When it comes to pain, most of us are chickens. We do anything to avoid it, even a little needle prick at the doctor. We go to great pains to avoid pain including pain pills, sleeping pills and sedatives. The problem of evil is real for human beings, and the problem of physical evil is acutely real. The reason is that while moral evil can be explained by free choice, it is not apparent how all physical evil can be explained this way. No one wills a lightning strike or a tsunami on themselves. Much physical suffering results directly from misuse of our own bodies, smoking, alcohol, drug use, overeating, lack of proper exercise all cause physical problems. We can hardly blame God for things we inflict on ourselves. Some physical evil is the direct result of the free choices of others. The truth is that in a free world the result of one person’s freedom impinges on another person’s life. Drunk drivers often kill other people. Some physical evil is necessary for the greater physical good. The early bird gets the worm, but the worm gets eaten. Higher forms of life feed off of lower forms. Some physical evil is needed for a greater moral good. The truth is that we learn more enduring lessons in life through pain than through pleasure. Some physical evil may be inflicted by God’s justice in punishing evil actions such as plagues, famines, sickness and death. Some insist God could miraculously intervene and prevent these evil results, but without the regularity of nature, moral decisions are impossible and moral improvement cannot occur; both of these are necessary to producing the best of all worlds. God cannot perform any miracle that involves a logical or actual impossibility; He cannot make 2+2=5. Nor can be make two mountains together without a valley. God cannot make it rain and not rain at the same time to answer opposing prayers. Obviously there are some miracles God could do that He does not do. Sometimes the most loving thing God can do is not to supernaturally intervene to prevent all physical evil in our lives. Parents know that giving their children everything they want is not the most loving thing to do, sometimes tough love is necessary. Surely God has the power to stop all atheist, skeptics, and agnostics from expressing themselves but then they would not really be free to express themselves. Constant miraculous interruption of the natural order would destroy the very order necessary for making moral decisions. Few enduring moral lessons are learned through pleasure; most are learned through pain. This being the case, miraculous intervention to eliminate all painful consequences of actions would eliminate lessons on moral improvement to be learned through them. The truth is that higher virtues can only be attained by free beings that have struggled with evil and been victorious over it. Of course, not all persons will achieve the higher virtues and the greater good possible. Some will sufferers get better, some get bitter. Next week we will take our final look at “If God, Why Evil”, we will discuss Eternal Evil (Hell) and what about those who have never heard. Excerpts from chapter 7&8, If God, why Evil? By Norman L. Geisler, I encourage you get this book and read all of Dr. Geisler’s research and 50 years of knowledge in theology, philosophy, and apologetics on the college or graduate level.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Why Evil pt 5, Purpose and Avoidability of Evil
What is the significance of suffering? The meaning of misery? The cause of calamity? Or the purpose of pain? Just because we don’t know a good purpose for some evil does not mean there is no good purpose for it. There are many things we don’t know. And there are many things we once did not know but now do know. So it should be expected that in the future we will discover good purposed for things which we do not now know a good purpose. Take an illustration from science. Evolutionists once claimed there were some 180 vestigial organs (with no known function) left over from our animal ancestry. Over the last century or so, this list has shrunk to six! Study has shown that the unexplained is not necessarily the unexplainable. Likewise, just because we don’t know a good purpose from some suffering does not mean there is none. God informs us that “The secret things belong to the Lord our God” Deuteronomy 29:29 Scientists cannot currently explain everything in the natural world, but they have good reason to believe that there are explanations for the things they can’t explain. Unexplained evils are not unexplainable, and many evils we once could not explain we can now explain. Certainly Joseph did not know why he was sold as a slave into Egypt by is brothers, later however he was able to say “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” Genesis 50:20 Pain is designed to keep us from self-destruction such as chest pain to avoid heart attack, pain in lower side to prevent death by a burst appendix. We have all suffered loss of loved ones for no explained reason, however if for no other reason, God sometimes allows us to suffer pain so we can comfort others suffering in a like situation. The truth is that we learn more enduring lessons through pain than we do pleasure. God is more interested in our character than our comfort; more concerned about our holiness than our happiness. If we knew in advance that we would have a son who would become Adolf Hitler or Osama bin Laden, wouldn’t it be better not to conceive him to begin with? God had to create free creature who could sin before He could produce free creature who can’t sin. So the best possible world would be one where people were truly free to sin, did sin, but despite their sin God brought about a greater good by allowing it and then providing satisfaction and forgiveness for it. In short, even if a free but sinless world is actually achievable, it may be morally less desirable, since the greatest good would not be achieved in it. Forcing people to “freely” believe