Hidden Belief
This essay refers to is the belief that god has ordained the outcome of his creation here on earth. Of course, this belief is not so hidden from the more extreme segments of our Western religions; they hear about it every Saturday or Sunday. The internet has site after site on the subject. It is an idea that lurks in the backs of minds of all those that have been raised in Jewish, Muslim and Christian traditions. It is not a topic of easy social conversation because of the possibility of serious controversy. I’m convinced that many people don’t really believe literally in this prophecy but the concept, nevertheless, is part of their religious background. Until a person forthrightly negates this belief, it still has the potential of doing damage. I have used the word ‘hidden’ for this essay because the concept of end of the world prophecy is not a conscious part of our everyday thinking; it is a hidden, seldom expressed thought. The following are some of the scriptural passages that promote this concept.
2 Peter 10 – The New English Bible, Oxford and Cambridge Press 1961
“But the day of the Lord will come; it will come unexpected as a thief. On that day the heavens will disappear with a great rushing sound, the elements will disintegrate in flames, and the earth with all that is in it will be laid bare.”
Acts 2, 17-21
“God says, This will happen in the last days: I will pour out upon everyone a portion of my spirit; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy; your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Yes, I will endue even my slaves, both men and women, with a portion of my spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the sky above, and signs on the earth below—blood and fire and drifting smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before that great, resplendent day, the day the Lord, shall come. And then, everyone who invokes the name of the Lord shall be saved.’’
Ezekiel 28
“No longer shall the Israelites suffer from the scorn of their neighbors, the pricking of briars and scratching of thorns, and they shall know that I am the Lord God.
These are the words of the Lord God: When I gather the Israelites from the peoples among whom they are scattered, I shall thereby prove my holiness in the sight of all nations. They shall live on their native soil, which I gave to my servant Jacob. They shall live there in peace of mind, build houses and plant vineyards; they shall live there in peace of mind when I execute judgement on all their scornful neighbours. Thus they shall know that I am the Lord their God.”
Along with the poetic, beautiful, helpful verses throughout the Bible, we come across these scary, far out verses that have little to do with life as we know it. Those early Jewish writers certainly were thoughtful and prolific but they lived in a time when religious belief could be very threatening.
The damage that I referred to above is the fatalism that can arise from the belief that an all powerful god has set the course of our fate and nothing can be done about it. Or worse yet, we set governmental policy designed to reinforce and accelerate these prophesies. Our long term success as a species has enough challenges without going in directions promoted by questionable religious fanaticism.
Related to this subject are those problems that are arising due to our ever increasing worldwide population. Population pressures complicate all the problems concerning the environment, air quality, fresh water, animal habitat, healthcare, energy use, global warming etc. Life style and quality issues are also impacted by these increases. There is a belief of some within the religious communities that contraception is an evil and against God’s plan for humanity. This belief has hampered governmental and non-governmental agencies in their efforts to solve health and family planning problems in many countries that desperately need this kind of help. Most of the developed countries now have fertility rates at or below the replacement rate. The Population Reference Bureau, however, projects the United States population to rise from its present level of 302 million to 420 million by the year 2050. That is an increase of 118 million. New York City has a population of 8.2 million. To get a feel for the implications of this increase, visualize the addition to our country of 14 cities the size of New York . Will this cause problems?, you bet. Of course, not everyone will want to be in cities the size of New York . If past trends are an indication of the future, most of our increase will be in the cities.
The increase in the United States population is attributed to a combination of the demographic imbalance of young people to old people, legal and illegal immigration and the disparity between birth and death rates. Politicians seldom even mention population concerns because they know that there are enough voters out there who will not forgive a leader for bringing up this subject. Although the use of contraception in the United States has changed dramatically this past fifty years, it is still an issue that surfaces in the occasional drugstore when the pharmacist refuses to fill a prescription for contraceptives because of religious beliefs.
I would like to risk making a prediction too as long as we are on the subject. My 30 year prediction is that governmental leaders and the populace in general throughout the world will finally come to the realization that the chief mammal, the pride of evolutionary success, the well know Homo sapien (that’s us), must curb his reproductive ways. We are already well on our way to this realization so I think my prediction is safe.