I’ve written about many subjects on this blog but there is none that equals the significance of this one considering the uncounted millions of human lives lost in the 20th and now the 21st Century!
Very often we hear the expression ‘they made the supreme sacrifice’, usually meaning humans have sacrificed their life for some political objective as determined by government’s led by emperor, dictator, monarch, president, prime minister, etc., etc, elected or not.
I suggest this scenario is little changed throughout thousands of years of human history, i.e. the projection of a nations power, or defense, via the sacrifice of their human population! *
Therefore the question that I believe may fairly be asked then is this; Are such human sacrifices not in reality ‘religious perversion’?!
For example; historian’s well discern that in the Mayan culture human sacrifices were often made to ensure the success of crops or other untold various interests. Interestingly, in our day, those ancient human sacrifices, be they men, women, or children, are often regarded as atrocities, perverted abuses of the populace by their rulers, supported by their religious representatives, in other words the ruling elements of their society!
“politics and nationalism…exalted the state as divine…or identified it with the march of God in history.” For some, the “worship of the state as the personification of the spirit of the nation was essential for realization of the national destiny.” (Ideas in Conflict, Edward Burns) *
My question is; what has changed today? Modern day governments may regard themselves as well informed and progressive, but doesn’t the sacrifice of human lives for one national purpose or another simply reflect all those ancient sacrifices made in the Mayan culture, or in hundreds of other cultures throughout thousands of years of human history?
When young men and women are encouraged, even trained, to make the ‘ultimate sacrifice’ of their lives for some national, or dare I say ‘cultural’ cause, what difference is there to all those ancient societies? Societies that interestingly no longer exist in spite of those sacrifices.
How can it be said that ‘modern’ man is any more advanced in his thinking than historically significant societies like the Mayan’s and countless others?
The reality is that mankind is in darkness spiritually speaking. No amount of technological advances can overcome this fact. No matter how it may be couched in glowing terms, human sacrifice is still a common practice after thousands of years. In other words there has been no progress spiritually for the nations of mankind, in fact the scale of human lives lost in national conflicts is ever increasing, aided and abetted by religious elements as always. “Kill one man and you’re a murderer, kill a million and you’re a conqueror.” (Jean Rostand quote)
Why can’t it be understood that ‘God wants mercy and not sacrifice’? (Matt. 9:13) Make no mistake about it; sacrificing human lives for any national purpose is in no way the ‘will of God’! They have not and will not receive his blessing for doing so. On the contrary, they are condemned by him for doing so.
As the BeeGee’s song of decades ago said it… ‘the answer my friends is blowing on the wind’, the ‘scriptural wind’ imho.
* “Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.” (Albert Einstein)
Isn’t it exciting to hear there may be earth-like planets, namely those that orbit suns similar to our own, perhaps even in abundance ‘out there’ in the universe?! Yes, but let’s take a step back and analyze ‘why’ its exciting for a moment.
Could it be that our human emotions are based on hope? What I mean is this; based on human history, (I refer to written history and not speculative pre-history), there have been many technological accomplishments, however, sociologically not so much, or to put it simply, human relations have, for the most part, been an abysmal failure.
Arguably, history has recorded that modern man is pretty much a failure in human relations. For instance when has there ever been an extended period in at least 2000 years that hasn’t included wars, genocides, oppression, atrocities, ad infinitum!
In my humble opinion failures throughout history have engendered a present day ‘faint hope’ that somewhere, somehow, mankind will find relief, or to put it another way, ‘salvation’, from his earthly experience. (I would also submit this is the very basis of the ‘theory’ of evolution.) In other words an attempt to absolve humanity from our blood stained past, and even more so, its present!
Its no secret that the dramatic increase in world population has brought about the prospect of mass-extinction, despite enormous potential for increase… why? In a nutshell; the answer is clearly human mismanagement, be it environmentally, politically, or economically!
But I digress; returning to the aforementioned planetary discoveries; what is it that really excites us about them? Isn’t it all about finding relief from our human failures? The vain hope that if there is life on other planets it may somehow point the way to discover or make human life somehow successful, an existence that has eluded us on earth?
For example, remember the classic Sci-Fi movie “The Day The Earth Stood Still”? An alien galactic envoy arrives to warn that robots were authorized to arbitrarily enforce galactic peace. They were said to be programmed to obliterate any planet who threatened a galactic peace protocol by the misuse of atomic power! (A very human approach no doubt!)
In conclusion, I submit that mankind as a whole is missing the ‘woods for the trees’. What I mean by that is the greatest human to ever live provided us with the way out of our failed human condition, the way to achieve what many are now seeking in the stars.
