The Garbled Epoch

This past Monday I had to turn in a paper showing the following:

How man rejected his Maker's Biblical foundation.
How Deism, led to Naturalism, which led to Nihilism, which led to Existentialism.

I'd like to know what YOU all think about this paper.

But before you do all that I'd like to give you this:

Deism: The belief that God made the universe and then abandoned it. That He isn't active in our everyday lives. Deists believe that if God was active in the universe, this would mean that God didn't make everything perfect in the beginning.

Naturalism: This is the belief that there is no God, nature created itself, matter is all that exists. There is no supernatural. If you want to think of it in simpler terms: Evolution.

Nihilism: This is a belief that there is no God, there is no meaning to anything in life. Only matter exists so what hope does mankind have? There is no greater purpose, there is no point.

Existentialism: A form of being politically correct. Basically what I believe is ok, and what you believe is ok, and both beliefs are correct.


Now for my paper, I'd like to know what you all think:

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The Garbled Epoch

The story of mankind has four chapters. The Prelude, which includes the events prior to the fall of mankind; The Old Covenant, which is from the time of the fall to the grace of Jesus Christ; The New Covenant, which mankind is currently under, beginning with the coming of Jesus Christ; and last but not least, the coming Kingdom of Christ on Earth as described as upon His return. There is one interesting shift seen from the beginning, which will continue until all is set right upon His return; that is a departure from God, Christ, and His Biblical foundation. Beginning with the fall, there is seen a rebellion against God's laws and decrees which continued into the Old and New Covenant. The Greek civilization prospered greatly during the Old Covenant and brought us many ideas of a god, or gods. The Greeks had two god concepts. One was their humanlike, personal gods which were seen throughout their mythology. The second was their impersonal infinite "nature" which created their lives and continuined to change and shape the globe around them. This "impersonal nature" worldview was not fully integrated into western culture until much later in the New Covenant. This idea of nature was an attempt to reject the creator, or explain away the creator. In the New Covenant, before society saw this idea of Naturalism flourish, there was a focus on Deism. Deism was the idea that God created the universe, and left it to run on its own accord. Basically in Deism God just watches mankind like He's watching a movie and He is not active in man's everyday lives. Men believed this because they thought that an active God in their everyday lives would mean that God had created an imperfect universe. This though, opened the door to the ideals of Naturalism which lead to many other ideologies. Darwin's Origins was published in the 19^th century and it was an explanation of the world around mankind. Darwin described the world with a Naturalistic view point, that there was no "head deity" or godhead, but that nature was a guiding force. Nature created itself, it evolved out of nothing and it continues to this day, as a closed system without any supernatural. Society accepted this view and immediately began to place science as their foundation and continued the rebellion against their creator. With no Biblical foundation, science began to take an unhealthy role in men's lives. With no supernatural there was no greater meaning to the universe, there was no afterlife, and there was no one in charge to guide us through the ages. Mankind continued his defiance and ripped his legs right out from underneath him. Slowly, mankind began to realize that science and evolution didn't hold all the answers. Man went on a search for his meaning, the very thing he had in the beginning. It was at this pivotal time that many dark and dangerous ideas began to seep into culture and take root.

When man removed his Biblical foundation through Naturalism, other thought processes began to emerge. The three worldviews that have influenced our society the most, and have lead to other worldviews, include Naturalism, Nihilism, and Existentialism. Naturalism in recap is the idea that there is no God, nature created its own self, nature is all-powerful, there is no supernatural, and there is no great plan or purpose for mankind. This dangerous way of thinking, isn't as dangerous as its offspring's train of thought, Nihilism. Nihilism is the complete rejection of God, hope, purpose, and meaning, the realization that there is no supernatural, and knowledge that man is nothing more than meaningless flesh. Lastly, Existentialism is the idea that: "You are unique, just like everyone else." In further explanation, this worldview stresses the idea that every single interpretation of the world is correct. That mankind is not fallen, and that mankind is able to reason himself into whatever existence he wants, and in that reasoning, he is correct. This, according to existentialists works, even when the two different thoughts conflict with each other.

