arieyana was kidnapped by the uncle and his "girlfriend." The girl was recovered in DC and is with a foster family from church (yes they still have those in North Carolina).
Another news item was about a 14-year-old shot randomly dead in a car on the freeway. Another shooting "gone bad." How's that New Morality workin' out for us, eh? The times they have been a-changin' – ever since the professors of Higher education started talking about mores, and guilt, new paradigms, and "Progress"!
God became a swear word. Those of us who favor nuclear power for power generation are accused of being anti-science. And those who are supposedly "pro-science" and for "womens health" have killed off 58 million babies. HUH? White is now black and black is white. Not only that, but black is now PLAID if that's how you want to "identify" it. Like a rainbow without the pot of gold (mining is verboten too in the PC book).
Cultural gangrene is trickling down from the top like the two-story outhouse. At the top of the pyramid is our elite ivy-covered ivory towers. I worry about the over-educated. The other day I was reading my daily prayer book and came upon a prayer my family has been praying once a year for about 100:
O GOD AND REVEALER: Sanctify all who in the midst of truth seek more truth. As they question the authority of the past, increase their loyalty to the things which are eternal. May liberty of thought leave unsullied the simplicity of their trust in Thee. As the steep ascent of truth reveals an ever-widening horizon, lead them in the narrow path of humble and sacrificial service. Enable them to share the joy of their emancipation without weakening other men's faith in the God of their own experience.
May pride of learning never chill the warmth of prayer. May opposition and misinterpretation arouse within them no bitterness or plans for retaliation. As by Thy grace they are led into deeper sympathy with their Lord, may they give to the world their new assurance that You are in control, rather the agony of their struggle with doubt. And ever amid the clash of argument may they find the peace that passeth understanding, in the Name of our Lord, amen. – "God's Minute" (April 8th)
As you can see, I'm not "anti-science" (shoot, I've spent more than enough time in college myself); I'm just anti-pseudoscience. Like the "social" sciences. Harvard Yard has become a barn yard. Without the cows. The J-schools and the A.P. produce papers that print all the news that's fit to skew.
P.S. A TALE OF TWO PRAYERS: Benjamin Franklin was a man of science (whether he had a "degree" or not). Old Ben wasn't the perfect believer but he did. He recommended daily prayers for the delegates to the Constitution when things weren't going well. Also the following prayer was attributed to him:
O Bountiful Father, merciful guide – increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest. Strengthen my resolution to perform what that wisdom dictates [as a calling]. Accept my kind offices to Thy children as the only return in my power for Thy continual favors to me.
That sounds like something he would say. He certainly produced good fruits. One of his sayings was: "Necessity never made a good bargain." Made me think of the Iran nuke "deal." Whether any good comes of that is still to be determined. We tend to get the governments we deserve, even globally. A few thoughts in the words of two or three witnesses more:
"In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments – there are consequences." – Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)
"The chessboard is the world . . the rule of the game are what we call the laws of Nature . . Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men." – Thomas Huxley (1825-1895)
"Men are not punished for their sins but by them." – Elbert Hubbard 1856-1915)
"God forgives; man sometimes forgives; Nature never forgives." – author unknown
PPS: That doesn't rule out miracles, but that's why they call them miracles. It goes without saying that we live in perilous times, but to boil it all down to the basics, wars aren't going to end until the golden rule rules. Just saying, but the last day of unleavened bread ("passover week") overlapped with 'Easter' this year. I don't know if that's a good sign or bad, but I hope the former.
BTW, in response to the haters of religion among us, I would only have to say: The mass printing of Bibles for the common man was a precursor to the "Enlightenment" – not the other way around. It's not science OR revelation; that's a false choice. Ask the 11 year-old-girl in Charlotte who lost her father and then her grandparents to murder, the act of Cain. Ask Abel, eh?
