Humankind’s Mission on Earth 2

5/11/2015: Humankind’s Mission on Earth 2

S: 10:38pm – 11:25pm

This afternoon, I went to HOP (House of Peace or House of Prayer) from Ignite Movement Church.  Today’s short sermon at my home fellowship coincidentally applies to this topic of humankind’s mission on earth.  I would like to add a second installment.

            On the Fourth of July, America celebrates one of its most famous holidays.  It celebrates its independence from Great Britain with great fanfare.  However, no nation nor person is truly independent. 

            The spirit of independence in a person is contradictory to God’s plan for us.  By choosing to be independent, we declare to God that we are in control and not God; that we know better than God.  This spirit originates from Satan.  Why did Satan rebel?  Because he wanted independence rather than dependence on God and he swayed a third of the angels with him.  When we are independent, we are no different than Satan.

            Man is a dependent being.  He needs food, air, water, and so forth.  By nature, he is not independent.  Rather, God provides for humanity.  Everything must be asked from God.  We need to depend on God because we are not God. 

            Ironically, true freedom is obtained when we are dependent and enslaved to God, for it is in Christ that we are free (Gal. 5:1).  If we don’t choose God than we will be slaved by Satan, by the world, and by our flesh.  Slavery tends to have a bad rap.  It earned a bad reputation because the slaves on earth are controlled by human masters, who are prone to sin.  However, God is a master that is all-loving and good. 

            An example of a slave (in a good term) is Jesus.  Jesus, when he came down to Earth, was totally dependent on God.  He would not do anything his Father had not done.  Jesus depended so much on God that he knew his life isn’t even his.  He is the biggest slave to God.

            So where does the spirit of independence come from?  It comes from the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree of knowledge.  They think they know better.  They think they will be like God.  Before, God provided everything directly, but now, human beings have to work from the sweat of their brow to survive.  From then on came science, came technology.  They make life easier for human beings but, in a way, science can be seen as man’s attempt to be like God.  Look at the tower of Babel, it was an engineering feat.  Look at the castles, the walls, the strongholds, the iron chariots made by man.  Mankind try to use technology to be like God. 

However, this is where I am stuck.  I know that science and technology came after the Fall, i.e. the fall of man.  However, many great Christians are scientists, such as Mendel, Newton, and Copernicus.  Thus, science can be God’s revelation to man.  This is, after all, my Father’s world.  So, it depends on the intention.  If a person chooses to be a scientist because he or she is inspired by God’s creation, than that is right.  However, if that same person choose the profession to be like God; to defeat Him, than it is wrong.  However, since humankind is generally evil, these multipliers will do more harm than good.

The bottom line is this: Life doesn’t have to be so complicated.  If humankind, if America, were to submit to God, to have total dependence on Him, God will heal the person and this country.

Beyond Good and Evil / The Fallacy of Technology

Beyond Good and Evil / The Fallacy of Technology  (unfinished)

Q: So tell me how you feel about technology.

A: Well, it’s complicated.  On one hand, technology can be useful to me.  It allows me to type this entry, for example.  Yet, I can see the dangers and follies of these inventions. 

Q: What do you mean you see the dangers and follies of technology?

A: To me, technology is a modifier.  It is either good or evil but it can be used for either purposes to strengthen their resolve.  Let me show you a diagram of what I mean:

Diagram of the morality-technology continuum

A: As you can see, good and evil is vertical while technology, and some say faith, is horizontal.  The further out the graph, the influence the entity has.  Thus, my placement of technology as a modifier makes sense.  Technology can be used for good or evil and its usage modifies the influence that entity makes. 

Q: Can you provide an example of how technology and morality interacts?

A: Of course.  An obvious example can be war.  Let’s look at low-tech items such as swords and higher-tech weapons such as guns.  Swords, in the hands of an evil person can be used to do evil and the evil that person does will be greater than say, using their fists.  However, fast-forward to the 20^th and 21^st century and we have guns.  That same evil person who uses guns can have a much greater influence than if that person was in the medieval age.  It can be used for good, too.  If a nation is defending itself from a foreign power, giving that nation guns will help defend that kingdom better.  Thus, in the hands of good people, it will be used for good, in the hands of bad, it will be used for evil.

