Simply, the world is what we make it. If we don't like the way it's going, then we should probably do some self examination. If we can't deal with the world, it's because we can't deal with ourselves as we are.
I offer to you that the problem with humanity is not knowing what's right or wrong and not having the POWER, the will, to do right, even if we know it. And I'm going to give you the solution, so bear with me. (Not my solution, I'm just passing it on.)
Lack of power? Yes. Because we rejected God and his standard, and as a result we disconnected ourselves from God, our only source of true power. And as long as we remain disconnected, we will continue to fail; limited/no power to live a "good" life and do what's right for ourselves and society.
It's not rocket science. We have the 10 commandments (which many laugh at or object to), we have Jesus' (whom many laugh at and reject) summary of those laws; "love one another" and "treat others as you want to be treated", and he also gave us "the only religion God respects is feeding the hungry, and taking care of the needy". Those seem pretty straight forward, but who follows them?
Some do try living by them. Others try to come up with their own moral code, but whether it's original or not, I doubt even the person that comes up with one, follows it, let alone those who don't agree with it and choose to follow their own. That applies even if it's the most logical behavioural code we can come up with. And so it ends up being each man, or group, for himself/themselves. And if the group is big enough, or powerful enough, they feel justified in forcing others to do what they want them to do, for "our own good". Ask yourself, just because 50.1% of the population wants it a certain way, is it ok that they force the other 49.9% to follow their way? Is that what we really wanted? Or worse yet, should the most powerful 1%, force the other 99%?
We keep saying we know what's right and wrong, but the state of the world, the actions of our leader, and the misery in people's lives, proves otherwise. And we keeping saying we have to come together, "Imagine aaaall the people, li-ving in harrrmonyy". Yeah, but we killed the guy that wrote that song.
How many books have been written? Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy. Endless debates and trying to understand what makes us tick and yet here we are. We still can't seem to help billions of starving people, even though we're forcing our farmers to throw food away in the US, while we try to kill all the cows, and the wars just keep going on. There's never enough money to help the starving, but there's always more money for wars.
Well, I can guarantee you, if tomorrow, everyone started following the ten commandments, and did what Jesus said, the world would be a much better place (wars would end tomorrow). But again, we can't even if we want to. We fail. Because it's not about having the perfect behavioural code, it's about the power to follow it.
The guy I was having this conversation with, asked me, how do I evaluate the morality of an action or concept? Easy... Jesus. That's right, he's the standard (the old WWJD - What would Jesus Do). I look to see what he said and how he treated people, but even more importantly, I am hooked into him, into God, into his POWER, so that my personality gets transformed into his, and by nature I begin to behave and think as he does. I don't do that, he does it in me, as long as I stay connected. That comes from God's solution to our problem:
Repent (turn away from the destructive behaviour and rebellion against God), be baptised for the forgiveness of one's sins (wash one's self spiritually to be made presentable to God, because you're not), in the name of Jesus Christ (because though he was God in the flesh, we killed him, yet he still asked God to forgive us, and when the Son pardons you, the Father respects that, because He has put the Son in charge of everything), and receive the Holy Spirit (the power, the internal presence of God, and the promise of transformation and eternal life to come).
In there's an aspect of being saved in this life, but even more importantly, in the end, when God sorts those who are in him, from those who continue to rebel and want no part of him; who would make any world miserable for everyone.
Yes, that's how society gets transformed. One person at a time, connecting with God. That higher level of conciseness that so many are trying to achieve has been there the whole time, and for 2000 years we've known how to connect to it (him actually). And through our connection with God, we are also connected to each other (another missing component in humanity, we're getting more and more disconnected).
In the Gospel of John, New Testament, Chapter 1 verse 14, if you do a proper translation from the Hebrew, it says "And the Word of God became a relationship and walked with us." In other words, all the laws and teachings of God (all that he is) came in the flesh, so that we could have a relationship with him. It's difficult to have a relationship with a book (the Torah, the laws). He came to teach us and help us personally.
A personal relationship with God. That's the solution. Not religion or a contrived moral code, no matter how "logical" you want to make it. Without the POWER, it's worth the piece of paper it's written on, and it will fail to save humanity.
Now, some will read this and roll their eyes, and say, "Another religions nut, believing in people who live in the sky." (definitely not within the scope of this letter) Others will say, what do you mean "Not religion? That's what you're talking about." I assure you, there is no definition of religion which says, "A personal, transformation, relationship with the living God."
Hey, I get it. I've spent decades fighting myself over this. But until someone comes up with a better explanation of what's causing the problems in the world, and a better solution (trust me, I've tried, but knock yourself out), I'm going to have to stick with this one.
If you're looking for the truth, you'll find it, or maybe it will find you. You might have to cut through a lot of self declared experts and religious types to get to it. So, set some time aside in your busy life ("how can we have time if we don't make time"- the Frenchman). We never know how much time we personally have, or how much time our society has, because right now, it's looking like we're headed for WW3. (But it's not like we weren't warned.)
But hey, ignoring it is always an option. A bad one, but an option non the less.
God loves you. In the Old Testament times he wiped out entire towns and civilizations because they were evil to the core, and we're like, "How can God do that!" But then when we see how messed up the world is, we say, "If he's there, then why doesn't God do something about this!" He's going to, because even his patience runs out. Just make sure you're on the right side of that; his side, which is actually your side. Not on the side of those who laugh at the "sky people".
