History reveals that democratic countries collapse when they open themselves to other beliefs and philosophies. In so doing, they are unable to protect their free values against such forces.
With the expansion of the Greek and Roman Empires, the West became open to all sorts of beliefs and philosophies. People migrated to Europe and brought their cultural and religious values with them. The situation in the West became similar to what it is today. Humanism was the driving philosophy among the majority and the West lost its rational power by willingly opening its doors to mysticism. This resulted in the creation of a pantheistic god in the West.
"Everybody is right" was the widespread mantra of those ancient days. Life was measured by worldly thoughts, actions and achievements and there was no difference between good and bad. The word 'bad' was used to describe Christianity, just as it is in the West now.
Today we find every belief and philosophy in many of our contemporary society and this situation existed similarly during the Dark Ages. The mix of religion and philosophy resulted in scores of cultic and Gnostic beliefs based on individual assumptions and spiritualism. Similar to the New Age movement, this wave of philosophies gave power to the individual rather than to an absolute standard.
The church at that time declined in her reasons for faith and aligned herself with the altruistic and pluralistic beliefs of society. They ignored the Biblical text "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge..." (Hos. 4:6)
The church was highly influenced by Gnosticism, the belief that positioned man spiritually equal to God. Many put their faith in man and wanted to create a world religion. Eventually, they succeeded in creating another world religion called Manicheanism. This religion was a mix of iron and clay or a mix of dictatorship and democracy. This served to shape a government whose roots were part iron and clay, as the prophet Daniel prophesied (Dan 2:41-43). Some contemporary humanists have shown similar interests in creating such a global religion.
Where did the democracy of this Dark Age take the people? The democracy of the state eventually became an instrument of power and control. How could a tolerant society eventuate in intolerance? The tolerance was not a creative tolerance. It sheltered terrorist ideologies too. The communities were initially going to live together, but they eventually perished together. So, the scene was ripe for dictatorship and therefore dictators took over. As a result, the West suffered from intolerance for centuries.
Presently, the West is trying to gird its feet with the iron of Islam and the clay of democracy. As iron and clay are incompatible, so are Islam and democracy. It's easy even for a child to understand that iron and clay don't mix. Yet, world leaders don't understand this.
Today, United Nation and nearly every government speaks well of Islam. American President Barack Obama said, "We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith which has done so much over so many centuries to shape the world for the better, including my own country (America).”
Why would the president of such a great country tell such a lie? Is America standing on its feet because of Islam or Judeo-Christian values? And, if Islam was able to contribute to the wellbeing of America, why hasn't it done the same to any of the 60 Islamic countries? Why would such a great leader praise a religion that aims at the destruction of all other cultures and religions? Because, he lacks knowledge and is committed to altruism and political correctness at the cost of his own country.
What do we need to do as Christians in the face of the above multidimensional threats?
In the Dark Ages, a faithful remnant retained Christian values with courage and sacrifice. In so doing, they've blessed this generation with Judeo-Christian values. Today we, as Christians, also need to dress ourselves with courage so that future generations will be blessed with the Truth.
We know that God is sovereign and He controls everything. But we are given a role for preparing the way for His return:
1. We need to love the lord Jesus so dearly. This love is the answer to every problem and crisis in the world. The world values worldly things more than God. For this reason, it is heading toward destruction. Our sincere love will save the life of some.
2. We need to love the world too. This love means to wake the world up to existing spiritual, social, political and moral dangers and teach people what our Savior Jesus has taught about salvation.
3. W need to teach the world a creative tolerance which is against passivity and political correctness. We believe in democracy but not in a democracy that unites with wolves and threatens future generations. Many presidents and prime ministers enjoy democracy but don't know what it is or how to protect it. We need to raise our voices and teach them.
4. We need to stand for our moral standards unashamedly and teach the present generation that moral relativism degrades mankind, just as it did in the Dark Ages.
Let us wake up and pray for the leadership of our Lord and for our sincere commitment to Him. Let us spend extra time and money for the spread of His message. Let us gather for learning and teaching. And let us take heart against passivism and political correctness in order to make the voice of Christ stronger in the world!
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