Q: What about friendly technology such as the health sciences?

A: That too, can be applied to the continuum.  For medical technology, it can be used to heal good or evil people.  If it heals a good person, that person will live to do good.  If it heals an evil person, then  that person will continue to live to do evil.  Thus, the influence of technology in the manifestation of good or evil is critical. 

Modified continuum to include faith

Q: What about the other side of the spectrum, that of faith?

A: First, to clarify, by saying faith, I do not imply religion, but religion can certainly be a part of faith.  Hence, faith is also a modifier, since it can go both ways, and the deeper one goes in his or her faith, the stronger is that person’s resolve, thus, influence. 

Q: I thought faith is mostly a good thing, since most religions teach people to be morally upright.

A: While most religions do seem to teach moral values, not all religions are completely good.  There’s Satanism or wicca, for example.  Many of the things that are taught there could be considered evil by societal standards.  And Islam violent means of punishing and evangelism.  Even Christianity, in the Old Testament, supports slavery and concubines. 

Q: If religion determines good or evil, and you state that not all religion is purely good or evil, then what determines good or evil?

A:  Excellent question, and for eons, philosophers have struggled to answer this question.  The problem with divine command, i.e., god-based religions, are is God good because he is good or is God good because he says so.  There are more to this and once I have more knowledge in this matter (forgot a lot of what I learned in my ethics class), I can answer this question more intelligibly.  My approach to philosophy and good and evil is that of the utilitarian approach.  An action is good if it is more good and evil.  I know that one person’s good can be another’s evil.  And I do believe the end justify the means.  I will elaborate more on this when I have more time.

Q: So nothing is purely good or evil?

A: In the real world, probably yes.  Even what is good to most people will be detrimental to some.  There are only different shades of grey.

Add: I remember that I wrote a blog about some of the topics discussed here.  To recap, I do believe natural law favors evil more than good.  It is easier to destroy than to build or kill than to heal.  Thus, with this in mind, any modifier is a negative thing as it favors evil more than good.

8/20/2014

8/20/2014

S: 12:42am
E: 1:52am

There’s of course plenty of topics that I can write, however, I’m only going to write about a few of them.

I feel I screwed up.  I messed up.  I don’t think it’s really fair.  I didn’t do anything that deserves this predicament.  I mean all I do is play games, that’s it, and a little side of questionable activities.  That’s it. 

Now I realize how important networking and connections are.  I mean I already know it is important, but it’s hard to be in the groove, should I say.  They don’t just come to you and even if I look for it, I still don’t get it.

Ok, reality check.  So far, I can only think of one person who can give me a recommendation or fill out those tedious recommendation letters.  I mean I do have a few, if I think about it, but they owe me nothing.  It stinks that after a few years, or a few months, connections with people fades.  The person who can give me a recommendation two years ago probably will have a harder time due to the passage of time.  I have three graduate schools I’m planning to apply.  My strategy is to have one graduate school for safety, that is, a school that I can have a safe bet that I’ll be accepted, and two others that I think are challenging.  Each of these three schools requires 3 recommendations.  So, 3 times 3 is 9.  I need nine recommendations!  I don’t want to bother 3 people 3 times for each recommendation.  Sigh, so stressful. 

Take a look at my case.  I spend most of my time alone.  I don’t work.  I used to volunteer.  I mainly just focus on my studies.  I am in my social work club but I haven’t met any professionals there.  The few times I attend my Christian club I haven’t met professionals.  Just students.  I used to go to church but I stopped going partially because they discriminate against me.  I can feel it, Asian-sense.  So I really don’t have much people I can ask.  My dad tells me I am the kindest and smartest person in the world but family doesn’t count.  So what is someone like me supposed to do?  Time passes, people don’t remember me anymore.

I feel this recommendation bullshit is also biased towards those in poverty.  They have fewer connections and have less time to build “professional” connections.  They probably spend most of the time working. 

