THE TOWER OF BABEL REVISITED

The nations had been united by one language. However, with their unity, they were becoming more and more jaded and corrupt. Therefore, God deprived them of their common language, and they dispersed across the earth.

We too are being deprived of our common language and are becoming increasingly alienated from one another.

There is little left of our common glue. Just take the concept of justice. We cannot agree about things that had formerly been so uncontroversial – guilt and innocence. We used to agree that a murderer was guilty of his crime and deserved punishment. No so anymore! For example, a friend reasoned that he could not even hold ISIS accountable for their horrible acts:

·       If we were born in a their environment, we would probably do the same things. It’s just the throw of the dice. I agree that ISIS must be stopped, but not because they deserve to be stopped, but because their acts are destructive.

I cite this example, because it reflects what so many people now believe, especially the highly educated. According to them, we are merely the product of our nurture and nature – our genome and our social influences. Some will add an extra twist – that we do not even have freewill, and, therefore, we couldn’t have acted otherwise.

If this is so, then punishment is unjust. Why? Because none of us deserve it! However, we must punish. We must stop ISIS if we are concerned about justice and the welfare of humanity. However, we have rejected the only rationale for justice.

What had made the Christian West excel in justice? Well, we believed in justice. Why? We had derived our wisdom from the Bible, which held us all to account for our sin. Well, aren’t we just a product of our environment?

While the environment plays a powerful role in our development, we still know better. How so? Because the moral law has been written on our hearts:

·       For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:14-16; ESV)

We are a walking legal code. Therefore, when we violate our imprinted legal code, our conscience assaults us, as it should. This means that the jihadist’s conscience is also telling him that he deserves God’s condemnation, unless he repents.

The West is on a suicidal course. If it no longer has an adequate rationale to stand against injustice, it won’t.