is a contradiction in terms. God is love (1John 4:16) and love cannot work coercively, only persuasively. The problem is that all do not want to be saved. God is willing to save all, but all are not willing to be saved. One day God will say “Have it as you will”. The nature of an all-good God assures us that this world which He did create is the best one achievable without violating anyone’s free will. A good parent permits a possible accident every time he permits his teenager to drive the family car; however, he is not promoting it. God allows evil to produce the greater good. So now that we have discussed the persistence and purpose of evil, next week we will look at the problem of physical evil then miracles and evil to give you some more food for thought. Excerpts from chapter 5&6, If God, why Evil? By Norman L. Geisler, I encourage you get this book and read all of Dr. Geisler’s research and 50 years of knowledge in theology, philosophy, and apologetics on the college or graduate level.
Why Evil pt 4, The Origin and Persistence of Evil
As we said two weeks ago God did not create any evil thing. He created only good things, and evil is a privation or corruption of a good thing. So the difficult question is where, then, did evil come from? That is, how did the privations or corruptions get there? The answer is free will. Evil cannot come directly from the hand of the Creator any more than polluted water can come directly from a pure mountain spring. Freedom means the power to choose otherwise, so one is free to do good and also free to do evil. We must be given the freedom of choice or we would be robots, puppets, or automatons. God made evil possible by creating free creatures; they are responsible for making it actual. Thus, sin was born in the breast of an archangel in the presence of God. God created only good things. One good thing He made was free will. A good being, with the good power of free will, chose to put his will over God’s. Who caused Lucifer to sin? No one did- he was the cause of his own sin. So why doesn’t God stop it all? Why doesn’t He call a halt to all suffering? The only way God could literally destroy all evil is to destroy all freedom. No one can be praised or blamed for an act in which they had no free choice. Now, evil is still on the rampage, both morally and physically. Hatred, crime, war, tornados, earthquakes, poverty and starvation. The fact that God has not yet defeated it does not mean He never will, in fact that is exactly what the Bible says He will do. But we humans want to know the reasons for everything, if we can’t or don’t understand, we look for someone to blame. We cannot just accept God’s Sovereignty and that there is a purpose and reason for everything. So next week we will look at the purpose and avoidability of Evil. Excerpts from chapter 3 &4, If God, why Evil? By Norman L. Geisler, I encourage you get this book and read all of Dr. Geisler’s research and 50 years of knowledge in theology, philosophy, and apologetics on the college or graduate level.
Why Evil pt 3, The Nature of Evil
The statement of the problem of the nature of evil could be 1. God created all things 2. Evil is something 3. Therefore, God created evil. So what is evil? Many people believe God made evil because He made all “things”. But, God said, “looking back on all His creation, It was very good” Genesis 1:31 So, if everything God made was good, then how can evil be real? The answer, evil is not a “thing” or substance. How then can evil be real but not a thing? Augustine found a satisfying, enduring answer: Evil is a real lack, privation, or corruption of a good thing. That is, evil does not exist in itself. To illustrate, Evil is like a wound in an arm. The wound does not exist in itself, a totally wounded body is not a body at all. Evil is like rust to a car, a totally rusted car does not exist, it would just be a brown spot in the road. Evil is like rot to a tree, a totally rotten tree is not a tree at all, it’s topsoil! So, like a wound, rust, or rot, Evil is a real lack, privation, or corruption of a good thing. So, you can say 1. God created all things. 2. Evil is not thing. 3. Hence God did not create evil. But don’t misunderstand, evil is not a mere absence of good. For example, the power of sight is absent in a rock and a blind person. By nature a stone is not supposed to see, so there is no privation of sight. However, a human by nature is supposed to see, to be blind is a real privation. So to say evil is a privation, or a lack of some good that ought to be there, does not mean evil is unreal. Isn’t Satan totally evil? He is completely evil in a moral sense, but not in a metaphysical sense. Insofar as he is a creature of God, he has intelligence, power and free will as remnants of good that God gave to him as a created angel. But he uses all his God-given good powers to do evil; he is ever, always, irretrievably bent on evil. God is the author of everything, including evil, in the sense that He permits it, but not in the sense that He produces it. Just like parents give children limited freedom to learn from their mistakes, even so God does with His children, but in no way does God “author” evil in the sense of producing, promoting, or performing it. Just as Joseph told his brothers who left him for dead, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” Genesis 50:20, even so God overrules the evil intent of humans to accomplish His ultimate good. Of course, explaining evil as a lack in good things does not explain where the lack comes from. All it explains is the nature of evil as a real privation in good things. Where the corruption came from is another question. So we will look at the origin of evil to provide you some more food for thought. Excerpts from chapter 2, If God, why Evil? By Norman L. Geisler, I encourage you get this book and read all of Dr. Geisler’s research and 50 years of knowledge in theology, philosophy, and apologetics on the college or graduate level.