So how far has society come from the Biblical foundations it once had? As stated above, existentialism is the idea that whatever a person believes is correct regardless of the idea. This does not line up with the Biblical foundation which places emphasis on the creator, not the created, and that there is one and only one way to salvation, which is through the grace and salvation of Jesus Christ. Nihilism is almost completely opposite of the Bible. The Bible continually stresses that there is a God who is supernaturally active in the everyday lives of mankind, giving meaning and purpose to those who accepts His grace. This goes against the ideas of Nihilism and Naturalism. Naturalism stresses an impersonal nature that created us, while the Bible shows that mankind was created by a loving personal God. Interestingly enough is that there is a flow through all of these worldviews as our society continues to move farther and farther away from God.

Historians are able to look back on history and see an almost "flow" like a river. So where has this "river" come from, where has it taken man, and where is he now? Deism was the start of the removal of our Biblical foundation. The Church allowed many to believe a false doctrine that God was distant and impersonal, that after creating His creation He left it alone to show His perfection. However this is not a Biblical foundation, yet not a complete departure. The departure would begin with the removal of God in Naturalism. Naturalism leads us to the idea that there was no God, yet nature created itself and that nature was a self-sustained system. When God was removed as a foundation, other aspects were lost. Naturalism led men to the thought process that since there is no God, there is no supernatural, since there is no supernatural there is no meaning, since there is no meaning, there is no hope. This is where Nihilism is introduced. Nihilism is Naturalism in its extreme form, that there is no God, and since there is no greater purpose or meaning or hope there is no point to anything. What a depressing way of thinking. Society began to want meaning again, they wanted hope. This lead mankind on a search for meaning and purpose yet rather than turning back to their creator who had given them so much, mankind began to search in other places for meaning and purpose. Meet Existentialism, mankind's answer to it all. Existentialism was introduced when men wanted purpose and meaning that Nihilism did not offer. The thought on Existentialism is that everyone is right, and that whatever gives purpose and meaning to one person, is good for that person. Also, whatever anyone picks for meaning, purpose, or salvation is the correct way for that specific person. This was just a focus on the individual.

God is a God of order, stability, love, and judgment. When mankind rested on a Biblical foundation, it was stable, yet when society rejected God He allowed them to fall. God knows what men need, and that is an infinite, personal God of purpose and meaning. Outside of that, as has been shown, mankind slowly hurts itself more and more. There is a removal of first God; then hope and meaning; then order, reason and a healthy view of mankind. This is where a society ends up when it rejects its own maker; with its legs shot out from under it, and its house falling down around it.

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Now, post your opinions.

This man clearly likes dramatics. After his statement that there could be tens of thousands of people dead, and his inability to keep a civil tongue, one must wonder about this man's ability to NOT BE DRAMATIC. YES your city is underwater right now, yes people are dying, yes your city was built on an average of 12 feet underwater, yes President Bush AND Blanco declared States of Emergency in the area of Louisiana. However, I didn't see you evacuating people.

Now, to my readers, how would this man be able to evacuate people? Simple. Through the city buses, and the school buses which we have clear aerial shots of in a parking lot. Yes they are underwater now, but what about before the event occurred? And please don't give me the whole: "Well where do you get drivers from on such short notice?" When you have a disaster of this scale coming your way, I'm sure you can think of something. I'm sure that there are enough people in the city of New Orleans to make a decent attempt at getting drivers. But no. No attempts. Yet, this man does have an excuse. There are no bathrooms on the school buses. Do you really think that people are really concerned about that one Ray? I think having to stop on the side of the road to pee is better than loosing a loved one to your inability to react.

Nagin, however is clearly willing to blame the government and keeping the blame game going. Of course it’s the governments fault because they didn't send transportation. Of course its the governments fault about everything. What an easy excuse, blame the government.

