Monday, June 17, 2024

The End of Prayer in Public Schools on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: The United States Supreme Court rules 8–1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord's Prayer in public schools on this day in 1963.

Billy Graham said, "[i]n my opinion... the Supreme Court... is wrong.... Eighty percent of the American people want Bible reading and prayer in schools. Why should a majority be so severely penalized...?"

There was a time where I would have applauded the Supreme Court's decision and sneer at Billy Graham. There was a time where I thought that the New Atheists (Hitchens, Harris & Dawkins)  made a lot of sense. 

I've changed my mind. The secularism that the West has embraced has failed society.

Why?

In 1963 most families were intact. 

In 1963 everyone knew what a woman was. 

In 1963 there were only two genders. In fact, the word "gender" was only used in relation to language.

In 1963 profanity was not as ubiquitous as it is today. In 1963, the entertainment industry adhered to the Hays Code which prohibited profanity, suggestive nudity, graphic or realistic violence, sexual persuasions and rape.

In 1963 there was no Pride Month. People kept their peccadillos private.

In 1963 there was no Wokeism.

In 1963 people believed in freedom of speech

In 1963 we weren't calling each other "Racist."

In 1963 were weren't flooding our countries with people who hate us.

In 1963 promiscuity was considered a moral failure. We did not brag about a "body count."

In 1963 there were no mass school shootings. In fact, kids brought guns to school. Schools even had shooting clubs.

In 1963 a big chunk of the population were not on antidepressants and psychotropic drugs.

In 1963 there were far less people needing mental health treatment.

In 1963 our schools and universities were respected. Today, 19% of high school graduates can't read.

In 1963 we had a shared narrative in Christianity. It bound us together.

In 1963 we did not have a World Economic Forum or a Club of Rome or any other such organization whose aim is to reduce and enslave the population. 

In 1963 the media reported news instead of propaganda.

In 1963 we trusted our institutions. Now you are wise not to.

In 1963 we weren't offended by absolutely everything.

In 1963 we talked to each other. There was no Social Media.

Sure, 1963 was not all sunshine and rainbows. After all, 1963 ended with the killing of an American president by a faithless Communist.


Wednesday, June 12, 2024

William Hamilton Drummond on John 20:28

 

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From: The Doctrine of the Trinity, founded neither on Scripture, nor on Reason and Common Sense but on Tradition and the Infallible Church (1831):

"And Thomas answered and said unto him, my Lord and my God."

Thomas was a Jew - a believer in the one invisible and immortal God - a disciple of Christ-incredulous - a sceptic who required no less than ocular and palpable proof that the body of Christ had become re-animated and arisen from the dead. Our Lord condescended to give him the proof required, on which occasion he uttered the words just quoted.

Now, what do we learn from them? The Athanasians would have us believe that this incredulous Apostle who would not credit the testimony of his fellow disciples as to a plain matter of fact, passed in a moment to the belief, of which he had not the least previous hint or conception, that in the crucified Jesus, whose flesh he handled, and whose wounds he felt, he saw, touched and addressed the infinite and incomprehensible Jehovah, whom he had been taught to think no man could see and live! That he whom he had so lately beheld nailed to a cross, and mortally wounded by a Roman spear - was Jehovah of hosts - the Lord God of Israel, who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever! Verily, the credulity of the Athanasians exceeds, the incredulity of Thomas! But the Saviour's address to his disciple sufficiently proves the gross folly  and absurdity of such imaginations. "Jesus said unto Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed." Believed what? That of which he had previously doubted,-Christ's resurrection. Our Lord continues, "blessed, or happy, are they who have not seen, and yet have believed." -Not seen and yet believed what? Not seen Christ personally, as Thomas had seen him and yet believed that he was actually risen.

There is not the slightest ground for any of the Athanasian whims in the whole passage. Thomas, under the influence of excited and wonderstruck feeling, gave way to his emotion, as was perfectly natural, by apostrophizing God. All men under such impressions, express themselves in language precisely similar. Thus, when Gideon saw that one with whom he had been conversing was an angel of Jehovah - he said, “Alas, O Lord Jehovah! for because I have seen an angel of Jehovah, face to face."-Judg. vi. 22. Thus, Jonathan in the ardour of his friendship, "said unto David, O Jehovah God of Israel, when I have sounded my Father, &c." - 1 Sam. xx. 12. Had Thomas been capable of embodying all his feelings in words, he might have uttered some ejaculations like these, in addition to "my Lord and my God." It is then true! I doubt no longer! Here is proof! I yield O my God, how great is thy power, how wonderful thy deeds! Now, I see, now I believe that thou hast indeed raised from the dead, thy holy child Jesus! That our Saviour understood him thus is evident from his address to the disciple. - Milton refers the words my Lord to Christ, and my God to the Father, who had testified that Christ was his Son, by raising him from the dead. The whole comment of this great genius on the passage before us, is well entitled to the readers serious consideration. He regards the words of Thomas as an abrupt exclamation in an exstacy of wonder, and deems it incredible--

"That he should have so quickly understood the hypostatic union of that person whose resurrection he had just before disbelieved. Accordingly the faith of Peter is commended-blessed art thou, Simon-for having only said-thou art the Son of the Living God.-Matt. xvi, 16, 17. The faith of 

Thomas, although, as it is commonly explained, it asserts the divinity of Christ in a much more remarkable manner, is so far from being praised, that it is undervalued, and almost reproved.-Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. And yet, though the slowness of his belief may have deserved blame, the testimony borne by him to Christ as God, which if the common interpretation be received as true, is clearer than occurs in any other passage, would undoubtedly have met with some commendation; whereas it obtains none whatever."

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