Authors A-H, Social Issues

A Brief History of Humankind – by William Hicks

A RACE TO FRUITION OR A FIGHT TO THE DEATH?

In chapter one of his book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, Eckhart Tolle writes about “The Flowering of Human Consciousness”, using as a metaphor the appearance of the first flower on the planet as a seminal event in the evolution of the flora with which we humans are most familiar and, nowadays, take almost universally for granted. But the event, deemed somewhat insignificant in the history of the planet, is monumental in that it signals a growth in a direction of fantastic beauty and presence that enhances the very being of the planet itself and its human occupants.

One of my favorite movies is “Gladiator” (2004), directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe. It depicts the splendor and panoply of ancient Rome, its technological marvels, its political/social structure and intrigues and, most interesting to me, the psychology of the mob. The mob is the mass of Roman citizens which is controlled by a handful of men (and women) who wield their inherited or usurped influence over the mob’s collective mindset and use their social position to manipulate persons and circumstances to their advantage, that is, to maintain their status or, as Tolle might put it, to assuage their egos.

If we ‘fast-forward through time’ as the physicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson does in the television show, “Cosmos”, we can discern a pattern of man’s progress that is marked by technological/physical  development at light speed; however, our spiritual, inner development has not kept pace. It’s as if the insights of many spiritual teachers over time have been “lost in translation” as we are overwhelmed by what we can see, hear, smell, touch and taste at the expense of that which may be much more substantial, that is, that which we cannot access by our five physical senses, but which is much more “real”.

Over that fantastic period of technological growth, among many significant advances, we learned to split the atom, to develop nuclear power. Our first practical application of that knowledge was to push ourselves towards the brink of extinction by making weapons of ‘mass’ destruction, the power to wield it being placed in the hands of a few men and women who control the ‘masses’ via the threat of instantaneous annihilation unless socio-political structures and processes-the status quo- are maintained, for which (they insist) we should be grateful, for our very survival and existence depend upon them. 

Adolph Hitler and Nazi Germany showed us the potential for evil “lurking in the hearts of men” when they constructed a socio-political system devoid of the Spirit and based solely on our five physical senses. A system wherein there was no thought but the one thought, where the ‘masses’ were made mindless through a brutal process of physical domination and control of information and communication, where all thinking that did not conform to the state’s ideas was ruthlessly exterminated by fiendish technology fiendishly applied to any and nearly all who dared to challenge the Fuhrer’s ego and the collective ego of the Third Reich.

The unknown (until now) biblical scholar from Huntsville, Alabama, Carleton Smith, observes that the history of our governments up until the 19th and 20th centuries- in their various iterations over time- has been the history of acquiescence by the masses to autocracy, tyranny and apathy. We have given in to the notion, much as did the ancient Hebrew people (I Samuel 8: 1-22AMPC), that we should be like the other peoples around us, that we should have a king to rule over us, instead or in place of a relationship with the one true God.

Today, America is considered to be the pre-eminent expression of human progress over time, a socio-political system based, ostensibly, on government “of the people, by the people, for the people”, a system of representative government similar in many respects to the Roman system with its Emperor and its Senate, replete with its Coliseums and its technologically advanced gladiatorial combats, known today as the NFL, the NBA, the MLB, the WWE and the UFC where no (or just a little) blood is spilled and the experiences are broadcast to the masses via ultra-HD systems of transmission, reception and information dissemination, veritable light and sound shows that dazzle the senses and anesthetize the mind (and spirit) into mental and, alas, spiritual complacency- as long as I have the latest advances in “entertainment” to ‘soothe the soul of the savage beast, bloodlust by proxy from the comfort of my ‘living’ room, den or ‘man-cave’- heck, straight into the palm of my hand. Technology has enabled the creation of “mini-mobs”, fragmenting the collective mindset into smaller, more easily influenced bits, pumping the culture’s mind-numbing influence straight into our heads- right between our ears.

Want more? Here it is: “But then there are things we are not tackling with science that we really do need: Ebola vaccines, an Alzheimer’s cure, a new genetic switch to turn off diabetes.  These are things we can’t accomplish on our own in the same way that we could just eliminate fries from our diets. Yet McDonald’s makes money on french fries, and drug companies won’t make money donating Ebola vaccines to poor African countries. No, it’s not a perfect world, but it is our world, the one in which we just can’t seem to reconcile science and faith, poverty and excess, lack of opportunity and education…”- We Can Remake our French Fries, but Not our Earth”. (The Chattanooga Times Free Press, November 17, 2014.

There is a discernible pattern here. An overwhelming emphasis on the physical has rendered nearly irrelevant any awareness of or insight into the spiritual dimensions of man. Even our so-called ‘religious’ institutions have fallen prey to carving out a role for themselves in the domination of the masses through emphasis on ritual and rote vs relationship with God and with each other. Hicks (“Discipleship and Discipline”, 2005) writes: “The church (you may freely read here also the synagogue and the mosque, as well) has lost sight of its vision, if not of its mission.  We are fragmented by denominations, by doctrinal infidelity, by stultifying institutional rictus and structural decay.  Mega-churches proliferate and compete for numbers but do nothing to reach and teach the individual souls God says “all are mine” (Ezekiel 18:4).  We are charged by Christ to have two (2) elements to our job description as disciples: we are to make disciples and we are to be His witnesses.  The church is failing at making disciples, failing at teaching the professed followers of Christ “all that He has commanded us”.  The church is fragmented, disjointed, at odds with itself and with His Word.  It is failing to “equip the saints for the work of service”.  The church lacks power because few are following His instructions on the imperative and method to make disciples.  Consequently, witnessing has been relegated to attending church on Sunday at 11:00AM which remains the most segregated hour in America.  We can do better.  We must do better.”  

The United States of America is an experiment, one that, at present, seems in danger of failing. The model of government “of, by and for the people”- a model where acquiescence to autocracy, tyranny and apathy will surely cause its demise, is under attack- from within (persistent pernicious racism; the rise of the oligarchs and the economics of scarcity; a government that seems intent on preying on the least among its citizens) and from without. This pattern is not unique to America. It is playing out all over the planet. 

Where is our spirit in this miasma of murkiness? Are we in a race to spiritual maturity or are we locked into a fight to the death, competing with each other rather than cooperating with each other for the greater benefit of all? To whose benefit does it accrue to place a washing machine-sized device on the head of a comet millions of miles from the planet, which comet poses no threat to the people living on that planet? How does this endeavor, in the name of science, redound to advancing the common good? Is there a concept of the “common good” to advance? Why is it more important to develop a “genetically modified potato for McDonald’s that offers less cancer risk when fried up for French fries” than investing the $1billion that  it took to place that ‘washing machine’ on the comet in eliminating cancer altogether? Whose decision was this, anyway? What process was employed in making this decision? Whose values held forth as the foundation for such a decision?  Is this the product of government “of, by and for the people?” Or is it government ‘of, by and for the bottom line’? And whose bottom line is it, anyway? Man’s reach has been extended to the cosmos; “his arm has grown long”. Have we become short-sighted in the process, seeing only what we choose to see in the name of selfish aggrandizement, calling it progress as we ignore the needs of the less able or less fortunate among us, to the shame of the species?

“The Spirit alone gives eternal life; human effort accomplishes nothing”- Jesus Christ, John 6:63NLT.

What are we doing? Where are we going? What are we seeking to accomplish? Will we ever grow up? Or, in the mindset of some, will we fret and insist, “I don’t want to grow up; I just want to be a kid”,  and continue to play with our bombs and rockets or sit isolated and unconcerned in front of our UHD-TVs?

A decision is imminent.

William H. “Bill” Hicks
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