by Joe Bowyer
Local Columnist
LOGANSPORT —
What is the percentage of people in the United States who believe there is a God? Is it 78 percent? I think I read that once. What if those people are correct, and there is a God who created us and knows what we do from day to day? And what if He is a jealous God? And what if He really did give Moses the 10 Commandments? And if he did, what if he expects us to follow them?
Let’s go back a ways, back to the founding of our country. It’s been a long time since I studied history, but it seems to me that the Pilgrims came to this country in order to be free to worship as they pleased, at least that’s what I seem to remember. No doubt someone will write to the Public Forum saying I am wrong, but I do know that religion was important to the founders of our country.
Only a fool would say that our country has not been blessed. The question is have we just been blessed by dumb luck or have we been blessed for some reason. For the time being (and it may not last much longer), ours is the greatest country on earth, and it’s hard to believe we have achieved this by just being lucky. Oh, I know Americans work hard, and I know they are ingenious. I am also certain that being free has had a lot to do with it, but in the back of my mind, I have to wonder if all of the churches that exist in our country have had anything to do with it.
I am going to throw an idea out here that some people will agree with. I know that some people will disagree with it, and I know there are those who will disagree with it violently, but I’m going to throw it out there just the same. For the sake of argument, let’s take the stand that the Bible is a true book of history, and that the words within it are written by divine inspiration. It could be true, and if it is, and if God is really up there and knows what America is doing, we probably haven’t seen anything yet in the way of hard times.
I am not an expert on the Bible, but Janie and I both taught Sunday school at the Onward Christian Church for about 15 years, so I know what’s in it even if I can’t quote it verbatim. I can tell you that the Jewish people allegedly became disobedient from time to time, and the God who is allegedly up there in heaven is supposed to have punished them to keep them in line. It was like he was saying, “How many times have I told you not to do that? You just wait until I cut a switch.”
I’ve heard that said before and the old friends I eat supper with once a month and I all laugh about those times. You might think it odd that punishment is remembered with laughter, but it taught us to respect rules, which were laid down for our own good. Our fathers enforced those rules because they wanted us to amount to something, and all of us have so I guess it works.
Now let’s just suppose that God is really there, and he wants his children, who are us, to amount to something. He wants us to behave according to the rules he laid out for us, and no one can say they are not good rules. So let’s take a look at some of the things we are doing that might be considered wrong and worth punishing in his sight provided, of course, that there is a God.
First of all, our government in Washington has over the years become corrupt and out of control. It has been a gradual thing, and step-by-step we have gotten used to it and accepted it. Unfortunately our elected officials pay more attention to the people who lobby them and the party bosses than they do to the will of the people. At the same time, these elected officials have passed laws concerning religion, such as no prayer in school, such as no prayer at official meetings that contain the words Jesus Christ, (He could be God’s son, you know) such as no manger scenes on public property, such as killing babies in the womb, etc.
Besides our federal judges having ruled that abortion is just a type of birth control, they have ruled that crosses have to come down.
They have ruled that Christian symbols cannot be displayed in public. In fact, our government has sided with a few atheists against a huge majority of people who believe in God. What atheists believe doesn’t matter to me. They are entitled to believe what they want, and Christians are entitled to believe what they want. When we die, one of the two of us is going to get a horrible surprise.
But going back to the chance that God is there, wouldn’t it make sense to you that as his children we are in need of punishment. And as our country disintegrates around us, do you suppose there is a remote possibility that God is punishing us because we have corrupted this great nation of ours and turned our backs on Him and his teachings.
As one catastrophe after another befalls us, and our political parties blame each other while delving deeper into corruption, I can see a lot of reasons for shifting into reverse. It’s just a thought.
• Joe Bowyer is a columnist for the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached through the newspaper at ptnews@pharostribune.com.
