The latest Witness

The Perils of Creating A Godless Society

By Graham Blenkarn
June 21, 2009

This heading sums up an article written by a former colleague of mine, Garth George in The New Zealand Herald about eight years ago. In this and other articles, Garth was fiercely critical of the then Government′s social engineering policies. I supported Garth′s beliefs then, and still do.

Since my retirement I listen to the radio quite a lot, Newstalk ZB′s Leighton Smith in particular. Smith has a large following and along with others, I believe that Smith is outstanding in his field and I agree with many of his opinions. Leighton has two teenage sons and there were times when I thought: "Arrgh, yawn, yawn, here we go again!" changing to Radio Sport when he launched into another Bring Up and Understanding Teenagers subject for discussion. Until recently that is. Smith has never revealed any religious leaning, but one morning he said that the reason for drunken and rebellious behaviour was because the kids had never been given a religious basis in their early life.

This got me to thinking. I was born in the next street to where the Balmoral Presbyterian Church is situated. Neither of my parents was religious. In fact, I can′t remember the Bible being read in the house, or seeing the Bible at all. But they insisted that all five of us kids attend Sunday school at the church. I can′t remember any specific teachings but I remember arriving home one Sunday morning proudly showing rubber stamp marks of approval on the back of my hand and a note saying that I had been a good boy all year, loved God and Jesus, my father and mother, and knew the basics of right and wrong. There is a saying apparently introduced by the Jesuits that goes: "Give me the child until seven and I will give you the man." Other religions or sects have adopted this saying probably because it has so much merit.

After I left school I took up an apprenticeship in the printing trade at a commercial house. The second half of the apprenticeship was spent in typesetting where I was occasionally producing material for Freemason lodges and the term Great Architect of the Universe was frequently referred to. I questioned my boss why this was so. "Why don′t they just say God?" I asked. My boss wasn′t a religious man and he pondered for a few moments before he answered: "It′s probably because not all of the Masons have a Christian background," he said. "There could be Muslims, Buddhists involved." Then he followed: "Nobody is perfect, son, far from it. Everyone needs a Supreme Being to look up to.

I believe the latter sentence to be absolutely true. I also believe the story that there were no atheists in the trenches during the First World War while there was enemy gunfire aimed at the Diggers. Or Fighter pilots dodging cannon fire from trailing Luftwaffe planes during the Second World War. At secondary school there was a teacher who was a Spitfire pilot for the RAF during the Battle of Britain. He told the class that he never felt alone in the cockpit, the spirit of God was with him.

I am thankful that my parents gave me a religious start to life, so much so that along with Nooroa, I tried to give our children Biblical direction. Obvious things like some of the Commandments brought down by Moses from Mt Sinai: Do not commit murder, do not steal, do not accuse anyone falsely. Then Matthew 19:19 "Respect your father and mother, love your neighbour as you would yourself." And the one that I have tried to do all of my teenage and adult life: Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You." In sport: Play it hard but fair. Don′t cheat. Win with humility, lose with grace.

I suppose all of us here today have felt revulsion, anger and frustration at news clips showing drunken youths and girls shouting obscenities and throwing missiles at the police. Or the hoons with oversize exhausts on their cars causing distress to nearby residents. Like me, you may have thought: "Have any of these kids ever seen a Bible?"

I firmly believe that there is a political reason why this serious problem has arisen over the past 25 to 30 years. It′s about the Social Engineering that Garth George was so scathing about. Among the doctrines of Marxism is the instruction to destroy the family unit, to employ totalitarianism where the State controls the populace. In my opinion this leads to the term Political Correctness. I have never met anyone who says that PC is a good thing. And I have never heard a politician who is willing to smash this sickening social disease.

New Zealand recently had a Prime Minister who proudly proclaimed that NZ was a "secular society." This is nothing to be proud of; she should have been ashamed of herself. NZ was founded on Judea-Christianity by the arrival of the missionaries. Is this foundation to be swept aside for political gain? I despair when I see the family unit dismantled by legislation. We now have "partners" instead of husbands or wives. We now have "marriages" of same sex "partners." Marriages? Yeah right.

In the book of Proverbs there are several suggestions on how to reprimand children, mild discipline procedure in particular. We how have legislation that encourages children to threaten parents with police exposure if physical correction is applied, no matter how light it is administered. I see no reason why parents can′t apply a couple of smacks with an open hand to the buttocks or legs of the child is being just plain naughty or is in danger of hurting him or herself. The lawmakers have lumped these responsible parents with the parents or caregivers that often savagely and frequently bash their kids sometimes resulting in serious injury or death. These actions are euphemistically called "good hidings," and it is these thugs who should receive the harshest possible punishment by the law courts.

I consider that things worsened when politicians removed corporal punishment at schools. In my schooldays the strap was used at primary school and the cane at secondary school. The better teachers at both schools never or hardly ever used the strap or cane, but the threat was always there and I can′t remember any disruptive behaviour in the classroom or playground. It seems that for some time kids have been taught their rights but not their responsibilities. In my schooldays and teenage years teachers were held in high esteem. Not so these days. The same applies to some parts of the Police.

I can remember another excellent piece that Garth George wrote for the Herald shortly before Easter about 15 years ago. It started: "Tomorrow, on Good Friday, while you are painting your roof, think of why you are given this holiday. It is because of a young rabbi, cut down in his prime . . ." and so on, explaining why Easter was so important not only to him but other Christians as well. It is my heartfelt hope that politicians never allow Easter to become just another public holiday with full trading facilities permitted.

When looking skyward on a cloudless night, with the moon appearing over the eastern horizon, I can′t see how people believe that our planet, with everything on it, other planets and galaxies extending to eternity were the result of some inexplicable phenomenon leading to the "big bang" that these people assert arrived by accident.

No, the Great Architect of the Universe, God, did this in six days as it says in the first chapter of Genesis. Not only that but John 3:16 says: "For God loved the world so much that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life." Not only that, Christians all over the world are waiting for Jesus to return and fix things up. He will rid the earth of war, pestilence, famine, sickness and all of the other evils, including the demise of Satan.

Christians have every reason to believe that Jesus Christ will keep his promise of eternal life in his house of many mansions if his teachings are trusted and obeyed.