You Reap What you Sow  by Anthony Horvath

            It is important to clarify what I mean by there being a connection between beliefs and actions. I am not merely affirming that there is occasionally a correlation or passing link between the two. What I mean is that beliefs lead as inexorably towards certain deeds as an arrow flying through the air inexorably lands on its target. Attempting to deny the connection between beliefs and consequences is like dropping a rock and hoping that this time it won't fall.

            We are deceived into thinking otherwise because the consequences aren't always immediate and when you factor in the fact that there are a multitude of beliefs about a multitude of things it is not always easy to track a consequence back to one specific idea. Herein lies one of the central problems in western civilization right now: many people happily entertain numerous, often mutually contradictory, beliefs about reality. It is quite the muddle.

            In light of this reality one might take issue with my assertion that the connection is 'inexorable.'   

            Certainly, things can happen while the arrow is in flight or while the rock is in descent. Someone can run in and catch the rock, for example, thus keeping it from hitting its inevitable target. Also, the arrow's path might be longer than any man's life time so that the man who shoots it might not still be alive to see where it hits. It is evident that testing my assertion will require knowing our own history, and, perhaps more than that, having an accurate view about Mankind and reality in general.

            The principle is embodied well in the book of Galatians (of the Bible) where Paul writes:

            One of the areas my Birth Pangs series explores are 'seeds' related to life issues. For example, in the not too distant future setting of my series, scientists finally manage to clone humans. This achievement is accomplished on the backs of certain attitudes towards life that were 'planted' in our own generation. Many are shocked when these cloned humans are bred by the government to be soldiers and slaves, but they shouldn't have been shocked: if it is Man who decides when human life has value and what that value is, then it should be no surprise when some men define the matter to their benefit at the expense of other men. (This mass production of humans is cut short by the devastating biological disease that ravages the world leading up to the actual time frame my series takes place in.)

            We can distill the dynamics involved between beliefs and actions into just a handful of principles, each of which are fleshed out here and there in narrative fashion in my series.

1.      When you act in accordance to reality, things will generally go well with you and your offspring. When you don't, they won't.

2.      One aspect of reality is that there is a God and he has expectations of humans, whom He has created in His image.

3.      Humans have fallen into a corrupted state and when left to their own devices (even the best of them!) will tend towards abuse of other humans in pursuit of their own desires and self-interests.

            Conservatives (especially Christian ones) tend to 'get' this immediately. This is why they passionately believe in the need for checks and balances and the rule of law. That history is filled with governments slaughtering hundreds of thousands of their own citizens doesn't surprise conservatives. By contrast, the secular humanists who drafted the first Humanist Manifesto in 1933 were shocked by the atrocities that occurred practically before the ink was dry. In 1973 they had to sit down and write another manifesto, admitting, “Events since then make that earlier statement seem far too optimistic.” You don't say.

            In contrast, we might offer the words of Catholic apologist GK Chesterton, who said in 1908 that original sin “is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.” Imagine how the 20^th century would have proceeded if nations had taken to heart what Chesterton wrote rather than the humanists whose beliefs are well represented in the late 19^th century mantra, “Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.”

            For you see, a failure to appreciate just how bad humans can be, especially when entrusted with the levers of power, led to the atrocities of the 20^th century.

            Unfortunately, this is the path that we are on once again. While I do not presume to think that everything in my series will come to pass, it is clear in my mind that, unchecked, many of the 'seeds' being planted today will bear awful fruit, if not in this generation, one of the ones coming rapidly on its heels. Hence, if we want to spare future generations from enduring the consequences of today's choices, we must strive to plant better beliefs, ideas, and attitudes. While we still can.