Monday, February 16, 2009

Babble On

I Am a Free Thinker

We are a staunch proponent of people's rights to believe what they will. You could claim that Mickey Mouse is God, and while we will explain why this is false, we will hold fast to your right to believe it.

That said, we have been getting a number of comments from people who consider themselves to be "free thinkers". They go on to explain how we have been deceived by "the illumanti", "the white man", "the demons", "our own insecurities" "religion", etc. (take your pick) into believing that Jesus Christ is God. Apparently, we have the ability to discern truth in certain areas, but remain blinded by this whole Christianity thing.

Far be it for me to stand in the way of someone's God-given right to choose their own path in life. Neither is it my responsibility to "prove" who God is. God reveals Himself to whom He chooses based on their desire for Truth (Matthew 5:6). But I will take a moment to examine this concept of being a free thinker, because I have not found such persons to really be free at all.

Nonconformity is NOT Free Thinking
 
Going against or rejecting perceived social norms, for the sake of doing so, does not constitute free thinking.  It is similar to a child saying the opposite of everything you say...just because you said it. You say left, the child says right. You say up, the child says down. In the mind of the child, they are being independent, making their own decisions, calling their own shots. In reality, they are simply followers because their entire world view is defined by reacting against the beliefs of others. 

It is this type of mentality (on a more base level) that results in multitudes of young men walking around the streets with their pants hanging down between their knees. Society says pants should be pulled up to the waist? Well, I will wear mine down to the ground. Nevermind the fact that I look like an idiot. Nevermind the fact that I can barely walk (and please don't ask me to run). Nevermind the fact that I am telling the world I like to be sodomized (which is where that originated from). 

They cannot even comprehend the lunacy of their actions because their only concern is rebelling against "the establishment". I can much sooner respect someone who applies some thought, some analysis, some originality to their views - even if it is wrong - than just doing the opposite of what they believe people expect. Where is the "thinking" in that?

So likewise, stating that you don't believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God because "all of that religion stuff is nonsense" is not free thinking; it is just non-thinking.

The Theology of "Free thinkers"

When asking a free thinker the reasons for their beliefs (or unbelief as the case may be), what emerges is a largely personal projection of God. If I cannot imagine it, it cannot be. If I wouldn't do it, neither would God. The possibility that God could be more than they could fathom or that He could respond in ways they do not currently understand never seems to be considered.

This is the essence of making one's self a god; your thoughts, your limitations, your perceptions, etc. become the standard for who/what God is. You determine what is good or bad. You determine the meaning and purpose of life. You develop your own "theology" revolving around your own reasoning.

Ultimately, the unspoken god for free thinkers is the individual man because the individual man (man's thoughts, ideas, knowledge, etc.) is the one being worshiped.

Free to be Bound

Some free thinkers acknowledge a Creator or spiritual force beyond our physical existence. However, their depiction leaves one in a murky soup of fables, spirituality, and demonology.

They present a God intelligent and compassionate enough to design the untold diversities of life, but too sadistic or too indifferent to care about what happens to that life. There is the power to create, but a powerlessness to sustain that creation. While this Creator has a supreme intelligence to our own, it somehow has a lesser capacity or interest to love. This makes the created somehow more than the Creator, which in itself is illogical. If it is the natural state of man to care for and nurture its offspring, why would it be any less for the One who created man?

Under this paradigm, mankind is left at the mercy of the spiritual forces of good and evil, yet with no mechanism for defining such distinctions outside of the human mind. The goal then becomes to try and evolve into a "good" person. Again, man is left with the understanding that each person has it within themselves to be "god", knowing good and evil for themselves.

For each person you identify in the earth, you could be offered a different theory to the existence of God. Yet, what does it take to really be a free thinker; not to be influenced by falsehoods, biases, and worldly or demonic perceptions?

The point of this article is not to delve into the fallacies of these other beliefs, but to point out one common unanswered theme: What distinguishes the imaginations of men and demons from the Truths of God?

