A House Divided
A House Divided
By Jack Kinsella
If the Bible is true, then what does that really mean? Christians certainly believe that the Bible is true. Without the Bible, we could know nothing about God.
Every religion has some form of a god, whether it be a deity, an ideology or a state of existence.
The religion of secular humanism worships a state of existence…“I think, therefore I am”. Secular humanism holds that man is the supreme being and the creator of God.
Secular humanism is itself a religion, according to the Supreme Court. (Torcaso v Watkins, 1961)
There are a lot of religions that recognize the Bible as being among their sacred books, including Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, Catholicism, etc., but none of these view the Bible as their supreme religious authority.
Islam’s supreme authority is the Koran; Catholicism’s supreme authority is Church tradition, the Mormons revere the Book of Mormon; Jehovah’s Witnesses give first place to the Watchtower society…Bible-believing Christians are marginalized as ‘fundamentalists’.
People for the American Way, the ACLU and the rest of secular humanism’s ‘clergy’ seldom if ever take aim at Islam or Mormonism or Buddhism, but attacks against Christianity are an almost daily event.
The French Ministry of Culture (culture is a big thing in France) had 20 Christians arrested and prosecuted for breaking up a play in Paris that featured the face of Christ drizzled with excrement.
The French Roman Catholic Church condemned the protestors and defended the play.
“The association of French Roman Catholic bishops on Tuesday condemned “the violence perpetrated during recent performances… France’s Roman Catholic Church is neither fundamentalist nor obscurantist (opposed to enlightenment).”
How popular do you think a play would be that featured Buddha submerged in urine or Mohammed covered in feces? The hue and cry over disrespecting Buddha would be global — Buddhism is the world’s third largest religion.
Disrespecting Buddha would be offensive to as many as 1.5 billion Buddhists. Nobody in the civilized Western world would countenance such disrespect. Buddhism is highly esteemed in France, where it is that nation’s third largest religion.
The “Wisdom of Buddhism“, a weekly French TV program, draws about 250,000 viewers, according to the Buddhist Union of France. For the French, it’s a “culture” thing.
“French philosopher Luc Ferry, appointed Minister of Youth and Education in 2002, published an article in Le Point magazine in which he asks: “Why this Buddhist wave? And why particularly in France, a very Catholic country in the past? … In this time of de-Christianization, Buddhism has furnished to the West a rich and interesting alternative.”
The French would not dare to disrespect Mohammed. While France did take the bold step of banning the burqa, it did so as part of a law banning any visible sign of religious affiliation.
France forbids the burqa, as well as the Jewish yarmulke (skullcap) and large Christian crosses. But the French show great respect (or fear) when it comes to Islam and are very careful not to offend Islam unnecessarily.
When it comes to Christianity, well, offending Christians is a national sport.
Assessment
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)
I picked the French because as an officially secular humanist state, they are an easy target. But the point is that Christianity is the one religion that anyone can disrespect with total impunity.
There is no major backlash against stuff like an excrement-smeared Jesus or a taxpayer-funded art exhibit depicts Christ submerged in a jar of urine.
Christians huff and puff, but they don’t actually blow anybody’s house down. In the example we used, only 20 Frenchmen stormed the offending theater.
According to national polls, 64% of the French self-identified as Catholics. But only one third of the French in the same poll believe in God.
In Washington DC, the Office of Human Rights is holding an investigation into the practices of Catholic University of America. Catholic University is accused of violating the human rights of Muslim students by displaying crosses.
George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf is supporting the human rights violation claim. In a letter accompanying the complaint, (which was sixty pages long!) Banzhaf argued:
“…some of the Muslim students were offended because they had to hold meetings in the school’s chapels and “at the cathedral that looms over the entire campus – the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. It shouldn’t be too difficult somewhere on the campus for the university to set aside a small room where Muslims can pray without having to stare up and be looked down upon by a cross of Jesus.”
I read everything I could find on this story and nowhere could I find anyone pointing out that it is a CATHOLIC university — it’s NAME is “Catholic University.”
Can you imagine a situation — anywhere — America, Canada, France — anywhere! where Catholics attending at a Muslim university would even consider demanding that the school set aside a place where Catholic students could attend mass?
First off, Catholics wouldn’t be allowed to attend a Muslim university. Anywhere. America, Canada, France…ANYWHERE! Muslims are allowed to discriminate on religious grounds. Christians are not.
Why that is goes back to our initial question…what if the Bible IS true?
The Bible tells us that this old world is currently under the control of the ‘god of this world’ and that the god of this world is the enemy of Christ.
“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Corinthians 4:4)
So logically speaking, if the Bible IS true, then it would follow that the only religious faith that threatens the god of this world is faith in the God of the Bible and faith in His Christ and His Gospel.
If the Bible is NOT true, then one faith would be the same as another, would it not?
If there was no God, or if there is some other, extra-biblical god that was really God, then it would seem logical that the religion that belonged to the real God would be the one under attack.
If they were all equally wrong, it wouldn’t make any difference to anybody. Would it?
If you were a secular humanist, why would you care if I was a Buddhist? If I was a Buddhist, why would I care if you were a secular humanist? Secular Humanists aren’t threatened by religions without God.
So they don’t sue Buddhists. Or demand Buddhism make accommodations for Christianity.
But if the Bible IS true, then the world is divided into two camps. Not three, or five or a hundred. Only two. On one side are those that believe in the God of the Bible. On the other side are those that believe in the god of this world, by whatever name.
If the Bible is true, then extra-Biblical religions cannot be. If extra-Biblical religions are valid, then Bible-based religion cannot be. There is no middle ground and therefore no place for compromise.
The god of this world thunders and blusters against Christians and Jews, but the Bible honors the meek. Christians are enjoined to love their enemies. Their enemies are under no such obligation.
“The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.” (Psalms 147:6)
If the Bible is true, then one would expect the god of this world to hate those that follow it and to love those that hate it.
“And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand…” (Matthew 12:25)
The proof is in the pudding.
This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on October 28, 2011.