General News
23 November, 2025
In good faith
IN GOOD FAITH: Have you ever considered how far we've come in just one generation? I recall some time ago in a discussion with a friend, pointing out that I can remember when I was young, watching Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.
That was on our old, black and white television.
That was in July, 1969.
Compared to today, the technology they had even then seems primitive by comparison.
In just one generation, the technological and scientific advances that have been developed almost defy belief.
Today, the world is encompassed by satellites and reports of space travel almost seem monotonous.
And who else apart from me can remember black and white, valve-operated TVs?
And that is not even to mention advances in medicine, agriculture, materials science, electronics, architecture and countless other fields.
But sadly, while science and technology have advanced phenomenally, the same cannot be said for many other areas of Societal development.
In times past, western nations, including ours, grew strong and prosperous with societies founded and built upon firm Christian heritage.
Today, sadly, some two-thirds of the world’s people suffer under dictators, disease, or poverty.
Clearly, despite the huge advances in science, somewhere back along the road, the world has taken a wrong turn.
In January 2018, Christian researcher George Barna stated that Generation Z was the first truly “post-Christian” generation, with research revealing that Gen-Z is twice as likely to be atheist as any previous generation.
It seems that the Christian heritage that the civilised world was built upon is being cast aside, with disastrous results.
In August 2014, Lawrence Krauss, stated, “Change is always one generation away … So if we can plant the seeds of doubt in our children, religion will go away in a generation, or at least largely go away …”
It seems that, to a large degree, he was right. And to emphasise the dangers that this brings, it was Hitler who said in 1935, “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the Future!”
So where has this come from, and why has it happened?
In 1838, in a speech addressing mob violence that had erupted in America, Abraham Lincoln stated, “At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected?
"I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction were our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher.”
It turns out that he was right. The greatest threats to western society are not coming from foreign nations, rather they are arising from among ourselves, and manifesting themselves in the form of social division, greed, poverty, abuse of power, inequality and many others that are all too familiar.
What we are experiencing today is by no means original. In the book of judges (2:10-12) we read, “And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that He had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord …”
Even then, all it took was one generation. One generation within which the people abandoned God and turned to evil ways.
The western world, including Australia, is at a crossroads.
Our ancestors’ Christian worldview sustained their will to do whatever was needed, to defeat the tyranny that arises when people love money, riches, or power more than God.
If we are to inherit the freedoms that they created for us, we must return to a worldview of honouring, following and obeying God.
History shows unmistakably that there is simply no other way.