Why Evil- Views on Evil
There is no human on earth that does not have some brush with evil in their lifetime. Many things can be classified as evil; illness and disease, natural disaster such as hurricanes or earthquakes, pain both physical and mental, evil created by man such as rape or murder, world evil such as starvation or poverty. Three basic answers to the overall problem of evil have been offered: Pantheism affirms God and denies evil. Atheism affirms evil and denies God. Theism affirms both God and evil. In general pantheists believe God exists but deny the existence of evil. [i] The atheist’s solution to evil is just the opposite, they admit evil is real, but do not believe God is. Sigmund Freud claimed that God is an illusion because belief in God is based on wish fulfillment. However, we can only know something is evil (not good) if we know what is good.[1] C.S. Lewis said “(when I was an atheist) my argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line”.[2] This leaves us with the remaining alternative that both God and evil are real. But this nonetheless is a real problem- as least for the Christian view of God. The God of the Bible is all-knowing, and He foresaw that evil would occur in His world. He also is all-good and He desires to do away with evil. In addition, He is all-powerful and could accomplish this. Why then does evil exist?[3] The Christian (theist) claims that only an infinitely good and infinitely powerful God can solve the problem of evil. But how? Again, are not absolute good and evil incompatible? And could not an all-good and all-powerful God eliminate evil? Next week we will explore more about the nature of evil. We will look at this problem: 1. God created all things 2. Evil is something 3. Therefore, God created evil. We will discuss and respond to this problem, we will learn that evil does not exist in itself.[4] If you want read more details about “ If God, Why Evil?” Be sure and pick up your own copy of the book by this title by Dr. Norman L. Geisler. He will give you some real sound food for thought.
[1] Pg 13 If God, Why Evil? Norman L. Geisler
[2] Mere Christianity, 45
[3] Pg 14 If God, Why Evil? Norman L. Geisler
[4] Pg 19 If God, Why Evil? Norman L. Geisler
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Democratic Socialism
I am posting a story recently published in Talk About Town. If you have already read the article and want to see the additional comments drop down below the dotted line.
