How Can We Change the World?

Apr 6 2005

Question:

Why don’t preachers talk more about our human potential and how we can use the good within us to create a better world and overcome our problems?  I think we need more optimism today, not this constant talk about how bad we are or how hopeless everything is.

Billy Graham’s answer:

You are right up to a point.  We do have responsibility to work for a better world and to use the abilities God has given us to turn back evil. … But have you ever asked yourself why our world has so many problems? Why do we have so many wars and conflicts?  Why can’t people seem to get along?  The reason isn’t just because something is wrong with the world (although that’s part of the problem). The real reason is because something is wrong with us – within our own hearts and minds. … Our basic problems are spiritual and that is why our greatest need is to turn to God.  Only He can change our hears and He will, as we turn in faith to Christ.

Jen’s response:

The reason why Christian preachers don’t talk about human potential is because (in general), they don’t believe in it.  Christianity’s philosophic starting point is that people are basically evil and need to be saved (hence Grahams emphasis turning to God as the solution to all the world’s problems).  Their theory is that if you take God into your heart, and only if you take God into your heart, can you be absolved of sin, and until you are absolved of sin, you are obviously part of the problem. (This of course ignores the obvious problem that no group corners the market on stupidity and that there are plenty of Christians in jail for doing evil – heck just look at the Catholic sex abuse scandal, all men of faith, yet they did evil.  Clearly taking God into your heart isn’t the whole story.)

 The best thing about most Christians is that they reject this portion of the dogma.  Most humans, regardless of faith, recognize that people are basically good, but have the capacity to do evil.  And given this state of affairs, we should work to encourage the good and eliminate the bad.  Like the old song goes, “accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative.”  This by the way is the philosophic starting point for Humanism.

The current definition of Humanism is that it is a progressive philosophy of life that without supernaturalism affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire the greater good of humanity.  In English, be a good person and know that you can make the world a better place for everyone to live and therefore you should work to make the world a better place for everyone to live. (Ability and Responsibility).

 If you are looking for a more forward thinking, more humanistic-ly based religious experience, I would suggest checking out the Unitarian Universalists. (http://www.uua.org/) They are very humanistic in their practice.