One of the things that make me sickest is how he is sitting away from it all in Baton Rouge, not even there helping out. But even sicker still, is this statement that he made to the press regarding the “too many cooks in the kitchen”. Please pay close attention, this article is taken from CNN:

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- A day after Hurricane Katrina dealt a devastating blow to the Big Easy, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on Tuesday night blasted what he called a lack of coordination in relief efforts for setting behind the city's recovery.

"There is way too many fricking ... cooks in the kitchen," Nagin said in a phone interview with WAPT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi, fuming over what he said were scuttled plans to plug a 200-yard breach near the 17th Street Canal, allowing Lake Pontchartrain to spill into the central business district.

An earlier breach occurred along the Industrial Canal in the city's Lower 9th Ward.

The rising flood waters overwhelmed pumping stations that would normally keep the city dry. About 80 percent of the city was flooded with water up to 20 feet deep after the two levees collapsed.

The Army Corps of Engineers is working to repair the levee breaches, the agency said Tuesday, but it gave no timetable for repairs. (See the video of water surging into the saturated city -- 1:53 )

The Corps has workers assessing damage at the two locations. The National Guard, Coast Guard and state and federal agencies are working with the agency to speed the process, it reported.

"These closures are essential so that water can be removed from the city," a statement from the Corps of Engineers' headquarters in Washington said.

Walter Baumy, the agency's engineering division chief, said the Corps is trying to line up rock, sandbags, barges, helicopters and cranes to patch the damaged levees.

Col. Kevin Wagner, a Corps official in Baton Rouge, said that engineers also were eyeing the prospect of filling shipping containers with sand and lowering them into the breaches to stanch the flooding.

The National Weather Service reported a breach along the Industrial Canal levee at Tennessee Street, in southeast New Orleans, on Monday. Local reports later said the levee was overtopped, not breached, but the Corps of Engineers reported it Tuesday afternoon as having been breached.

But Nagin said a repair attempt was supposed to have been made Tuesday.

According to the mayor, Black Hawk helicopters were scheduled to pick up and drop massive 3,000-pound sandbags in the 17th Street Canal breach, but were diverted on rescue missions. Nagin said neglecting to fix the problem has set the city behind by at least a month.

"I had laid out like an eight-week to ten-week timeline where we could get the city back in semblance of order. It's probably been pushed back another four weeks as a result of this," Nagin said.

"That four weeks is going to stop all commerce in the city of New Orleans. It also impacts the nation, because no domestic oil production will happen in southeast Louisiana."

Nagin said he expects relief efforts in the city to improve as New Orleans, the National Guard and FEMA combine their command centers for better communication, follow-up and accountability.

Ray wants us to send every “goddam greyhound bus” and school bus in the nation, but when a few black hawk helicopters are used to pick up survivors, be blows a tube. Yet of course there will be an excuse and I can hear it now: “We need to get the economy of the nation running” Well Mr. Mayor, you should be concerned about your PEOPLE and not the economy of Louisiana which is the Governor’s job.

Mr. Mayor, I believe you AREN’T America’s Mayor, and I hope that your new found Venice from Hell will be of use for your little political games.

On a side note, I don’t like Nagin very much.

I don't know even how to start this. I am so disappointed in our society today, but I really can't be that, well, surprised at the actions of everyone. But let me before I do anything else make a few things clear:

1. I am not about to say "This is how everything is"

2. I am going to be talking about only specific events.

3. You don't have to like what I'm going to say at all.

4. I'm tired of all the accusations and opinions being thrown around.

So here it is, some hard core facts:

Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster that affected our nation at the very edges, all the way into the inner core. Not just literally, but emotionally, economically, politically, and honestly we haven't even seen the fullness of this disaster.

Facts:

Hurricane Katrina affected an area of around 90,000 square miles. The disaster area included most of the Gulf Coast Area which includes parts of Florida yet the main focus is on Louisiana’s New Orleans, Alabama, Mississippi etc..

Many people were left homeless. They are estimating around one million people were displaced due to this event.

Many parts of New Orleans are underwater.

This post will be broken up into many posts so please stay tuned as I continue to edit the content.