Dateline California. Doctors, under contract with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation have sterilized nearly 150 female inmates in four years without required state approval. Some of the women were strongly pressured or even tricked into signing off on the procedure.
As gross as this is, and in spite of the fact that California authorities seem to be horrified, it is hard for me to be in the least bit surprised that this has happened. It is so logically an expression of the naturalistic worldview that is so prevalent in the governmental institutions of California.
When we consider the topic of worldview, the first things we generally think of are the religious implications of the beliefs. That is because a worldview system is a belief (faith) system. Those Atheists who strongly assert that they are not religious simply do not understand the nature of their worldview beliefs.
But beyond the expression of faith comes the way it is expressed in daily life. Naturalism is the belief that no supernatural reality exists. As such, human beings are nothing more than animal creatures with a highly evolved brain, and there exists no such thing as an objective, transcendent ground for moral behavior. Thus, it is not surprising when some in positions of power look at a particular group of these human animals who have behaved in a way which requires that they be put in cages, and decide that they should not be allowed to breed anymore because the state will have to spend more in welfare payments.
Here is the problem. While state authorities are expressing outrage at this situation, they are the ones who have established Naturalism as the primary worldview stance of the state. Their “moral outrage” is completely arbitrary. The promotion of naturalistic beliefs is prominently found in all three branches of the government. The executive branch refuses to defend duly enacted law in court and, in fact, encourage the states various political units to ignore it as well (see the California marriage amendment). The legislative branch continues to pass more and more laws which encourage abortion, expand the influence of homosexual activists, and which run up debt in order to further an ideological agenda. Those in the judicial branch ignore the law and even their own rules to promote personal moral beliefs. All of these things are based on the beliefs of Naturalism.
As I said before, how can anyone be surprised when a practice like what happened in the California prisons occurs. The fruit of naturalistic worldview beliefs is futility and human destruction. Naturalism ignores the existence of God and the objective moral absolutes which he has revealed. When the ultimate goal in life is to advance personal pleasure and the survival of the species based on the perceptions of the ruling class, this is what you get.
Freddie, are you really surprised? Have you been following the culture of america’s prisons the last twenty years? Do you really think the public cares? Where are the churches Freddie? How much do you think is allotted to the prison ministries budget of these mega churches Freddie and how much accountability is there towards the programs they do sponsor ? Freddie has any one of them kept any record of their success so they can at least develop programs that are effective? When administration won’t allow you to share your prison ministry do you challenge the Director or approach the judicial or legislative branch for assistance? Do you contact the Judges and Courts to share what you are seeing and hearing inside these prisons? Freddie here is what i believe. I don’t think the church as a body has a clue and i have not seen it actively challenge or attempt to make a change in the culture of prisons. I have no doubt lives have been changed, but until leadership is challenged, those lives saved are replaced by ten more. I commend your volunteers and the long hours and hard work they commit to their prison ministries. I challenge your leaders and elected church authority to get out from behind their pulpits or the television cameras and visit the prisons and the men and women that live there. Take a walk down Death Row and see if you can get a real sense of why we as Christians are called to fight for life. Freddie what is going on in California is happening around the entire country. Perhaps on a different scale and without the same fanfare. There is a reason you cannot visit unannounced Freddie! I do commend you for your work and pray that God gives you the strength and wisdom to continue. Just so your readers know, i am not a liberal and i believe that crime cannot go unpunished. But why in the world would we think that to continue debasing the humanity of these men and women is ever going to create a good citizen? That to not hold these prison and parole officials accountable for their actions is a crime that has and will continue to cost america hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Money that in most cases was earmarked for education. My goodness, is that insanity or what?
Richard,
Hopefully you caught on to the intent of the article. The title was, basically, a teaser to get attention for it. But the point of the entire article was that it is, unfortunately, not surprising. In fact, the issue with the prisons is merely one example of how the naturalistic worldview has taken over our culture. There are so many other issues in other areas of life which illustrate the same problem.