Every Day is A Precious Gift
'Tis the season of suicidal, mass murderers. The latest is the murder of hundreds in Sri Lanka, mostly Christians, gathering together to worship God and His Christ on Easter Sunday morning. In this case, the perps have been declared to be Islamists.
In New Zealand just over a month ago, there were 50 dead at the hands of one murderer. The dead were Muslims, peacefully gathered for religious services on a Friday morning. The perp was a solitary malefactor, twisted into such a mess that he (apparently) believed murdering Islamic men, women and children was somehow a righteous thing to do. In his case, he believed he had a bunch of anonymous cheerleaders on the dark web who would celebrate his courageous deeds.
It seems reasonable to expect that within another few weeks there will be another mass killing of innocents at the hands of vulpine murderers. 'Tis the season.
Secularists and atheists appear to join with every body else in condemning such an evil. We are not sure why since their secularist religion has no ultimate truth--no "Thou shalt not kill". As Sartre once put it, if the existentialist is driving down the road and a pedestrian steps out in front, it is an entirely neutral or irrelevant as to whether the existentialist chooses to avoid the pedestrian or accelerates to run him over. When there is no ultimate meaning, life is cheap. Thus the recent mass murderers have displayed their faith.
Showing posts with label Existentialism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Existentialism. Show all posts
Tuesday, 30 April 2019
Tuesday, 12 December 2017
The God of the West
The Pervasive Influence of Humanism
Society is shaped by humanist concepts such as existentialism, a philosophy which emphasises individual existence, freedom and choice. It expresses the view that human beings live in an irrational universe, that life has no essential purpose and that we must make our own meaning by exercising personal freedom and choice. People with this worldview believe that they are not answerable to anyone but themselves.
In such societies people pursue experiences, pleasure and instant gratification. It is all about the here and now, and looking and feeling good.
Other terms can also be used to describe aspects of a humanist society: narcissism (to love oneself above all else); hedonism (the pursuit of sensual pleasure and avoidance of any discomfort); relativism (having no absolute truth); and postmodernism (living according to what you feel is right for you). In societies which are influenced by these ways of thinking, where right and wrong are considered merely relatives, some injustices and sins are ignored or overlooked and some are even celebrated.
The Church has not been immune from this and there are elements within the Church that have been influenced by this prevailing humanist culture.
[Patrick Sookhdeo, The New Civic Religion: Humanism and the Future of Christianity (MacLean, Virginia: Isaac Publishing, 2016), p.94.]
Society is shaped by humanist concepts such as existentialism, a philosophy which emphasises individual existence, freedom and choice. It expresses the view that human beings live in an irrational universe, that life has no essential purpose and that we must make our own meaning by exercising personal freedom and choice. People with this worldview believe that they are not answerable to anyone but themselves.
In such societies people pursue experiences, pleasure and instant gratification. It is all about the here and now, and looking and feeling good.
Other terms can also be used to describe aspects of a humanist society: narcissism (to love oneself above all else); hedonism (the pursuit of sensual pleasure and avoidance of any discomfort); relativism (having no absolute truth); and postmodernism (living according to what you feel is right for you). In societies which are influenced by these ways of thinking, where right and wrong are considered merely relatives, some injustices and sins are ignored or overlooked and some are even celebrated.
The Church has not been immune from this and there are elements within the Church that have been influenced by this prevailing humanist culture.
[Patrick Sookhdeo, The New Civic Religion: Humanism and the Future of Christianity (MacLean, Virginia: Isaac Publishing, 2016), p.94.]
Thursday, 24 December 2015
Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow
Above Us Only Sky
Douglas Wilson
Suppose with me for a moment. Suppose that about fifteen nano-seconds after the Big Bang all the trillion-plex trillions of atoms all joined hands together, forming their molecules, and then they all ran pell mell down the corridors of the space/time continuum, making history as they went. Some scientists think they all yelled whee! but I myself suspect it was something more like arghh! The question is hard to determine because apart from a few staff writers at National Geographic, nobody was there really.
What is not hard to determine is what this would entail, if true. It would entail John Lennon being a certified moonbeam. Go over his famous Imagine with a thoughtful eye and ear, and the only thing that makes any sense whatever would be the chord changes. But if, as he avers, the only thing above us is sky, then the chord changes making sense . . . doesn’t make sense.
Without transcendent reality, we don’t just lose transcendent reality. We lose everything down here as well.
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Christians and the Classics
Camus: Representative Modern Man
Leland Ryken
Professor of English at Wheaton College
(Hat Tip: Justin Taylor)
There is no more representative intellectual figure of the mid-20th century than Albert Camus. In addition to being an influential fiction writer, Camus was at the focal point of the intellectual crosscurrents that swirled about Europe and crossed over to the United States. The underlying principles of those movements remain pervasive in Western culture, and this is part of the relevance of Camus to us today.
Born in Algeria in 1913, Camus was a restless spirit who kept on the move and pursued many intellectual and professional paths. As a literary figure, Camus is considered a French author. He is as famous as a philosopher as a fiction writer, and in fact his novels are an embodiment of his philosophical viewpoints. Camus was killed instantly in a car crash in 1960 at the age of 46.
The many-sided nature of Camus's life makes it a veritable primer on modern secularism. Camus was a political activist, pacifist, and revolutionary. He was twice married but dismissive of marriage as an institution. He lived a sensual and disordered life. That chaotic life is itself instructive for Christians. If we want to see modern man "writ large," Camus can supply our representative figure.
Leland Ryken
Professor of English at Wheaton College
(Hat Tip: Justin Taylor)
There is no more representative intellectual figure of the mid-20th century than Albert Camus. In addition to being an influential fiction writer, Camus was at the focal point of the intellectual crosscurrents that swirled about Europe and crossed over to the United States. The underlying principles of those movements remain pervasive in Western culture, and this is part of the relevance of Camus to us today.
Born in Algeria in 1913, Camus was a restless spirit who kept on the move and pursued many intellectual and professional paths. As a literary figure, Camus is considered a French author. He is as famous as a philosopher as a fiction writer, and in fact his novels are an embodiment of his philosophical viewpoints. Camus was killed instantly in a car crash in 1960 at the age of 46.
The many-sided nature of Camus's life makes it a veritable primer on modern secularism. Camus was a political activist, pacifist, and revolutionary. He was twice married but dismissive of marriage as an institution. He lived a sensual and disordered life. That chaotic life is itself instructive for Christians. If we want to see modern man "writ large," Camus can supply our representative figure.
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