He told us what to seek, how and where to find it, and the result would be nothing less than everlasting life on a paradise earth! Therefore shouldn’t that be our primary focus? Because whether we seek it or not, earth is scheduled for exactly that ideal future by its eternal Creator! Indeed, have faith: it really will happen, with, or without, our personal benefit, and right here on planet earth!
Stories on the news often stimulate memories, particularly for seniors. Tonight there was a mention of the ‘False Creek’ waterway between West end Vancouver and West side Vancouver. By water it’s about 1.2 kilometers according to A.I.
My friend and I were regular Crystal Pool* swimmers in the 1950’s, not more than 13 years old at the time. After swimming in the Crystal Pool we were still filled with youthful vigor.
For no particular reason one of us, probably me, got the so-called ‘bright idea’ to boldly swim across to Kitsilano Beach (i.e. related Vanier park). It was barely in sight after sunset, directly across from the old Crystal Pool, an area known as Sunset Beach.
Since we had donned our street clothes after our swim at the pool, we had to determine how to do this challenging feat. Again we had a bright idea, namely, we would undress (possibly with swim suits on) and place our clothes on some scavenged beach wood in order to keep it dry as we pushed it ahead of us right across the harbor! Of course it also served as extra buoyancy as we hung onto it.
Indeed we did exactly that, keeping our clothes above water as we swam. I have no idea how clean the water was in those days, all I know is it was quite cool compared to the Crystal pool salt water, but not really cold either as this was in summer. Currents, and/or tides, didn’t cause us any problems, perhaps just out of good fortune. In fact as I recall we laughed about our bold endeavor as we kept in contact swimming across False Creek adjacent English Bay.
Now when we got across to a rocky beach area, it dawned on us it was going to be an unfamiliar and perhaps distant walk to the bus line needed to return to our homes in Southeast Vancouver!
Since we were flushed with success and feeling somewhat over-confident it seemed only natural we could just swim back to Sunset beach and that’s exactly what we did!
This episode in my young life has remained secret from that day to this as far as I can recall. And please note; I do not recommend it for youths, or anyone today, especially considering the great possibility of a far more polluted False Creek today than in the ’50’s and ’60’s, though I have no specific information.
Not sure when I had noticed the (approximately) 1500′ unused roadway at Parksville beach park, right in the heart of the town of Parksville. It extended at right angle from an seemingly unused area of beach straight in toward town ending in to a wide ditch, no doubt purposely created to prevent driving from street or park to beach.
In any case it appeared to me to be as perfect a short field aircraft runway as a private pilot like me could ask for!
After visiting with aviator friends at the Parksville/Qualicum airport who had departed for a short trip to the sunshine coast in their Cessna 172 I was planning to rendezvous with them there.
But for some reason which I don’t recall now I had taken on board the father of one of those other pilot’s who’s home jut happened to be quite near the Parkville beach park. So as we quickly flew over Parksville, I rather impulsively decided to land on that unused roadway right in the park!
I turned towards the beach and landed on that roadway with no difficulty at all in my Mooney M20A holding the nose up and raising flaps in order to reduce landing speed and distance. I was always delighted to land on short runways anywhere, but this was clearly not an ‘approved’ landing site by any means! Happily my mature elderly passenger was not traumatized by the sudden turn of events, and after an amicable goodbye, he was able to simply walk home from there, perhaps slightly shaking his head – as did his novice pilot son when he heard about that unusual landing!
This took place in the 70’s, and his son who is still with us will confirm this really took place on the testimony of his dad. For no particular reason other than the airplanes nearly silent gliding approach no one appeared to witness it either, even though there were quite a few people on the beach and in the park at the time, but safely away from my impromptu ‘landing strip’.. Of course my expeditious takeoff (before any public notoriety) was a lot more noisy than the landing, but then again there was no obvious beach activity. And a slight on-shore breeze probably mitigated the noise somewhat.
Of course it wasn’t a wise decision to virtually land in downtown Parksville in the 1980’s, but it was done safely and without incident. To this day I believe that isolated roadway could have served as a downtown Parksville airstrip for enlightened civic authorities. In any case it was just one more flying experience for me…. hey I said in my bio I wouldn’t exclude my ‘bads’, so consider this one of them!
Is it possible for our puny human brain to actually be in touch with the Creator of all things? Arguably its a question philosophers and thoughtful people have struggled with since the beginning of written history.
For instance speaking of human history, year after year archeological discoveries confirm entire ancient civilizations now being uncovered in South America were ‘primarily’ based on worship of an all powerful god in one form or another.
