Should there be a National Day of Reason?
“Come now, let us reason together,”
Since I believe the preceding statement is true, the answer must be yes – we should have a national day of reason.
And the fact that humanists, atheists, Etc. want it to be on the same day as the National Day of Prayer – well that’s just the icing on the cake. What better day could there possibly be?
The concept has been around for a while. A resolution for it has been introduced in Congress, again, by Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat who represents the District of Columbia in the U.S. House of Representatives. The full story can be read here in the Huffington Post.
Part of what Mike Honda says is –
“The application of reason has proven to improve the conditions in which people live, offer hope for human survival on Earth, and cultivated intelligent, moral, and ethical behaviors and interactions among people. I encourage everyone to take this occasion to reflect upon the way that philosophical principles developed during the Age of Reason influenced our Founding Fathers as they formed our country and how the employment of reason, critical thought, the scientific method, and free inquiry can help resolve human problems and improve the welfare of humankind.”
Sounds good.
The article goes on –
“Our final hope would be to have something similar to what’s done with the National Day of Prayer, where you have a presidential proclamation being issued calling on people to use their reason, to come together, to unite and essentially celebrate the same values that are in the National Day of Prayer but without the call to prayer,” said Matthew Bulger, a legislative assistant at the American Humanist Association.
And there’s the issue.
but without the call to prayer
The problem is, that without prayer, all of the things that these people want to attain are beyond their reach.
Without God, none of the good things they want can be obtained on an ongoing basis.
Sure – people can do good things for a while – but they won’t last. Someone’s going to come along and mess it all up. One need look no further than our own country to realize this. Just the statement about the founding fathers and they way they formed this country is as far as we need to look. People came here to escape religious tyranny in Europe – yes. But it wasn’t to be atheists or humanists or any other non-religious group. They wanted to worship God without being told by the government how to do it – not that they can’t do it. They wanted freedom of religion – not freedom from religion! And yet that has all been turned on it’s head by people such as those mentioned in this article – and those who support their point of view.
“Come now, let us reason together,”
So why do I agree that the National Day of Reason is a good idea?
Because of the quote above. It calls us to reason together.
And – it’s said by God.
Isa 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,”
says the LORD.
What possible reason could be better than having God call us to reason together?
And – Jesus said –
Mt 18:19 “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
This was a promise that Jesus would be with us when we gather in His name – and we ask for things that are within the Father’s will.
Given that …
- The Father has called us to reason together
- more than two or three of us will be there
- the humanists / atheists / others will also be there
- and Jesus will also be there
- and we all “reason together”
… then it has to be the best possible outcome.
Why would we go against what God Himself has asked us to do?
Railing against it will produce nothing good.
Taking part in it – and asking God to use this opportunity for His glory – has to bring something good.
After all – again – it’s what God calls us to do!
It reminds me of Paul, speaking to the men of Athens –
Ac 17:22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
The goals that the supporters of the National Day of Reason are only attainable through God. Therefore, without actually realizing it – these same people are in effect calling out to God. They must be – since they want what’s best for us – and the only way to have what’s best is to listen to and follow Jesus.
We won’t be able to show them that. Their minds and hearts are closed.
Only God can do that.
We, as Christians, must realize this. And we must do as God calls us to do.
So –
while the humanists / atheists / others are trying to take over the National Day of Prayer –
are we Christians willing to realize and acknowledge that God is more powerful than them – and that if we allow Him – He will not only protect and keep His National Day of Prayer – but that He can also turn the National Day of Reason into an opportunity to realize that He is God and only He can provide the things they are calling out for? If we let Him.
The scenario is Acts where Paul was speaking ends with this –
Ac 17:24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
Ac 17:25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
Ac 17:26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
Ac 17:27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
Ac 17:28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
Ac 17:29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill.
Ac 17:30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
Ac 17:31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
Ac 17:32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”
Ac 17:33 At that, Paul left the Council.
Ac 17:34 A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
We claim to believe what’s in The Bible.
Do we really believe?
Do we really trust God? Do we trust that the example He has given us is the right one? The one we should follow?
Or will we reject this example?