© Curtis Dahlgren
April 19, 2017
"I beseech you in the [name] of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken." – Oliver Cromwell
"Some are weather-wise, some are otherwise." – Benjamin Franklin
"THE WHOLE WORLD IS CRAZY except for me and thee, and I'm not sure about thee," someone said. Reading the local newspaper can be heart- wrenching. Since the "enlightenment" of the sixties, and since the nihilists became the Establishment, wicked man has waxed worse and worse. The local paper I read this week was the Charlotte Observer. One true story was about an 11-year-old-girl who had been living with her grandparents since her father was murdered in 2013. Then her grandparents were murdered. By her uncle. And Arieyana was kidnapped by the uncle and his "girlfriend." The girl was recovered in DC and is with a foster family from church (yes they still have those in North Carolina).
Another news item was about a 14-year-old shot randomly dead in a car on the freeway. Another shooting "gone bad." How's that New Morality workin' out for us, eh? The times they have been a-changin' – ever since the professors of Higher education started talking about mores, and guilt, new paradigms, and "Progress"!
God became a swear word. Those of us who favor nuclear power for power generation are accused of being anti-science. And those who are supposedly "pro-science" and for "womens health" have killed off 58 million babies. HUH? White is now black and black is white. Not only that, but black is now PLAID if that's how you want to "identify" it. Like a rainbow without the pot of gold (mining is verboten too in the PC book).
Cultural gangrene is trickling down from the top like the two-story outhouse. At the top of the pyramid is our elite ivy-covered ivory towers. I worry about the over-educated. The other day I was reading my daily prayer book and came upon a prayer my family has been praying once a year for about 100:
O GOD AND REVEALER: Sanctify all who in the midst of truth seek more truth. As they question the authority of the past, increase their loyalty to the things which are eternal. May liberty of thought leave unsullied the simplicity of their trust in Thee. As the steep ascent of truth reveals an ever-widening horizon, lead them in the narrow path of humble and sacrificial service. Enable them to share the joy of their emancipation without weakening other men's faith in the God of their own experience.
May pride of learning never chill the warmth of prayer. May opposition and misinterpretation arouse within them no bitterness or plans for retaliation. As by Thy grace they are led into deeper sympathy with their Lord, may they give to the world their new assurance that You are in control, rather the agony of their struggle with doubt. And ever amid the clash of argument may they find the peace that passeth understanding, in the Name of our Lord, amen. – "God's Minute" (April 8th)
As you can see, I'm not "anti-science" (shoot, I've spent more than enough time in college myself); I'm just anti-pseudoscience. Like the "social" sciences. Harvard Yard has become a barn yard. Without the cows. The J-schools and the A.P. produce papers that print all the news that's fit to skew.
P.S. A TALE OF TWO PRAYERS: Benjamin Franklin was a man of science (whether he had a "degree" or not). Old Ben wasn't the perfect believer but he did. He recommended daily prayers for the delegates to the Constitution when things weren't going well. Also the following prayer was attributed to him:
O Bountiful Father, merciful guide – increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest. Strengthen my resolution to perform what that wisdom dictates [as a calling]. Accept my kind offices to Thy children as the only return in my power for Thy continual favors to me.
That sounds like something he would say. He certainly produced good fruits. One of his sayings was: "Necessity never made a good bargain." Made me think of the Iran nuke "deal." Whether any good comes of that is still to be determined. We tend to get the governments we deserve, even globally. A few thoughts in the words of two or three witnesses more:
"In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments – there are consequences." – Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)
"The chessboard is the world . . the rule of the game are what we call the laws of Nature . . Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men." – Thomas Huxley (1825-1895)
"Men are not punished for their sins but by them." – Elbert Hubbard 1856-1915)
"God forgives; man sometimes forgives; Nature never forgives." – author unknown
PPS: That doesn't rule out miracles, but that's why they call them miracles. It goes without saying that we live in perilous times, but to boil it all down to the basics, wars aren't going to end until the golden rule rules. Just saying, but the last day of unleavened bread ("passover week") overlapped with 'Easter' this year. I don't know if that's a good sign or bad, but I hope the former.
BTW, in response to the haters of religion among us, I would only have to say: The mass printing of Bibles for the common man was a precursor to the "Enlightenment" – not the other way around. It's not science OR revelation; that's a false choice. Ask the 11 year-old-girl in Charlotte who lost her father and then her grandparents to murder, the act of Cain. Ask Abel, eh?
© Curtis Dahlgren
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