Florida passed a new state law that requires drug testing for welfare recipients. "While there are certainly legitimate needs for public assistance, it is unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction," Governor Rick Scott said in a news release. "This new law will encourage personal accountability and will help to prevent the misuse of tax dollars.” says Scott who pushed for the law. In Florida alone over 113 thousand people are currently receiving temporary cash assistance. While state law makers feel this will root out welfare recipients who are using public dollars to buy drugs, Democrats and advocates for the poor say the requirement could violate individuals' constitutional rights to privacy, and the American Civil Liberties Union is likely to challenge the law in court. Currently seven other states are considering this same legislation. Pastor George Scott from Orlando said, "At times I feel like there are so many hurdles that they keep genuine people with real needs from getting help… Kids could end up paying the price for parents' irresponsibility," he said." I wouldn't want that to happen. I wouldn't want them to pay the price for mistakes the parents are making." Well, I don’t either, but should these kids be in the hands of parents if they are drug users? Now I am the last person to kick someone when they are already down, and I know many people who are on assistance that really need it. However, I spent over 25 years in Human Resources, and over the last 10 years I’ve had a lot of interaction with people who were benefiting from welfare that walked into our company “looking for work”. Unfortunately, I also saw an increased trend of those same people failing drug tests. I found my staff spent as many as 10 hours a week per staff member completing food stamp, housing, childcare and other welfare benefit paperwork. What was sad, when we would call many of these same people for work, they would turn us down for various reasons. I have actually been told “no, Oprah has a show I wanted to see on today, can I start tomorrow?” I don’t know if drugs are the only problem we are battling in this day and time. There is under-education, lack of work ethics, inflated cost of living expectations, just to name a few. I think we all have a responsibility as citizens to help solve the welfare problems, not just turn and act like we don’t see what is happening. I write often about the Center of Hope, with two locations in Parker County, they offer people “a hand up, not just a hand out”. I don’t want to just complain, I have some suggestions on how to address these issues, do you? Together we can unite to solve the problem of poverty in our country.
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Not all people who are receiving welfare benefits are on drugs, however, many drug users and dealers do draw benefits while earning money illegally by manufacturing and selling drugs. Since they obviously don’t report that income, on paper it looks like they have no means of income. I agree that there should be some accountability from welfare recipients that they are not wasting our tax dollars. Florida is handling the issue well, if they pass the drug test, there is no charge. Only those who fail pay for their test. This law is no worse than the “no pass, no play” rule our kids are guided by in school.
However, I also don’t think that this law alone will solve our unemployment and poverty issue in America. While there is no perfect plan, I have a few thoughts on how to start to work on these problems.
Now many of you may say my ideas sound like they belong in a socialism society not a democracy, but don’t we already have a hybrid of both? We are supporting millions under a socialism model who are being supported by those who believe in the system of democracy.
I belief if people can’t or don’t want to support themselves, then they need to have some accountability and control over them. If they want the freedom to do what they want, the democratic system is available for them to break away from government support.
First, I see trade schools and training programs popping up on television and the internet, promising a great career after training. However, they mislead students about income levels and job opportunities. I had a daughter who went to medical assistant school. After $10K in education, she started at $8/hr in 2000, she could have been earning that same amount in most general skilled positions without the $10k student loan. She left that field after 8 years to go into a clerical field for $4/hr more and just her computer skills, no trade school required. I know from personal experience as a professional in helping people find gainful employment that most employers require some experience. They will hire someone with experience before someone fresh out of school. One suggestion is allow employers to gain some kind of tax break for hiring trade school graduates for their first year of employment; this would help people gain the important on-the-job experience they need to survive in the trade they studied for. They could pay a lesser training wage since the productivity may not be as great as the experienced worker. To help those trainees survive, defer the loan repayment for the first year so they can afford to start at a lower wage without the pressure of repaying the high student loans.
There is also an aging workforce that finds problem getting employment after 40 years of age. I worked with many employers who often selected less qualified candidates for positions. While they didn’t say it directly, I know they passed on more experienced candidate due to the age, and past income record. As a person over 50, I know that the more mature workforce still has a lot to offer and they need to continue to support themselves. Companies could benefit from hiring these individual to train the newer generations, they could learn better work ethics and commitment just to name a few things that are lacking in today’s generation.
Now I want to talk about welfare. Our answer today is to pay out money for food, housing, and general expenses. But we have no real accountability to the recipients for working to better their situation. In fact the system keeps most of them in poverty. I used to give jobs to people who really wanted to work, but then in their first month they would have to take time off work to make a food stamp or childcare assistance appointment. They knew that if they took time off their job in the first 90 days they were subject to losing their job, but they couldn’t afford to lose their benefits yet either. Why can’t the welfare offices open from 10am-7pm, and make appointments so those who have found gainful employment can make their appointments and keep their jobs? It seems like such a simple compromise doesn’t it?
