Chemical, Biological, and Spiritual Warfare

Propaganda is everywhere; especially right now. There is a propaganda war that is raging, particularly in the Western world, because the West (especially the United States) is ruled by two strikingly different sets of principles, simultaneously. On the one hand, we are a highly spiritual people, at least in terms of personal profession of belief in God or a higher power. In June 2008, the Washington Post claimed that 92 percent of Americans claimed to believe in God or a higher spiritual being, and 50 percent claimed to pray daily. On the other hand, however, we are developing an increasingly naturalistic mindset. The naturalistic mindset says that everything can be explained in terms of biology, chemistry, and physics. Even aspects of the human experience that have traditionally been explained in metaphysical terms are now being reduced to chemical and biological brain impulses. Ideologies such as justice, freedom, love, and even faith are explained in terms of a collective chemical impulse in societies in order to sustain human survival. The naturalist says that there is nothing outside of us that defines justice, freedom, love, and faith. These things are not transcendent. They do not come from God. Instead, they come from brain neurons firing in particular patterns. The pervasiveness of this mindset in our culture is obvious when one watches the television, reads the text book, or even goes to the doctor. On the TV, numerous scientific and historical documentaries pound the idea of naturalism into the mind of the one watching. The language may even be subtle, but it is constantly there. The text book is the same; assuming that Darwinian evolution is the explanation for our existence. Even the doctor believes now that the pill is the cure for various mental and emotional ailments. After all, every mental and emotional ailment is physical at the core, because it happens in the brain. Do not misunderstand me. This is not an indictment upon Prozac. It is an indictment upon the mental shift in our culture claiming that what was once primarily spiritual and in the realm of the divine is now physical and in the realm of the brain. This is naturalism, and it is becoming the heartbeat of American culture. The reason that we have two contrasting worldviews simultaneously in the U.S. is because we have two contrasting philosophies concerning the origin of our existence. Worldviews always stem from philosophy of origin. So we have one worldview that believes that God created human beings, and we have another worldview that believes that human beings evolved from a lower life form. The one worldview believes that there once was nothing, God spoke, and then there was something. The other worldview believes that matter has always existed in some form. The one worldview believes that, since God created, He defines and gives meaning. The other worldview believes that only the elements define, and any discussion of meaning is ultimately meaningless. Make no mistake. The naturalistic mindset cannot be reconciled with the spiritual mindset, at least not the Biblical one. The Biblical God cannot be explained in terms of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and the like. The elements do not define God. God defines the elements. So we are in the middle of a war of ideas. I am curious to see how this war will unfold in the coming years. The book of Judges teaches a truth that is like a horrific resounding gong. That truth is that we are always just one generation from total apostasy. Naturalism will send the United States into total apostasy if God does not do a mighty work among us. May God work in our culture through the Church, through His Word, by His Spirit, to open the eyes of men and women to the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.