Anyone following these Pages with some regularity knows that there are several themes (complexity is one) that I feel are important, and insufficiently treated in the education of persons, secular and/or devout. God, as creator, is concerned for all persons regardless of their faith/education orientation. Each is treated with sympathy in a personal context, which context is also social when including other persons. We were made for fellowship, with other persons, and with God. The need was detected in the first experiences of Adam and Eve. If God is omitted in a person’s life, he (God) remains to make the fellowship of a person (individual/singular) with persons (social/plural) pleasant for all who will have it so. (Mankind, in this generalized use of the term, stands for all ages, genders, general competencies, and related factors of humanity. I use mankind in historical meaning, formerly perceived as man, a term for all humankind.) It is followed as the historical pattern of identity for the human race, although presently under some effort at revision to accommodate perceptions of equality. Equality is not in question here. Today (10/11/2011), TV’s NBC ran a segment on its morning show noting that there are women now opting out of marriage because, in summary: they have not found worthy men; they are now better educated through the doctoral degrees than men; and, they are rapidly overtaking men in the work place. They expect to find fulfillment in their own professional lives and friendships, perhaps without children, and with a better feeling about themselves. We must wait to see how it plays out, but the advocates press on. One wonders what will happen if some implications come to pass, so to dilute the need of the genders for each other. To form such a context, in reaction to the trails of patriarchal patterns is to form in vengeful attitude and out of a misunderstanding of the patriarchal system when it was useful, in proper application, to protect the family. Even Pericles, in a classic speech in ancient Greece, noted that men would not go forward without the insights and relationships they held with women. One rightly sees no arrogance in Jesus, Lazarus, Mary and Martha, and others who would not question their worth on the basis of either marriage or gender, but would regard the family. Our problem is in the shifting of culture, of which language is a part. I wonder what the terms will be when the time comes for the male gender to assert equality for males in a society that may be dominated by females. The problem has arisen among several tribes of earth, but not in sufficient volume to create tension for society. Barriers related to equality need to be removed, not rearranged.
Mankind often takes something good, like family, and pushes change for it. The preference of an innovator is held out as proper consideration. Those violating the emerging option are presumed stodgy, opposed to change, freedom, or equality. Mentioned above is that preference on my part is to emphasize certain beliefs/actions that form good persons, individually and socially. These include both spiritual and natural issues and factors. For the devout, they homogenize into each other but factors applying to the natural are much the same for both enlightened Christians and humanists. Advocates of both or either may distort the appropriateness of both or either. The weaknesses in advocates occur when the comparisons and contrasts are built upon distortions, falsity and counterfeits. Error in persuasion commonly appears. Counterfeit is not value measure, but it can cause devaluation. We refuse distortion in search of truth.
What are some concepts I mean to repeat? That: mankind ought to function within a context of love for fellow mankind. That: life and the universe are far too complex for persons to have full understanding of what they mean, so we ought to face the reality with a spirit of humility and acceptance of others. That: God is interested in all persons, and provides a common grace that serves all persons equally, whether devout or profane, relative to our earthly sojourn. That: from the mystery of life, one will seek the birth of divine grace through Jesus Christ. All of this is designed as an invitation to immortal life. God’s invitation is from the natural to the supernatural. This applies for all persons – male and female, young and aged, clean and dirty – red, and yellow, black and white – they are precious in his sight. Many discussions become tangled up in the languages of people. It is at worst when tangling God with our tendency to complicate problems. We are best in biblical faith simplicity in complicated life. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020