I know individuals who are on disability benefits who would love to work, but have some health issues that prevent them from working in the field of their experience. Instead of using the skills they have, we just start giving them a check. They no longer feel useful and we the taxpayers foot the bill. Many employers don’t want to take on a disabled worker fearful of some liability issues. Why not adapt jobs to their disability and supplement their disability income to allow them to work some and feel like they are still contributing to society? Instead in our current system, we cap what they can earn, and threaten to take their disability benefits away. Why not just reduce their benefits after they earn a certain amount, but keep the disability status so they can fall back on it when necessary due to their illness and retain their Medicare/Medicaid health coverage. Most people with disabilities can and want to work, at least part time but are afraid they will lose their benefits so they sit at home. . I know of one company called Expanco, in Ft Worth, TX. They employee severely handicapped and disabled people. Each job is specifically designed for the individual. For example, one person who is wheelchair bound and severely handicapped cannot count, read, or stand. They created a template for this person to build picnic kits for large national retailer. They drew 4 circles for plates, four outlines for forks, spoons, knifes, and cups. She could match the items on the template and complete one kit. They had a blind man with a severe brain injury who did quality assurance. These people earned minimum wages with a supplement, but they were productive and earned their own money, not totally dependent on the state. We could keep many jobs here in the states and spend less to produce product, by supplementing their income over and above the cost of building product here in the United States instead of sending jobs out of this country.
Now, regarding welfare in general, I have met some people who remain on benefits for extended periods because we don’t penalize them. Instead of paying them $800-1,000 month directly for housing, why don’t we have many housing units like high-rise buildings, apartment complexes etc . The cost to build and maintain these complexes would be half what we must pay so welfare individuals can pick and choose where they want to live. We could make sure these complexes have mass transit available. When I was growing up, we had an area outside of downtown called the “projects” that worked similar to this. However, over time, these areas have been torn down to make way for more freeways and commercial growth.
Next, while someone is on welfare they should be required to produce some kind of product or service a minimum of 20-30 hours per week while they are seeking outside employment. Give the welfare money to Companies to build their factory at or near the living sight and agree to employee welfare recipients. They would perform this work of 20-30 hrs per week and in exchange the company pays them welfare benefits as wages for their time. This is a great deal for those who really need welfare, they get to gain some work experience. For those who could be gainfully employed, they would go find a better job because they would not want to work just for welfare money. The company would benefit because they could produce product at a lower wage.
My grandfather ran the Ft Worth rehabilitation Farm for over 20 years in Ft Worth, TX. He would take individuals who were arrested for public intoxication or were homeless to “the wino farm”. They would get a bed, food, and clean clothes. In exchange, the people living at the farm would work for the city parks and maintenance department during the day to clean up the parks and city gardens to work off their fines. They also did all the cooking for the jail facilities. It was a good arrangement for the city and the individual. So what went wrong? When my grandfather got old and had to retire, no one had his passion to continue to carry the torch. The residents around the farm expressed concerns about the farm residents breaking into their high dollar homes (although, during the farms existence, no such incidences were recorded), so the funding to help run the farm was lost. What happened you ask? The farm was shut down due to lack of funding, the residence returned to the street as homeless living under the bridges in the downtown Ft Worth area, the city had to pay more money to keep the parks and general area clean, and the jail outsourced it’s food suppliers (they have had several new stories of the bad food and health conditions of the food vendors since the close of the farm). These programs work, but we must help support them, and I believe it would cost less per individual than paying the benefits directly to individuals through the welfare program.
I saw two women who ran a food kitchen and they feed 2,000 people per week for pennies on the dollar, why do we need to give so much money to people who just end up selling their food stamps so they can buy things other than food. Let’s give the food stamp money to these community facilities who can feed hundreds more with less money than our food stamp program does currently.
I have also met many people who truly are unable to care for themselves. Those individuals seem to be grateful for whatever support they get. They don’t complain about where they live, the graciously accept whatever food they are offered. These unfortunate individuals usually get by with less, and don’t abuse the system. I don’t mind my tax dollars supporting the TRULY needy.
