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Posted by Frith on 12/31/2009, 2:23 pm
Look around you. And think. Does the current state of our civilization look hunky-dory to you? If you are a wide-eyed person of youth, everything probably seems normal. But to many of us who recall simpler times, there are very dark clouds on the horizon. Civilization looks to be in the midst of a disturbing downslide, and accelerating like a runaway roller-coaster!
Sure, you can always argue that "it's always been like that; old folks have always yearned for the good ol' days and complained that the kids are going to hell in a handbasket". Okay, valid enough. But is it possible that the situation may actually be more dire than in the past?
Human civilization continually waxes and wanes, plunging periodically into chaos and ruin, only to eventually re-emerge on the other side -- usually due to some kind of awakening or enlightenment, or the arrival of some reformer/teacher/leader of almost superhuman wisdom and insight.
So it has been throughout history, from Babylon to the Roman empire to the darkest days of the Middle Ages. I seriously fear we are heading into that sort of abyss right now. And it is being accelerated by a dangerous catalytic force: technology!
(No, I am neither a technophobe nor a doomsday prophet. I am a modern, middle-aged, middle class American. But you may feel free to stop reading right now if you are one of those who loves things just as they are and sees no reason to change anything)
The problem is this: Lightning speed transportation and communication, coupled with "too much knowledge" and too much influence by predatory greed moguls from an assortment of camps are conspiring to take our civilization careening unawares down a very slippery pathway, one which could be heading toward another Dark Ages...or worse.
WHAT TO DO? We only have two choices: Either (1) live with it, or (2) be stubborn and try to rise above it. I am not one to just sit back quietly and let it happen. I, for one, am seeking a higher road.
SO WHY CHRISTIANITY...OR EVEN RELIGION? If you are determined to take a different, or higher, road, you need to make sure you are actually on a road. It hardly makes sense to depart from the pathway of corruption only to strike out blindly through the thicket with neither map nor machete. That's frying pan into fire.
If you intend to reject "modernism" as "evil", it follows that your new path should be one that is more "non-modern" -- that is, one that harkens back to less modern times, back when things seemed simpler. But which "non-modern" approach is the best one? Well, that is a matter of personal preference.
I was born and raised in a Christian culture, so that happens to be the pathway I find most appealing and readily accessible. For someone else, it could well be a different tack altogether. But, whichever path seems inviting, it needs to be one that is established -- one that already exists and is well-travelled -- not one that you yourself have to carve out of the wilderness. Choosing a religion, even one you have disagreements with, is a good starting point, for they have already carved out the trail for you. You don't have to join them; simply travel alongside them.
Christianity is the basic template I and some others have chosen to get us up, over and around the unsavory cesspool down below. We choose that path, not because we believe it to be a high-speed express lane paved in gold leading directly to eternal bliss, but because it is a way that points in a general direction we already understand and relate to.
I have chosen to give that way a name. I call it "The Naoi Meadow Way". Fellow travellers are always welcome.
BEST OF CHEER EVERYONE FOR THE NEW YEAR!
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