This is the age-old question of science fiction. What’s more likely? Mad Max or Star Trek. Or is it more likely that it’s something in-between like Star Wars where some people have space ships and light sabers and laser blasters; while others live in sand igloos and are slaves to the ugliest creatures in the galaxy?
Before you can answer whether the future is better or worse, one has to declare whether they think the present is better or worse than the past. I actually think this is fundamentally what is dividing our country, Christianity, and the world as a whole. I firmly believe in right and wrong, but I admit that figuring out what is true and false is harder than people want to admit at times. Let’s talk about the 3 topics in the title – terrorism, racism, and natural disasters.
Is terrorism on the rise or is it just on the rise in the Western World? Are there more incidents of terror in the recent centuries, or are there simply greater weapons that can cause greater destruction? Is it specifically an Islamic issue, or is it coincidental that the area of the world with the most political unrest, violence, and oppression is creating terrorists? Or is it that Islam often times creates political unrest, violence, and oppression and thus breeds terrorism? Some people want to blame America and the rest of the West and point out all the intervention that has gone so poorly over the years (and there has been a ton of bad ideas… just look into the borders that were drawn-up for the Middle East after World War II.) However, there were entire Islamic Caliphates that killed millions of people before America was even born. So none of these questions have simple answers. What is simple, is that murdering innocent people is wrong. It’s wrong no matter who does it. It’s wrong no matter when it is done. “Why” someone kills an innocent person is absolutely irrelevant to me. It’s evil. Period. So is terrorism getting better or worse? I’ll give my answer in a minute.
Is racism getting better or worse? I think some people’s frustration (no matter how much melanin they have in their skin) with what is occurring at the University of Missouri or Ferguson or the Black Lives Matter movement in general is that it seems that whatever racial issues that people of color in America are facing today, that they pale in comparison to what occurred during the times of slavery or even the 1960’s. So the thought process is, it’s better now than it was then so why are people so upset? Yet the problem that many black and other minorities are facing is that they are still experiencing an institutional racism and they feel no one is fighting for that relief. They feel that much of America has the attitude that it’s not as bad as it used to be so it’s fine. This is beyond frustrating. So then everyone begins the blaming game. Something has to be to blame. It’s capitalisms fault or welfares fault or educations fault or nuclear-families fault or the judicial systems fault or your own work ethics fault. Is the truth in their somewhere? Probably. But all of these arguments are pointless, if the result is not love and change. Star Trek and Star Wars solved racism by discovering an alien race. Suddenly the person with darker skin seems less different from you when you’re talking to something that looks like a giant booger. So is that what it will take to end racism and bigotry and prejudices? I actually don’t think so. I think division of “us” and “them” has always existed and will always exist until eternity future. So is racism getting better or worse? I’ll give my answer in a minute.
Are natural disasters becoming more common or are they just reported on more often? Earthquakes, hurricanes, mudslides, fires, droughts, and flooding seem to be reported on a constant loop. Which of these disasters are man-caused? Smokey the Bear taught me that I can prevent forest fires. But what I am really confused/upset by is environmental science. Are the ice-caps melting or getting bigger and thicker than ever? Depending on which paid-for facebook post you click on, you can get totally opposite scientific-results. I thought science was supposed to be independent, unbiased, and truth-driven. Apparently that’s not the case. But the question remains, whether you believe man has influenced the outcome or not, are there more natural disasters today than in previous centuries? I’ll give my answer in a min… well, now.
I personally don’t think things are getting better or worse. I think evil just changes forms. I think the Fall has been spiraling mankind and the rest of the universe out of control for thousands of years. When I read of the evils in the Old Testament, some things seem worse, and some things seem better. When I read about the Medieval times, some things seem worse, and some things seem better. Some evils are more widespread in some eras than others, while other evils are more prevalent today. So in the short term, I would suppose the same is going to happen. Some things will get better, and some things will get worse. However, there is an event upcoming that I can be more definitive on. Soon, very soon, will begin the Day of the Lord. It will come like a thief in the night. I’m using the generic term “Day of the Lord” because I don’t particularly want to get into an argument on the End Times. Because no matter how you believe the End Times is going to go down, I can make the statement that this world is about to get a whole lot worse for those who do not know Jesus as their Savior and yet, the universe is about to get infinitely better for those that truly are children of God. So is the future going to get better or worse? It depends. It depends on whether or not you have Jesus on your side. The Wars are coming… the Division is coming… the Destruction is coming, like you’ve never seen before, like never has been seen before. I don’t know about you, just as little Simba stood behind Mufasa, I wanna be standing behind this guy…
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’” Rev 19:11-16
Joe Allotta 