Comments on: Do you think we have progressed?

By: Audrey

Audrey — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 02:10:23 +0000

I recently read that people of this generation are exposed to more information in the first eight years of their life than our grandparents were faced with in their entire lifetime…

How interesting is that?

That has to change the way we process and respond to information…

By: Audrey

Audrey — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 02:05:57 +0000

Some really interesting points there Inspirio..

I hear what you are saying but I think the issue of ‘nothing new under the sun’ is somewhat seperate to the issue of progression

I’m interested in the bigger picture. Or are you stating that we’ve really stayed the same?

I would argue that we haven’t stayed the same, people have changed and their attitudes have changed, therefore the world has changed. The basis of the issues we face may be just the same old same old people have always experienced since the dawn of time, e.g. “do I believe in a God?”. But our possibilities for exploring this issue have changed and progressed, e.g. “I have no reason to believe in God considering the prevalence of materiality to replace any need to find Him”

This is a different context to the world 200 years ago. But perhaps you see otherwise?

By: Inspirio

Inspirio — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 04:03:03 +0000

Mikey fan, I hear you! The bible (Ecclesiastes) specifically says ‘There is nothing new under the sun’. i have grappled with this issue for many years now, especially with relation to having children. How, I ask myself, could an intelligent (!) self respecting person knowingly bring a child into such a fallen, environmentally doomed, over-populated place? I have asked many wise people whom I trust this question, and the overwhelming answer has been “Nothing they face will be worse than what we faced, or better, for that metter.” In other words ‘There is nothing new under then sun’! imagine our grandparents going through 2 world wars, polio and the great depression, only to have their precious sons conscripted to the Vietnam war!
I also find that people en-masse have a remarkable ability to do terrible things that they themselves would not do as individuals, influenced by those around them. It is easy for all of us to become caught up in the popular minority, or the majority, just because someone presents their case well and articulately or because there seems to be no other publicised solution.

By: Mikey Fan

Mikey Fan — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:07:40 +0000

One facet in this discussion which I identify, and a possible fly in the ointment, is that often (perhaps too often?) we look at our world in a very general sense; i.e. this country did this, the world is moving in that direction, etc. What I see is a planet full of individuals who each think, feel and act according to their own set of ethics, circumstances and morals, with industrial, technological and environmental change happening around them.

Yes, percentages of the planet’s population have been opressed or influenced for whatever reasons and not allowed to govern their own lives, but I can’t help but wonder about this from God’s perspective. Does God see us as “the human race” or his individually crafted children? I mean, if you personally designed every person in the world one by one, you wouldn’t look at them as faceless masses who either progress or don’t progress - would you? ….? A side issue maybe, but it’s a big part of my worldview.

By: godBoy

godBoy — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 07:29:11 +0000

do you reckon these changes have been for the better..?

I think we are definitely progressing, technological advancement has indeed been a good thing. Medicine, Science, Human Rights. yep.

By: Audrey

Audrey — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 07:44:45 +0000

‘The crusades weren’t fun and some of the battles recorded in the bible are horrific.’

Those conflicts were brutal yes, but the twentieth century witnessed brutalities on the largest scale. In a 100 year period we managed to congest many different types of conflicts on many scales such as the horrific genocides and the world wars..

‘I think we live in a fallen world that is neither in decline nor is it progressing.’

What do you think about things such as women rights? Social progression? Do you think there has been some cause for optimism in these areas? While it is true that we are supposed to be focussed on eternity, the bible does lay out some guidelines for life on earth. Do you think we have made any improvements in these things? We definitely haven’t stayed the same..

By: Sweetums

Sweetums — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 04:19:00 +0000

Some good thoughts and a really cute picture! But was life then so easy and innocent? Or was this a set up picture like those of Henry The 8th. He had artists portray him as proud, noble and strong, when it is believed that he was none of these things.

As far as the twentieth century having the most bloody conflicts, I don’t know about the that. The crusades weren’t fun and some of the battles recorded in the bible are horrific. I think we live in a fallen world that is neither in decline nor is it progressing. We might think we are getting smarter and more equipped, but for what? So we can have a weapon that could destroy the entire planet, whoo hoo, who benefits from that?