Gary :
You’re listening to a special edition of Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Still to come, Religion in the News, plus answers to your questions in Contending for the Faith, and in Understanding the Scriptures, Dave and Tom will continue their discussion of God’s salvation. In addition to this radio program we publish a monthly newsletter, which we make available free of charge. We also produce and distribute a wide variety of teaching materials including books in print, e-book and audio book formats, CD’s, DVD’s and other items to encourage the serious study of God’s Word. For a complete list of materials, or to get a copy of today’s broadcast, write to us at POB 7019, Bend , Oregon 97708 , call our toll free order, 800-937-6638, that’s 800-937-6638, or visit our website www.thebereancall.org . If you would like a copy of this broadcast on compact disk, ask for Program #4009, and be sure to mention the call letters of this station. We’ll repeat this information at the end of the program. Now back to our special revisit to the year 2000 and:
RELIGION IN THE NEWS
A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This week’s item is from The U.S. News and World Report , August 2000. The following are excerpts from an article entitled, “You Can’t Make This Up: More Cultural Craziness That’s Stranger than Fiction.” The Federation of Meat Shop Owners in France is offended that reporters refer to murderers as butchers since most butchers are gentle, peace loving workers. An architect in New York complained about a news report identifying the architect of a shooting spree. There is, wrote columnist Clyde Haberman of the New York Times, the ugly face of anti-architect bigotry. Because it begins with masculine sounding syllable “his” the word “history” has been banned at Stockport College in England . Also banned are the phrases, “ladies and gentlemen” offensive connotations of class and “slaving over a hot stove” which, “minimizes the horror and oppression of the slave trade.” By the way, Stockport College is in Manchester , England . A government run employment bureau in Walso , England , banned the words, “Hard-working” “reliable” and “smart” on the grounds that they discriminate against the disabled. The phrase, “commitment and a desire to succeed are vital, was banned as well, apparently for insensitivity toward lazy people.
Dave;
I don’t know how you come up with these news reports, Tom, this is incredible, but go ahead.
Tom:
What I wanted to talk about in this is on the one hand the world is going to hell in a hand basket. We have so many things that are so anti-God, anti-fairness, anti-justice, on and on.
Dave:
Anti-rational.
Tom:
Anti-rational. On the other hand we seem to be increasing our sensitivities toward one another. I know some of this is, this article, which is from The U.S. World News and Report is a little bit tongue-in-cheek, but the idea here that we would be so sensitive to such things as the butchers being worried about getting a bad name because that term is used for murderers, and so on. What’s going on here?
Dave:
Well, Tom, I don’t know, I can’t deal with this, but we see it all the time. The irony is that the same time that this supposed sensitivity for people like this, you know, history begins with “His.” Well, I don’t know what you’re going to do with “woman” for that has “man” in it.
Tom:
Or Manchester , England , the college, what are they going to do, change the name of the state?
Dave:
Right, yeah, but at the same time that we are having this nonsense, that’s what I would have to call it, 20 years ago, well, maybe not 20, 50 years ago, surely, this would be ludicrous. At the same time they can bad mouth Christians. Christians are the butt of jokes, fundamentalists—well of course we’ve got some fundamentalists Muslims who are terrorists, but nevertheless, if you are a fundamentalist you simple stand for the fundamentals of whatever you believe. And Islam does teach terrorism, it does teach murder, this is Islam itself. But a fundamentalist Christian then don’t connect them with a fundamentalist Muslim. So, Tom, part of what this is doing, you can’t be straightforward in your speech, you can’t deal with truth. You have to be politically correct, religiously correct, because we don’t want to offend anyone, and that really relates to what we were just talking about. We are so self-centered: don’t you dare offend me, don’t tell me the truth about myself. It’s in the church, tragically, and so if you earnestly contend for THE faith, if you dare to say that Jesus Christ is the only way, wait a minute! You’re offending the Muslims, you’re offending the Buddhists, and this is really the way it’s going, not only in our country but in the world.
Tom:
Yeah, and we’re talking about, not just ideas and opinions of these people over here or those people there, we’re talking about laws being made. What’s going to happen to the courts? On the one hand you have championing the rights of the homosexual; on the other hand they are putting people in prison for pedophilia. Now how do you reconcile that?
Dave:
Well, championing the rights of the homosexuals, but what about other people’s rights that the homosexuals trample upon the right not to have this flaunted in their face, the right not to have your children exposed to this sort of thing, but they can push it on society. They can push themselves and their standards on society, but if you date to stand for Christian standards, dare to stand for the truth, then you are criticized as being insensitive. Well this is the way it’s going to be; it’s going to get worse.
Tom:
Well, that’s a big question, Dave. Do you really think there’s not going to be some kind of a situation in which somebody wakes up and says, this is ridiculous, this is insane?
Dave:
No, evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse, I think it’s going to be worse. Jesus raised the question when the Son of man returns will He find the faith on the earth? No, that’s why Al Gore has said at the Presidential Prayer Breakfast, “belief in some higher power, by whatever name, in my opinion, is essential!” Isn’t that wonderful! So just so long as you believe in any higher power, some false god, but don’t dare to say that Jesus Christ is the only way—that offends people! Now we have destroyed truth, and that’s exactly where we are going, unfortunately.