Yes, many of my suggestions do sound a lot like socialism. However, the basic difference is people have choices. They can choose to live off the government system and in exchange the government will dictate where they live and work, or they can make the effort to gain skills, desire, and get out there and work and live wherever they choose to. I think we are all given a choice. While not all, but many find the welfare way an easy life. They spend most of their time in front of the TV wasting their lives away. Our system was built on the harder you work, the more you earn the more you have. Somewhere along the way be felt we should give hand-outs to the less fortunate but never built in a system to give them a “hand up” back on their feet, that’s where our system fails them. I say we stop the “hand-outs”. What is your opinion?
Friday, March 4, 2011
Your Kids and Sex Education
Have you talked to your kids about sex education and other risky behaviors? Teens who talk to their parents about sex education are more likely to delay any sexual encounter, and despite their look of dread, kids really want to learn about sex from their parents not their peers. Do you know the statistics? They may surprise you: In 2009, 46% of high school students had sexual intercourse and 13.8% had four or more sex partners during their life. Prior to the sexual activity, 21.6% drank alcohol or used drugs. Only 38.9% used a condom. 34% of currently sexually active high school students did not use a condom during their last sexual intercourse. In 2006, an estimated 5,259 young people (ages 13-24) were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Each year, approximately 19 million new STD infections occur, and almost half of them are among youth ages 15-24. (www.sadd.org , Students Against Destructive Decisions). Sadly, most parents avoid the conversation because they don’t know how to go about having this type of discussion.
Having “the discussion” is not easy, everyone involved is uncomfortable, so much so that often the talk comes after it’s too late. Researchers found that more than 40% of adolescents had intercourse before talking to their parents about abstinence, safe sex, birth control or sexually transmitted diseases. The sad fact about this statistic is that kids who’s parents have regular discussions and educate their children are less likely to delay having any sexual encounter, or if they do decide, the will take every precaution to have safe sex.
While kids pretend not to listen to their parents, they do hear what we have to say. Parents can be the best sex educators, but you need to prepare when, what, and how you are going to handle the discussion. If you are embarrassed, your kids are likely to be embarrassed to ask questions. If you speak honestly and frankly, your kids are more likely to come to you when they have questions or are faced with the decision of a sexual encounter.
One of the best sources I have found is the Bible. In fact, the bible has a lot to say about sex. God created sex, so a man and wife have a beautiful way to express their pledged love to one another. Sex is also for procreation, so man and woman can have children and continue the family. But the bible is also filled with stories of consequences of sexual promiscuity. Samson and Delilah, Amnon and Tamar, David and Bathsheba all paid a price for having sexual relations. Many topics such as sexual immorality, homosexuality, premarital sex, fornication, sex in marriage are all covered. If you are not familiar with the bible and how to use it as a tool for a discussion with your kids there is still a lot of information available to parents. Here are 10 Tips for Talking to Your Children About Sex (Adapted in part from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Washington, D.C.)
1.Use teachable moments to discuss sex.
2.Talk honestly about love, sex and relationships.
3.Give young people solid information about adolescent sex and the consequences.
4.Let children know there is no such thing as "safe sex."
5.Encourage children to remain connected with family, school and community.
6.Emphasize with kids that sexual abuse is wrong and should be reported.
7.Encourage young people to avoid alcohol, drugs and other risky behaviors.
8.Reinforce that kids do not need to give in to peer pressure.
9.Help your children set goals.
10.Work with your children to create a personal plan.
Be open to have the discussion frequently, this should not be a single discussion. Talk about life experiences, for example when you are watching television or movies and a sexual scene comes on, talk about the situation and consequences. Be sure you know what your kids are being taught at their school, don’t leave it up to the system to teach your child. Peer pressure is a big issue. Kids are either trying to “fit in”, become more popular, or just understand their own sexuality. You need to be a good listener and a good observer. Your kids will communicate with you, not always with words, about the pressures they may be experiencing.
Grace House Ministries in Weatherford, TX educate teens using a program developed by Scott & White. Worth the Wait® helps parents and empower teens to make healthy decisions. You owe it to your children to educate them. Visit http://www.worththewait.org/ to learn more, or if you live in Parker County, TX contact Grace House Ministries at 817-599-9080, they teach this program in our community.
Let’s change the statistics about teenage sex, it begins with you.
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