Does a Fish Know It’s Wet?

YOU MAY HAVE HEARD me ask this question before. But, of course, the question is not really about fish, it’s about you and me. Are we aware of the “water” we swim in? If not, we are unaware of the falsehoods we assume to be true. Does that really matter? Yes it does! Ideas have consequences. For example, the ideas of the 18th and 19th century resulted in millions of deaths in the 20th century, by governments built on ideas.

SO, WHAT IS THE WATER WE SWIM IN? We can summarize how our modern, western world thinks by describing its idea of the fact/value split. Facts are true; values are opinions. Science is fact. Religion is opinion. What can be seen, touched, heard, measured is true. Morality is opinion. Conclusion: Science is truth. Faith is your opinion. Keep it to yourself. That is our ocean. Ironically, at other times science doesn’t matter. What I think and feel is all that matters. My truth is what is true for me. We see this thinking in arguments for gender identity and sexuality.

THAT IS THE WATER WE SWIM IN and it can unknowingly show up in our own lives - our spiritual experience being separated from our “normal” activities. We enjoy a wonderful time of fellowship and praise Sunday morning, but then think, act and vote like the world on Monday or Tuesday. And, dangerously, we may be unaware of our sacred secular distinction.

THE TOTAL TRUTH is that God has made all things, all things are His, and nothing is outside His control. All truth is God’s truth! Faith is as true as science (after all, He made everything we study in science), the unseen is as real as the seen, morality is defined by the same Creator who made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them.

WE NEED TO SEEK God’s truth for how we think about work, marriage, relationships, family, medicine, education, energy, government and politics. We need to bring faith and the sacred to voting. Does the candidate have or allow a biblical way of thinking about work, marriage, relationships, family, medicine, education, energy, government and politics? Does he or she allow for freedom to express God’s ideas in the public square, not merely a “freedom to worship” in a separate place. Does the help they provide for families bring families together or split them apart? Please take time to think about the biblical view of the questions we face in this election, and take some time on the sites linked in this email.

Greg Lammiman

https://arpacanada.ca/2019-alberta-election-guide/ is by a Christian organization that has an election guide that talks about the big issues. When you scroll down you will see links to specific issues and questions to ask candidates.

https://www.parentchoice.ca/abelection2019 gives links and questions about education & family and the stance that each candidate and party has on these topics.