In Communications with God, a man claims to have received revelations from a voice that he identifies as God. In a series of books, he outlines the answers this "god" has provided for common issues in life. Oprah Winfrey has thrown her weight behind a book called A New Earth which claims that humans must evolve into a new consciousness where we in essence become gods.

Where do these spiritual messages come from? Does it matter? Or is all that matters that it tells us what we want to hear? Is it enough to just be "spiritual"?

Babylon

Babylon comes from a word meaning "confusion" and that is what we have on the religious/spiritual landscape. Each has turned their own way and found their own revelations. Man was created with a need to worship; coming from the Creator, man is incomplete apart from his source of life. Therefore, man will seek for something - anything - to fill that gap. Yet does all of the confusion mean that there is no Truth to be found?

There is a difference between religion, spirituality, and Truth. Is the Truth spiritual? Yes. But not all spirits are of the Truth. Can religion be Truth? Yes, but not all religions reflect the Truth.

Am I a proponent of conforming to worldly systems? Absolutely not. In fact, true Christianity (not what we most often see propped up in the media and even churches) is completely at odds with the ways of the world.

I believe in applying common sense and logical applications to all areas of life. This is what is so bothersome about the supposed free thinkers. There is a sort of intellectual dishonesty in their discussions of God, because the supposed quest to be "free" is at its most basic level an exaltation of themselves and their own ways of thinking.

It is easy enough to dismiss faith in Jesus Christ as people being brainwashed, deceived, and deluded. However, that is a very sloppy approach to try and pass off as objective truth or even enlightenment. Before one can be enlightened, one must have eyes to see.You can fight against that which you consider false all day long, but until your eyes are opened to truth, you will remain blinded.

As always, we invite any questions you may have. While we will not have all of the answers, as the goal to seek and proclaim the truth is upheld, surely iron will sharpen iron.

"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." II Thessalonians 2:8-12

I also recommend the following videos by Chris White in addressing this issue. I could not have said it better myself.





3 comments:

  1. Conformity is a very tricky thing especially when you are in a transition all of a sudden nothing makes sense by normal guidelines of the world ways. On the other side there is much truth to be found only if you are willing to step out on faith. Then there is the middle that does not really exist but is still a place where one can be stuck with not many results in between.

    Each day is a day to not only find truth but to learn how to really absorb and receive that truth to learn how to let go of another lied that has tried to take root in my mind or my heart, with each day that I wake up to learn new lessons and to apply more consciousness. I am starting to believe that being non-conformed is the acceptance of the pain that has evaded into your life so far and being free of the emotions that are trying to lead you astray in to the wrong directions. Replenishing your soul with the love and will of GOD and learning how to detach from the oppression that can be at any place and in everything that is around you. Now I understand more what Solomon meant in Ecclesiastes 1:18 when he said that having much wisdom comes with much sorrow. Someone once asked me would I rather be exposed to the truth just to gain more pain or would I rather be deceived in a lie to avoid pain? I would still pick the truth because there is freedom in the truth before and after the pain but a lie in the end is never meant for anyone else’s good. Even with all that I am learning I still find it hard to shake the sadness sometimes and then when I need someone bigger than me, GOD.

    It still comes with a price and can make you feel very alone. It is funny how you truly have to be broken to be able to feel whole and alive again once something has knocked you off balance. I am still thankful through the pain, the hard moments and all the confusion that I constantly fight through. All I can say is it’s all in the process I guess. I really enjoy reading this messages I hope you keep them coming.

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  2. This is really good. Keep them coming PLEASE. I wish I could send the link to my best friend who has just emersed herself in another very unhealthy lesbian relationship after being delivered from lesbianism. She now doesn't want to "conform" to what "society" says is the norm. She was once so heavily involved in JESUS, not just in the church (though she was a minister at her church). I will pray.

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  3. Babble on= Bablyon, oh I get it! LOL. Nice article. Rooted in deep truth.

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