Porn Replaces the Bible
The Damson Dene Hotel in the Lake District of England has replaced the Gideon Bible in their 40 guest rooms with the pornographic bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey. The owner, Jonathan Denby, explained why he did this by saying, “Tonight, millions of women will be curling up in bed with a good book and you can bet your life it won’t be the Bible. More likely than not, it will be Fifty Shades of Grey.” He goes on to say, “This made me wonder about the sense of providing a book, the Gideon Bible, which no one reads, and many dislike, in the bedside cabinet of our hotel rooms, instead of a book which everyone wants to read.” Oh, but not to worry, Denby will still have a couple of copies of the Bible behind the reception desk for guests who request them.
Ah, this is no big deal, you say. After all, that is England. This would never happen in America. If that is your perspective, you better pull your head out of sand. England used to be a very religious country and on the cutting edge of the growth of Christianity. It is just that secularism has taken over in a big way.
The truth is, America is walking the same path as Britain and we are rapidly catching up with them. According to Christian writer Jim Denison, “The number of atheists and agnostics in this country has quadrupled in the last 20 years and now outnumbers Episcopalians two-to-one. The fastest growing religious demographic in America is the ‘non-religious’” (which is now about 25% of the population).
Just look what recently happened when Chick-fil-a owner Dan Cathy stood up for traditional marriage. The secular establishment went nuts. You have everything from big city mayors vowing to keep Chick-fil-a stores out of their cities to Hollywood actors swearing they will never eat at the restaurants again to major news organizations condemning them. And Mr. Cathy never said they would not serve homosexuals nor even that they would not hire them as employees. He only affirmed their belief in traditional marriage. Are you kidding me? Abject scorn and hatred for affirming traditional marriage? So you believe that things like what are happening in England could never happen in America? Think again. It already is.
Now, it is one thing for Christians to lament this fact, but unless we are willing to step up to the plate and put ourselves on the line to be change agents, we have no room to complain. This would be like the person who gripes about his or her political representatives but doesn’t bother to vote on election day. When you have the potential to make a difference and you don’t put forth the necessary effort, your gripes simply mean nothing.
So, what do Christians need to do? How can we make a difference? The answer is to get up to speed on why the Christian faith is the truth and other belief systems are not. If we are going to mix it up in the secular world we live in, we have got to become educated in this arena. And the subject area where we need to operate is in the arena of worldview.
Worldview is the assumptions people make about the nature of reality. As Christians, our assumption is that God exists, that he created the material universe, and has revealed himself and his ways to mankind. The secularist worldview assumes that there is no God and that human beings get to decide morality for themselves. And, if they have the power to enforce their ideas, they can not only decide for themselves, but force their immorality on the rest of society.
You can see that this is exactly what is happening. Anti-Christian people who have become numerous and powerful enough to create havoc for Christians, have done so by blasting us in the media and making laws which suppress our ability to freely live out our faith in the public square.
This secular (Naturalistic) approach to understanding reality really does not have any basis in truth, but that doesn’t matter to those who hold these views. They are bound and determined to suppress any opposing viewpoints.
Why the Secular Approach Is Not the Truth
The truth is, so called “secular” approaches are nothing more than expressions of Naturalism. As such, it is a religious position which assumes that there is no such thing as a supernatural reality. It assumes that matter either has existed eternally or that it emerged from nothing, that life emerged from non-life, that lower life forms naturally evolved to higher life forms, and that consciousness evolved from non-consciousness. None of these things are empirically verifiable, yet Naturalists insist that reality is structured this way and also that everyone else must live by their faith assumptions.
Interestingly, Naturalists also generally assert that their viewpoint is based on science. They truly think that their belief that the supernatural does not exist is based on empirical science. But actually, it is not! Not a single one of the basic presuppositions of Naturalism mentioned above can be empirically shown. They are all faith assumptions. It is a false belief with no means of verification.
What Christians Must Do
While this secular belief was gaining popularity, Christians tended to basically ignore it because it was not perceived to be a threat to the Christian faith. But now that it has gained prominence in the culture, we are able to see the intolerance and persecution it engenders. The examples above (and many, many more) are the natural result of this trend.
So, what can Christians do to turn the tide? That is a great question and one which we must answer if we desire to continue living in a land which allows freedom of religious expression.
The first thing that must be done is to know why the secular approach is not the truth and be able to express that knowledge. Every expression of Naturalism is a religious faith which does not represent the actual structure of reality. Even though secularists try to represent themselves as non-religious, that simply is not the case. If we are going to answer their push, it will be necessary to understand the religious nature of their position and bring it out into the open.
The second necessary thing for Christians is to know why the Christian faith is the truth about reality and be able to express that, as well. The evidence to support the truth of the Christian faith is vast and profound. There are many books and other resources which deal with the empirical, logical and experiential evidence that God’s revelation in the Bible represents the way reality is structured.
Standing up to those who try to put down the Christian faith and Christian values in society is not something that must be left to the “professionals.” There was a time when we had the luxury of doing that. But in today’s culture, every Christian must become proficient in this arena. The key to this kind of understanding is to get up to speed on worldview. As of now, porn is replacing the Bible at the Damson Dene Hotel in England. If Christians don’t begin seriously stepping up to the plate, you will soon seeing the same thing at hotels near you.
© 2012 Freddy Davis