Today's column will touch lightly upon Intelligent Design, the nature of truth, "The X-Files," my forthcoming new book, the difference between Republicans and Democrats, why I'm taking a "vacation," and an easy way for you to win $100. Plainly, you will search in vain for any depth this week.
Let's start with the money. I will give $100 for the most brilliant explanation I receive by May 7, 2006, on the subject of what makes a person grow up to be a Democrat or a Republican. Hold it down to 750 words, please, and extra points will be awarded for under 250.
I've often suspected that some babies are born genetically predisposed (as homosexuals say) to certain sets of feelings and behaviors, which (in this instance) tilt them helplessly toward the liberal-Democrat mindset. Sort of a non-Calvinistic theory of predestination. I've wondered: "How can a sane, articulate person with no known brain defects grow up in a free society, go through college, and wind up thinking that the proper role of government is to compete dismally with life-insurance companies?... and take money from a hard worker and give it to his lazier neighbor? ... and borrow trillions of dollars from today's children, putting them into perpetual bondage to an unpayable mountain of debt?"
My ill-fated attempts to gently explore this topic with various liberals have invariably ended with me listening to high-decibel outpourings of insults, name-calling, generic rage, and sundry accusations – which I am seldom given more than two seconds to confute. So I turn to you, as an astute reader of WND's august commentaries, to enlighten me. Surely there is some rational black-sheep theory that will neatly explain a society filled with 150 million black sheep.
I was reminded of this subject by Lynn Barton's brilliant WND essay on Intelligent Design, in which she observes:
The truth is that homosexual marriage is wrong because it violates God's design and purpose for us, with inevitably negative consequences. But for an exercise in frustration, just try to discuss design with someone steeped in the evolutionary mindset. Point out the functional biological differences between male and female, and they will dodge, deny or change the subject. Press the issue, and they will become angry at your attempt to "impose" your personal values. What they will never do is engage the substance of your argument. They can't. Their worldview will not allow them to admit the obvious.
Bingo.
My opinion: Intelligent Design will crush Darwinism. Read Barton's essay and Nancy Pearcey's landmark book, "Total Truth."
Further opinion: Intelligent Design will pave the way to Ultimate Design, which encompasses not only origin, but purpose and destiny. A month from now, WND Books should have on hand a supply of my next book, "The Meaning of Life," which, inter alia, explores (in readable fashion) how Intelligent Design extends into purpose and destiny. WARNING: This is a Christian book and pivots around the Designer.
The early motto of "The X-Files" was "The Truth Is Out There." Each episode was a bizarre Hollywood exploration of epistemology (the study of what can be known). I think the Design debate will come down to that same issue: What is truth?
The question was explored beautifully 4,000 years ago in Job. The four antagonists represent the four reactions you might get today in challenging the judgment of a baseball umpire:
- Mystics like Eliphaz, who experience truth, could be grouped with the umpire who says, "I call 'em like I see 'em."
- Rationalists like Zophar, who discover truth, are in the same camp as the umpire who says, "I call 'em like they are."
- Postmodernists like Elihu, who construct truth, are akin to the umpire who says, "They aren't balls or strikes until I call 'em."
- And traditionalists like Bildad, who inherit truth, would appreciate the ump who says, "Shuddup! I'm the umpire and you're not."
Thus Job gives us:
- Experiential validity for mystics.
- Logical consistency for rationalists.
- Handmade, artsy-craftsy globs of opinions for postmoderns. (The criterion here is sincerity of belief.)
- Historical accuracy for traditionalists.
Question: With the exception of that postmodernist "truth," what's to prevent a wise person from utilizing all types of truth? Reality is not simple, but multifaceted and connected, hubbed around the One who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
I'm off to Ukraine and Russia to plant house churches. The longsuffering people there are weary of centuries of violence, suppression and institutionalism. They are eager for the Truth. Pray for me.