Oh and my dad told me what about the military?  Military doesn’t work either.  The change-over is too great.  If I were to go to Fort Bliss right now, I will not recognize 99% of the soldiers there, let alone my old supervisors.  I tried it.  We are talking about a 50% retention rate per year.

Tbh, I feel people think I’m just a piece of shit.  Some person they are forced to take care of.  Like trash.  Just because I’m still single doesn’t mean I am shit.  I feel the notion of family (traditional family) is shit too.  It is an archaic glorification of the frontier age.  The frontier is gone.  There is no more space for the human population to grow.  More people creates more competition.  Competition for resources, land, jobs.  Nations are fighting each other to sustain their demand.  Completion brings out the ugly side of human nature.  The end is coming.

Space used to be the “final frontier” but the funny thing is the United States doesn’t even have a single working shuttle.  And as science catches up to the truth, colonization in space is more difficult than it seemed. 

But then again, why should mankind spread more evil in the universe?  The greater the human population, the greater the atrocities. As C.S. Lewis said, “Let's pray that the human race never escapes from Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere.” 

I have many things I can write, with the exceptional logic God has given me.  It doesn’t require any degrees or PhD’s. 

 Technology is useless.  No, it is negative.  Why is it negative?  Well, technology is not good or bad in itself because it is simply a modifier.  Like the tractor is more productive than the plow.  However, human beings can be good or evil.  Evil to destroy the world.  Good to improve the world.  However, the natural law states that it is easier to destroy than to build.  Evil will have more influence.  Now we have nukes.  Evil people can destroy our world.  More on this on another blog later.  I already started it.

One of the earthy wisdom is correct.  That a good beginning usually means a good end.  If someone has a good start, that person is likely to also finish well.  However, if someone messes up or made mistakes, it’s doubly hard for that person to catch up.  You dig yourself in a hole, you have the fill the hole up first before you can start on your mountain.  If someone gets bad grades in high school, that person will have a difficult time to even get into college.  His or her career will be affected, and so forth.  Bad beginnings carry more weight than anywhere else.  It also leads to depression, which just spirals a person down even more. 

I’m starting to think my experiences in the Army is just a placebo effect.  Put anyone in a difficult situation and he or she will start seeking the supernatural.  Even atheists may start praying if they are about to die.  I seek God and, somehow, I was able to survive.  That somehow is because my spirit grew stronger to overcome deficiencies in my body and soul.  I was stupid and weak in the Army.  That spirit-soul-body notion makes sense. 

Right now, I’m seeing religion as simply a conduit to the Creator.  Different religions have different conduits to the Creator, some more accurate and some less.  Christianity is a conduit, as is Islam.  Religion is man’s way of seeking God.  I feel I’m more of a theist now.  The universe had a beginning but I feel, so far, there is no one true religion.  Yet, new religions, sects, branches, denominations, etc, evolve in an attempt to seek the Creator more perfectly.  Like when Winston Churchill said that democracy is the worse form of government except that all other forms have already been tried.  There is no pure answer yet, and there probably never will be, but each new development in religion may lead to a closer answer.

Looking at human psychology, I can see that many people have a desire for destiny.  They want to achieve something big but if they can’t achieve it in acceptable or good ways, they may do it in negative or evil ways.  As an expert I read once said, “They know it is better to a somebody than a nobody.”  Look at Columbine, Sandy Hook, terrorist bombings, the subway stabbing in Taiwan (when the perpetrator said he wanted to “do something big”), etc.  These people go out with a bang.  Yes, it is evil, but there may be circumstances that lead to it.  Look at Hitler.  Perhaps some people try to be successful, to be accepted, to be a somebody but fail miserably in acceptable ways.  Then, because humans have a desire for greatness, more than their desire to be good, they become a notorious evil person.  Why do people join gangs?  Or do dangerous things?  Many people also have a Samson Option if their lives fall apart. 

Ok, it is 1:38am now.  I really do need to be sleeping.  To me, I feel my life is a tragedy.  To quote JJ Heller, and “it’s driving [me] down to my knees.”