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Monday, March 16, 2009
Here is an interesting poll on Americans and the institutions in which they put their trust (or don't). Organized religion, science (especially in medicine), the press and television, and financial institutions have all taken huge hits to their image in the last 30 years. There is a decided lack of faith in today's populace, yet more people than ever believe that mankind (the originator of those institutions) is born morally good (or at least morally neutral). What an odd paradox.

One other thing to note: when a population loses faith in the usual things, they are more willing to put their faith in something else (and usually that faith isn't focused in a good direction). Ultimately, this points back to Chesterton's words: "When people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing - they believe in anything." I think perhaps the same holds true in general of all faith; humanity is a race designed for faith and trust. We want and need to place our faith in something. So if the usual suspects fail us (or we perceive that they have failed), then we don't stop trusting and failing (or rarely so); rather, we look elsewhere for an outlet for our faith. For example, on the individual, micro level, if I fail my wife and permanently lose her trust, she won't stop trusting (though she may do so less willingly), she'll just put her trust somewhere else (God, herself, another man, etc.). Likewise, at the macro level, if humans lose faith that God is in control or that the world is designed to support ALL life, then they place their trust in extreme environmentalism and the fight against global warming. Or, as we are beginning to see hints of, if people lose faith in sovereign government and free markets, they'll place that faith in one leader or one monetary system.

2 Timothy 2:13

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Darius' book montage

The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel The Main Thing
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Overcoming Sin and Temptation
According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible
Disciplines of a Godly Man
Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem
When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. . .and Ourselves
The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
Respectable Sins
The Kite Runner
Life Laid Bare: The Survivors in Rwanda Speak
Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak
A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/calvinist, ... anabaptist/anglican, metho
Show Them No Mercy
The Lord of the Rings
Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass
The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception
Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming
The Chronicles of Narnia
Les Misérables


Darius Teichroew's favorite books »