Ignorance is Dangerous Because
The Ignorant Control What You Believe
In last week’s post (“What Is a Human Life Worth?“) I spoke of the doom of ignorance. This week I will attempt to show that everyone is ignorant to some extent in their worldview. There are those who are ignorant because they have not been exposed to truth, there are those who understand their ignorance and seek to alleviate their ignorance which is a lifelong process and there are those who are ignorant but believe they have ALL the truth.
Jesus said, “And you will know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jo 8:32).
I believe Plato put it best in his example of the Cave. People are prisoners staring at shadows being projected on the back of the cave wall by others who are using firelight and manmade articles to define the reality of the viewers. However, since they have not been to the surface to see sunlight, they also remain in ignorance, they are just perpetuating their ignorance through the prisoners (“Plato Missed Discerning the Gospel of Christ”). The common thread is ignorance of the truth. We will discuss three aspects of how modern man has “missed” the truth and its consequences.
The first fallacy is that man can find truth through empiricism, using his five senses based on experience. The single best term for this is the word, science, first coined by an American, William Wehwell in 1834. Before this scientists were called “natural philosophers” who sought to define absolute truth through multidisciplinary pursuits. The acknowledgement that this was not possible resulted in the split between philosophy and science as we know them today. Yet, modern man still maintains that all that can be knowable about life can be discovered via science. Yet, this contradicts both practical experience as well as the Bible. Science cannot define metaphysical terms such as beauty, morality, right and wrong, and so on. The Bible clearly states that what we experience comes from what cannot be discernible (He 11:3). Therefore, science can tell us much about certain aspects of our environment but it cannot give guidance about how to fit the facts into the matrix of reality. Creationists and evolutionists do not argue over the facts but how to understand the facts; what matrix bests explains the facts. Thus, reliance on science, which is actually a religion in Western culture, to explain the world has serious issues which are obvious in the light of many current events. Science gives us the technology of destruction but not the moral guidance to know when to use this technology; thus, several people have used technologic weapons to kill indiscriminately because they have no moral compass to dissuade them from their horrific acts. Why and how did this occur?
The father of modern geology, James Hutton, gives us our direction. Predating Charles Darwin he rejected the idea of the biblical Flood forming modern rock formations, to include fossils, in favor of strictly observable processes. Thus, since he could only discern empirical data he chose to reject biblical explanations in favor of observable phenomenon which he then projected backwards over time, very long periods of time. This is the foundation of ignorance, the rejection of biblical input in favor of man’s reasoned opinions. However, by limiting what is pertinent modern man has built into his worldview ignorance. Man calls this ignorance by a different name, unintended consequences which means the implementation of his theories do not work as he envisioned. Why? Because man has built-in ignorance. He cannot know all the consequences because he has remains in ignorance of all the facts. Modern, evolutionary, geology cannot explain geologic strata very well because there is no set order observable around the world. Time periods are determined by the presence, or absence, of fossils which are dated based on the rock strata in which they are found. Get the idea of the logical fallacy of circular reasoning?
Evolutionary biology has nearly this same issue. Darwin was influenced by his grandfather as well as by the burgeoning “science” of his day. Though he was exposed to biblical teaching, he chose to ignore it. In his historic voyage on the HMS Beagle he arbitrarily classified animal life according to his understanding apart from the truth of the Bible. Thus, his ignorance determined his “science” which nearly died out during his lifetime. It was revived in the late 19th century by others who used its philosophical underpinnings to project power and destruction over others; thus, World War I and II were fought because of ignorance, willful ignorance.
Both of these examples suffer from the same shortcomings which are ignored by their adherents or unknown by the vast majority of people raised with these foundational principles as their worldview. Both geologic and biologic evolution state that the core of all change is randomness, but randomness that only moves upward. Hmm, this sounds not like randomness, which always tends to disorder, but the logical fallacy of using one term apart from its actual definition according to one’s own definition (Equivocation). Biologic evolution requires that lesser life forms (their terms) produce new information to evolve into higher life forms. Yet, they fail to define how this new information came into being. They call this “mutation”; however, all observable mutations result in degradation of the individual in some form. Though this is the basis for modern “superheros” there is no proof in practice of mutations producing new abilities. The evolutionists say this occurs slowly over time but then ignore the fact of irreducible complexity. An example of this would be your clotting system. This system has 13 steps which are interrelated to maintain a balance so you do not have either uncontrollable bleeding or dangerous clot formations. It could not have evolved but the process is so intricate that it could not have sprung into place in one random mutation. The evolutionists pooh-pooh such objections with ad hominem (attack the man) attacks on the ignorance of those who reject science and hold onto the ignorance of religion while themselves demonstrating great ignorance all the while pretending to be wise.
Now, if these examples were not enough to demonstrate the ignorance of the modern worldview there is one final example, psychology. Though it masquerades as a science it is actually a pseudoscience.Its father, Sigmund Freud, who rejected Scripture in order to build his own explanations of human behavior. By definition, human thoughts are beyond the skein of empiricism as they are not measurable. No one knows the heart (spirit) of man (Je 17:9; 1Co 2:11). Their are certain character traits common to all people but can one predict what a person is thinking at any point in time or determine a person’s morality? The value of psychology was shown by Pavlov in his dog experiments. By teaching people to have certain expectations under certain stimulations, one can control or at least direct the majority. Thus, advertising proved its worth by conditioning people to buy which products based on mass stimulation. The entertainment industry grew up to provide the audience for the advertisements to produce sales. Once politics understood this process they also entered the fray. Notice, one is taught to accept one’s ignorance (high self-esteem). If you are the hero of your own story then everyone else must be lesser. Those who oppose you must be against good and knowledge because they do not share your worldview. Therefore, they must be “haters” because you are for good and your opposition to them is not “hate” but the eradication of ignorance (though you ignore your own ignorance).
Ignorance is NOT the Cause of Evil
Sin is the Root Cause of Ignorance
Modern man has built his world on ignorance. These few examples form the foundation of the modern and are religiously defended against all objections. Yet, this worldview has resulted in the bloodiest centuries of man’s short and violent history. However, modern man shifts the blame to religion without understanding that his own religion, of self, propels him into increasing violence. Entertainment does not cause our violence, it only mirrors the violence that is already in the mind of man because of his rejection of the truth of the Scriptures. Sin, coupled with unbridled imagination, produces violence on an unimaginable scale and justifies it.
Ignorance kills. The ignorance of the powerful kills the most because they have the means to move vast numbers of people to kill other vast numbers of people (Democracy). Today, the political landscape is populated by those who claim to speak for the “common man” but in their desire to maintain their ignorance, and yours, they sacrifice everyone else for their own lust for power. They speak of love but only produce wars and death. This is the sinful heart of man. Why do I believe the Bible? Because it clearly and carefully explains my sin and the cure for it which God Himself provided for man. Yet, man makes God the villain while seeking to justify himself. Ignorance is the currency that not only allows the mass slaughter of people we have witnessed but the currency that is used to continue the willful self-destruction which will engulf our world. World War I and II were mere examples of unbridled ignorance, on both sides. Now we engage in mass murder on a daily basis on such a scale as to make Hitler look like an amateur through abortions and organ harvesting in places like China. No one mourns but all are affected. I will leave you with this final thought.