In truth its simply no exaggeration to say there is an innate desire in all humanity to communicate with a supreme Creator! And with limited knowledge, many societies have conferred this desire on objects of wood or stone, in the vain hope they would be heard and benefit therefrom. Is so-called ‘modern man’ really so different? Or is technology filling that very same role today? Its a fair question considering how much focus of attention is given to it in all its material forms, from smart phones to orbiting satellites.
Of course it is obvious to thinking people a far, far, superior entity exits some refer to as the ‘first cause’ of all life on earth. Ever more true science clearly points to a Creator of life on earth in all its genetic forms. Generations of observant mankind see abundant visible evidence of this.* However this is also backed up by inspired prophetic scriptures with positive reinforcement of that evidence, in spades!
Can it truly be said there is solid evidence to base hope and belief on other than lifeless wood or stone, effigies, technology and icon’s, or even paintings, etc, but rather on an invisible all-wise and loving spiritual God?
Albert Einstein epithet; “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” [Science, Philosophy and Religion]
In fact scientific confirmation is being added every day, consider this….and keep in mind this was written thousands of years before DNA confirmed this… “Your eyes even saw me as an embryo; All its parts were written in your book Regarding the days when they were formed, Before any of them existed.” (Psalm 139:16 NWT Bible) Hebrew scripture written by King David;
Another example; “He (God) stretches out the northern sky over empty space, Suspending the earth upon nothing” (Job26:7 NWT Bible)Again, recorded scripture written thousands of years before space travel confirmed this fact, during a time when most of mankind believed the earth stood on on the back of a turtle or an elephant or had some other ignorant idea!
These are just a couple of examples of the accuracy and authenticity of inspired scriptures, i.e. Holy Scripture. As if simple observation of all life and beginning to be understood ecological systems on planet earth were not enough in and of themselves!
What is more, he has promised to restore this sadly damaged planet to its optimal condition, including all mankind…. “….he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” And the One seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new.” Also he says: “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”(Revelation21:3-5)
“He is the Maker of the earth by his power, The One who established the productive land by his wisdom And who stretched out the heavens by his understanding.” (Jeremiah51:15)
True; humility is needed in order to acknowledge plain observable truth that we are the product of an invisible, spiritual, benevolent all-mighty-Creator, well represented by his son. Please visit JW.org for much more news and information plus a free study of the Bible, you’ll never regret it!
Given all the interest in B.C. Ferries reminds me of a close call! I was a Quartermaster (steerman if you will) on a ferry leaving Horseshoe Bay for Nanaimo Harbour. The reason was a temp job while the Queen of Prince Rupert was being repaired (for details see my blog: The Grounding!)
It was a latter sailing after sunset, in fact it was quite dark, I don’t remember the time of year. Being a 20 something crewman on the helm at the time I was keen to obey directions from the Captain. We departed Horseshoe Bay backing out from the loading platform as per normal and began our rotation to transition to a forward course without incident, then began a port turn (left hand) to straight out our course, but this is where things went sideways!
A First Officer has the loading responsibility on any ship, and as we began our turn he was busy explaining car deck loading concerns with the Captain. Meanwhile I had been given the port turn instructions as mentioned. As the ship steadily turned to port therefore, I was left with a view of coastal rocks dead ahead! The Captain and first officer were completely distracted and not aware of our serious position. Finally with no time to lose, I spoke up to make the Captain aware of the potential danger!
He was startled at the continually turning ship toward shore, and immediately ordered “HARD STARBOARD” which I was glad to comply with! Indeed his distraction by the first officer had nearly resulted in ‘another’ ferry grounding, with me being a witness to both!
Thank goodness I could not be regarded as a ‘Jonas’ this time!
Most likely everyone at least in North America, if not the world, will remember their first car.
In my case, I managed to buy my first car as a bold teen, under the legal age for a driver’s license. It began when I joined an RCAF Air Cadet summer program located at the former Vanier Park station located in Vancouver Kitsilano district. There were several different programs scheduled, but when we began, the Intelligence course, I had chosen had been deleted. Cadets for that course were redirected to the Secretarial course!
My disappointment resulted in short stay, after some friction with instructors.
Before a rather tumultuous departure, I had made a few teenage friends, and managed to convince them to invest in my plan to buy a car! Surprisingly, they agreed to contribute some of their early Air Cadet paychecks, in return for my promise to provide regular transportation from the base to their homes during the summer course. This actually did make a certain amount of sense given the travel distance they had to travel daily, with limited bus transportation in the 1950’s.
