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"Fearful
lest it be relegated to the position of an isolated sect, Christianity
seems to be making frenzied efforts at mimicry in order to escape being
devoured by its enemies--a reaction that seems defensive, but is in fact
self-destructive. In the hope of saving itself, it seems to be assuming
the colors of its environment, but the result is that it loses its
identity. . . ."
--Leszek Kolakowski, from Modernity on Endless Trial |
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THE RECORD Online Newspaper
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In This Issue: |
Wednesday July 13, 2005
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“When the love of gold and
silver had once gained
admittance into the Spartan
commonwealth, it was quickly
followed by avarice and baseness
of spirit in the pursuit of it,
and by luxury, effeminacy, and
prodigality.
The citizens were dissolved in
apathy through their idleness
and pleasures; the king let
everything take its own way,
thankful if nobody gave him any
disturbance nor called him away
from his enjoyment of wealth and
luxury. The public interest was
neglected, and each man was
intent on his private gain. It
was dangerous, now that the
former king was gone, so much as
to name such a thing as the
discipline and training of
youth; and to speak of the
ancient temperance, endurance,
and equality was considered a
sort of treason against the
state.
They must date the beginning of
their corruption from their
conquest of Athens, and the
influx of gold and silver. There
was at that time a general
decline in manners….and through
covetousness consented to by
others, and thus enacted into
law, the rich men without
scruple drew the homes of others
into their own hands."
(Plutarch describing the decline
of Sparta.) |
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The following is a Faith Matters
in Maine script which aired in
July.
In our hectic daily lives, we
sometimes come across a relic of
the past which reminds us of who
we once were, and what we have
lost as a nation. There are no
guide books to where these
reminders of our past may be
found. Instead, we often stumble
on them by accident. Outside
Augusta, in the small town of
Farmingdale, is a moss-covered
statue. The lapse of a hundred
years has worn it more than a
bit. Yet it still possesses a
radiant beauty. This reminder of
our past is the statue of a
maiden. Her left hand rests on a
sturdy anchor, and with her
right hand, she presses the
cross of Christ to her bosom.
Her gaze is serene and she
searches the far-off horizon. On
her brow she wears a shining
star that points heavenward. In
our generation she is forgotten,
a nameless orphan, unnoticed and
uncared for by the passing
multitudes. Yet our ancestors
knew her by name.
Her name is Faith, and being the
inward adornment and outward
glory of mankind, the world is
darkened and impoverished by her
absence. Lacking the anchor of
faith, the world is loosed from
its moorings, and drifts on to
inevitable destruction. Lacking
the cross, the world is bereft
of God’s salvation. But above
all, it is the star on the
maiden’s brow we must have,
since this star, shining
tirelessly and joyfully with the
light of faith, guides man
through the darkest corners of
his earthly existence, bringing
him home safe to Heaven. How
happy were the people who could
build such a monument - and how
much we have lost as a nation!
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Ben Bubar, Sr., the evangelist,
and father of the former
director of the League, Ben
Bubar, Jr. was in many ways a
remarkable man. He had an
uncanny ability to predict
exactly where our nation is
headed.
Bubar headed up an effort in the
1920s to ban the teaching of
evolution in Maine. This might
strike some of our readers as
impossibly backwards were it not
for one of Bubar’s predictions.
During the campaign against
evolution, Bubar wrote a
pamphlet with the title “Anarchy
in our Schools” in which he
predicted that the only logical
outcome of teaching evolution in
our schools was to convince the
coming generations that man was
no different in origin or
purpose than the animals. “What
will be the effect” Bubar
wondered “of teaching students
that the blood which flows in
their veins is the same as that
which flows in the body of apes
and lizards?”
One unforeseen consequence of
teaching the false doctrine of
evolution has been exactly that,
to undermine traditional
morality, and to replace it with
a moral relativism which allows
each person to do as he will –
which is incidentally the law of
the beast, and the law of the
jungle.
Residents of the town of Ayer,
Massachusetts are still in a
state of shock over the savage
behavior of two students, who
set upon a fellow student and in
full view of the public,
mercilessly beat and kicked him
until he crawled under a car to
save himself. He later died from
his injuries.
Incidents such as the numerous
shootings which have taken place
in our public schools, which are
completely without precedent in
any society, clearly tell us
that there is something
fundamentally wrong. Whatever
your view on modernity,
secularism, and the doctrine of
evolution, perhaps Ben Bubar Sr.
did get it right. |
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The Christian Civic League of
Maine
70 Sewall Street
Augusta, ME 04330
V-207-622-7634
F-207-621-0035
www.cclmaine.org
The RECORD is published every
weekday at 6 a.m. and archived
at www.cclmaine.org/forum
Forward this email to your
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Encourage them to sign up and
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current issues. Please email
your suggestions for segments to
mike@cclmaine.org.
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