Does Proof Actually Exist?
As I type this, some very sketchy information is beginning to come out about the death of Freddy Gray in Baltimore. Most would call it conjecture because we have not yet heard from the authorities what the investigation shows.
But THAT is the point of my blog today. Skipping over about 5 paragraphs of critical thinking and reasoning, let me ask, "Who exactly are the authorities?" I'm afraid the sad answer is, "We each get to choose our own." Well, to quote C.S. Lewis rather sloppily, "That means YOU are your own authority." In other words, the only truth that will set me free is the truth with which I agree and that supports my agenda. Ironically, that premise creates no freedom, but just the opposite - the chains of slavery...to selfishness. (And the snake said to the woman, "Surely when you eat of that tree, you will be like God." Really? How's that turned out for you?)
In his book, "Slouching Toward Gomorrah," the late Robert Bork pointed at the hippies of the 1960s/70s as the first Americans who aggressively attacked and initiated the dismantling of our trust in institutions, and of course the whole idea of authority. (It's amazing just how many people and institutions, including the church, can fit onto one bulls-eye by using their favorite title of ridicule, "The Man.") Distorted body counts by an American general in the Vietnam War damaged trust. The Nixon/Watergate scandal helped tear down trust. And today, pick your party and politician to find more examples than you want of the eroding of trust. Bork, a faithful Catholic Christian, did not deny that all institutions are flawed. What he was prophetically warning us of, is just where we are today. What he saw coming were the scenes on my television from Baltimore.
I accept the medical examiner in Baltimore as an authority, but only because I have first accepted as an Authority, the One who spoke these words...to me.
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him for HE is your life..."
Scott
As I type this, some very sketchy information is beginning to come out about the death of Freddy Gray in Baltimore. Most would call it conjecture because we have not yet heard from the authorities what the investigation shows.
But THAT is the point of my blog today. Skipping over about 5 paragraphs of critical thinking and reasoning, let me ask, "Who exactly are the authorities?" I'm afraid the sad answer is, "We each get to choose our own." Well, to quote C.S. Lewis rather sloppily, "That means YOU are your own authority." In other words, the only truth that will set me free is the truth with which I agree and that supports my agenda. Ironically, that premise creates no freedom, but just the opposite - the chains of slavery...to selfishness. (And the snake said to the woman, "Surely when you eat of that tree, you will be like God." Really? How's that turned out for you?)
In his book, "Slouching Toward Gomorrah," the late Robert Bork pointed at the hippies of the 1960s/70s as the first Americans who aggressively attacked and initiated the dismantling of our trust in institutions, and of course the whole idea of authority. (It's amazing just how many people and institutions, including the church, can fit onto one bulls-eye by using their favorite title of ridicule, "The Man.") Distorted body counts by an American general in the Vietnam War damaged trust. The Nixon/Watergate scandal helped tear down trust. And today, pick your party and politician to find more examples than you want of the eroding of trust. Bork, a faithful Catholic Christian, did not deny that all institutions are flawed. What he was prophetically warning us of, is just where we are today. What he saw coming were the scenes on my television from Baltimore.
I accept the medical examiner in Baltimore as an authority, but only because I have first accepted as an Authority, the One who spoke these words...to me.
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him for HE is your life..."
Scott
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