I think I had already identified an Vancouver Sun classified ad for the 1937 Plymouth I bought. And thanks to my older sibling brothers I was already quite competent to handle a four speed transmission stick shifter. Hence the deal was done!
Having then departed company with the RCAF, I was free to show up at the base as the cadets were marched military style, in uniform, to the main gate of the base each day where I picked up investor friends in my ‘new’ prize. Although it was only a three passenger coupe (as shown), however many we were somehow crammed in. Therefore I fulfilled my promise to deliver them to their homes daily. The fact I was unlicensed was simply no obstacle.
Yet another memorable teenage experience in 1950’s Vancouver.
Just in the USA about 49,476 people died by suicide in 2022! Many of those being youths. How incredibly sad is that!? Indeed the prospects for youths and even adults was severely affected by the Covid-19 virus and variants. But that is only one cause for giving up on life itself. My point in addressing this tragic issue is somewhat related to John Milton’s epic poems; ‘from paradise lost to paradise regained’ * but not entirely…please read on;
No doubt the absence of hope is the root cause of many if not most suicides! Clearly then, what is needed is real hope for the future based on solid facts.
Where can we find such real hope in a world that consistently engenders economic greed; government corruption; destruction of the environment; crime and violence; and the list goes on!?
The promise of ‘a return to paradise’ is a main theme of scripture. And scripture has been proven to be just as reliable as the rising of the sun. How can this be said? To begin with most scripture is recorded history of God’s dealings with man. That being the case, it’s possible to compare the biblical record with the known facts of history. Does it meet that litmus test, indeed it does! In fact many times the previously doubted Bible record has been proven correct when new archaeological and/or other factual historical evidence comes to light.
Indeed scriptures have shamed critics and proven to be accurate beyond any contradiction time and again, including references to known science; for one example the Psalmist said ‘his makeup was written down in a book before he was born’! A perfectly clear reference to only recently known DNA! And again, the scriptures refer to the ‘circle of the earth hanging on nothing’! These words were written thousands of years before science confirmed them. Obviously the Bible was ‘inspired’ by the one who created these wonders we have only begun to appreciate!
The answer my friends is ‘written on the wind’, in a manor of speaking. The rotten conditions that exist on our beautiful planet are not in keeping with its purpose at all. ** Little wonder so many people feel hopeless. We naturally and rightly wish for a better world, a united world of mankind living in peace and security with plenty for all! And that is exactly what is promised for those who exercise faith in our Creator’s promise to regain paradise lost!
‘And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away,’…. ‘And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away’…. ‘And the One seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new.’….’Also he says: “Write, for these words are faithful and true.'(Revelation 21:1-5 excerpts)
** “For too long, we have been waging a senseless and suicidal war on nature. The result is three interlinked environmental crises: climate disruption, biodiversity loss and pollution that threaten our viability as a species.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
Scientists say we are reaching a tipping point for many of earth’s normal life cycles. What is a tipping point you may ask? It is a point estimated to be where there will no longer be any possibility of natural environmental restoration!
As depressing as the current slide towards a world that is at its ‘tipping point’, amazingly restoration is still possible! Not by all those who have contributed to its destruction, such as failing governments of all kinds, and greedy merchants, to name just a few contributers.
“You must pray, then, this way: Our Father in the heavens, let your name+ be sanctified Let your Kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also on earth.” Indeed that is the only real remedy for the downward spiral of environmental conditions, AND ongoing human suffering!
Thanks for visiting, and please also visit my post here for further encouragement:
Please take note; There never has, and never will be, an evolutionary jump, gradual or otherwise, from one genetic ‘kind’ to another! In actual fact there has never been, nor ever will be, a ‘beneficial or progressive’ mutation!!
I know this is not what you have been taught from unwitting sources and blind news reports. Just think about it; mutations, animal or vegetable, always result in degradation of some kind. Mutations simply do not result in ‘improvements’ or ‘advancements’ genetically, period. In simple terms a mutation is a damaged DNA gene, resulting in defects or illness. Much less the speculated millions of them to produce some significant change in life forms! No, there is simply no evidence this has ever happened, not even one, except in science fiction such as ‘Mutants’ movies!
On the other hand there’s a a very natural and normal process called ‘entropy’! Entropy is literally the breaking down to ‘disorder’ from something that is ‘ordered’. This applies to inanimate objects as well as animate (living) cells. Think about what would happen to your car if you were to park it in a farmers field and do nothing to it for years. In time it would deteriorate and eventually be reduced to little more than basic elements. Exactly the same process happens to living cells, only much more quickly!
With living cells the same natural process is simply called aging (or ageing). Remember the Eagles song ‘All We Are Is Dust In The Wind’? Even better stated in scripture; “For dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19)
The same principle applies to any living creature born with an abnormality, not withstanding the help of modern medical science. A defect will not and cannot be an improved version of any particular kind, much less be a ‘stepping stone’ to becoming an entirely ‘different’ kind of creature, as the theory of evolution requires!
Indeed, all biological creatures, human or animals age, (atrophy) and die, returning to dust just the same as physical objects eventually do.
This is science fact, not fiction, and it cannot be ignored. Yet that is what is done by those advocating evolution.
To further demystify this theory; within the dog ‘family’, there are a great variety of animals, all related, from foxes to wolves to jackals and coyote’s, besides a countless number of domestic dog’s. Great diversity within the dog family for sure, and all genetically linked. Yet at no time has a ‘dog kind’ of animal ever been a ‘bird kind’, a ‘fish kind’, or an ‘insect kind’ of creature, or vice versa, except in human imagination! Once again as the theory of evolution depends.
This must not be confused with the well proven capability of most life forms to adapt to environmental conditions, so please ‘read my lips’….
‘Adaptation is not evolution!’ It simply does not result in a stepping stone or so-called ‘big jump’ change to a different family kind of creature!
Contrary to popular opinion, Darwin’s own observation of Finches proves this point. He noted there was a change in the size and shape of bird beaks as they ‘adapted to different food sources’. But that ‘natural adaptation’ does not begin to support evolutionary theories, namely any change from a bird kind of creature to some other kind!
Variations in each ‘family kind’ are often confused by the human designation of ‘species’. For example a wolf and a fox terrier may be regarded as different species, as categorized by anthropologists etc, but that does not make them a different ‘family kind’ of animal. The same is true of black or gray squirrels, varieties of moths, or even the 10,000 ‘species’ of birds!
In other word, differentiating creatures as different species does not necessarily separate them genetically, they may simply be a member of their own ‘family kind’. Describing animals within each ‘family kind’ as different ‘species’ merely tends to obfuscate reality.* Separation of family kinds by this arbitrary and often confusing method is a little like classifying basketball players as different from each other because they play on different teams, wearing different colored shorts!
The point is that there has never been fundamental changes within each and every ‘family kind’ so as to become a member of a ‘different family kind’.
And that includes us humans. For example; Asian, Caucasian, Negroid, Germanic, et al, are all simply members of ‘human kind’. All are of the very same genetic pool, not different ‘species’. Evolutionists designations not withstanding, humans are not, and never have been, part of the ape ‘family’, or any other family kind of creature.
Recent genome studies are adding more proof of this every day. Humans and apes are simply unrelated, that is a science fact.**
Therefore please do not be misled by a confusing and completely unsupported theory. So-called ‘transitional’ human artifacts, namely bits and pieces of bone which likely could be contained in a single travel trunk, and do not even begin to support the idea of millions of years of so called ‘dead ends’ as required by this theory, or its many variations. Evolutionary theories, based on the mythical idea of ‘millions of years’ of mutations has been so frequently revised and re-worked is not even just a single unified theory anymore.
No matter how many millions of year’s are suggested, basic well-proven scientific principals apply, and those principles completely contradict evolution. It will always remain just a theory no matter how frustrating that is for its advocates.
Frankly, in my view, the main proponents are those who are too proud to accept the obvious… namely; all life on earth, animal and vegetable, is so highly complex and detailed that it simply could not be other than the product of a power and intelligence far beyond our human understanding, well known in most cultures as the ‘Creator’.
‘Creation’, should not be marginalized by theories which attempt to undermine the glory and beauty of our blue marble planet, and especially not its wise, supremely intelligent Creator.
Indeed all life on earth, including ‘mankind’, gives abundant evidence of an awesome Creator, the one who made “each one according to its kind” so that everything was “very good”. (please read Genesis, chapter 1, in the holy Bible).
But if you are still in doubt, please view this very revealing utube video. If your not convinced of ‘divinity’ after seeing what this Mathematician has to say, there is nothing more to be said!
** International science team concludes; “During the last decade it was commonly accepted that humans and…. chimpanzees, only differed by 1.24 % in our DNA sequences. This (new) discovery shows that this figure is absolutely incorrect and, what is more, may be ten times higher.” Also; “Humans and primates are qualitatively different.” (extract from 2009 study), click here for… 2009 science team report
Quotation: “The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will make you an evolutionist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.” Werner Heisenberg (father of quantum mechanics!)
