Thursday, February 2

Turner's Creed vs Hardy Shaw

An excerpt from Ravi Zacharias' book "Can Man Live Without God?"

Steve Turner says "No!"...But we try all the time....

Creed by Steve Turner

We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin
We believe everything is OK
as long as you don't hurt anyone
to the best of your definition of hurt,
and to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before, during, and
after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy’s OK.
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything's getting better
despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated
And you can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there's something in horoscopes
UFO's and bent spoons.
Jesus was a good man just like Buddha,
Mohammed, and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher though we think
His good morals were bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same-
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of creation,
sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.

We believe that after death comes the Nothing
Because when you ask the dead what happens
they say nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied, then its
compulsory heaven for all
excepting perhaps
Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Kahn

We believe in Masters and Johnson
What's selected is average.
What's average is normal.
What's normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between warfare and
bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors .
And the Russians would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good.
It's only his behavior that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth that
is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust.
History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth
excepting the truth
that there is no absolute truth.

We believe in the rejection of creeds,
And the flowering of individual thought.

If chance be
the Father of all flesh,
disaster is his rainbow in the sky
and when you hear

State of Emergency!
Sniper Kills Ten!
Troops on Rampage!
Whites go Looting!
Bomb Blasts School!
It is but the sound of man
worshipping his maker.

Steve Turner, (English journalist),"Creed," his satirical poem on the modern mind. Taken from Ravi Zacharias’ book Can Man live Without God? Pages 42-44

Contrast that to this poem written by Hardy Shaw in the trenches as bombs exploded over head.

Lord God, I have never spoken to You,
But now I want to say how do You do.
You see God, they told me You didn’t exist,
And like a fool I believed all this.
Last night from a shell hole I saw Your sky,
I figured right then, they had told me a lie.
Had I taken time to see the things You made,
I’d have known they weren’t calling a spade a spade.
I wonder, God, if You’ll take my hand,
Somehow I feel that You’ll understand.
Funny I had to come to this hellish place
Before I had time to see Your face.
Well, I guess there isn’t much more to say,
But I’m sure glad, God, I met you today.
I guess zero hour will soon be here
But I’m not afraid since I know You’re near.
The signal! Well, God, I’ll have to go
I like you lots, I want You to know.
Look now this will be a horrible fight,
Who knows I may come to Your house tonight.
Though I wasn’t friendly to You before,
I wonder God, if You’d wait at your door.
Look, I’m crying, I’m shedding tears,
I’ll have to go now God, goodbye.
Strange now that I’ve met You I’m not afraid to die.

- Hardy Shaw

4 comments:

Luke said...

RealityCheckMate: While I agree, there are always two sides to every story, you either missed the point that was being made in the contrast, or else you chose to ignore it.

The point was to contrast a sarcastic creed on a worldview in which God is not present with a prayer written in a world that didn't make sense, and yet there was comfort when you mixed in God. The fact that the second poem was written in the trenches is secondary. It could've been written in any extremely difficult circumstance. The fact is, we, as Americans, could beat our guns into Tractors and many would say we should, however, due to the fallen sin nature of man, Russia, most likely, would not follow suite. That is the point. The point was a sarcastic view of how the world wants peace without Jesus. The point was to show the ineffectualness of an Atheistic world view, that by definition, has no Savior. Man can not be his own savior. As much as we will try, it will never happen.

The world needs Jesus. That is the point of this post. It's not anti or pro war. Just pro-Jesus, pro-Savior, pro-Lord.

God Bless.

Psalm 120
1 In my distress I cried unto the LORD[caps are in the text], and he heard me. 2 Deliver my soul, O LORD[caps are in the text], from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.

Mark Nenadov said...

realitycheckmate,

"Peace is the way. Not sarcasm.

Ps 120:7
I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war."

That's a great verse. Here are a few other good ones.

Psa 18:34 He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

Ecc 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Exd 15:3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name

We servce the Prince of Peace who is also a Man of War. I'm not trying to validate any contemporary war, just want to make sure Psalm 120:7 is understood in the context in which it was written and intended, not in a later reintepretation of it.

Jeyachandran said...

I am afraid whether my comments will fit in --as I am 3 yrs late! I just stumbled on your blog - and the cry of the one directly involved in "Agfghan war" stopped me- I was forced to listen- If I a mortal could n't move any further- I am sure the Almighty 'd have not only stopped but even wept as every body else were just" beating around 'The Bush'"! Why this war! Please do not ever try to justify it and bring discredit to the lovable name of Christ - who is said to have given His life so that NONE (NO SOULS OF COURSE) should perish- let us look for our selves - and see the -fruits of this 'un holy' war_ Both the the journalist and the soldier are right on the dot- -we have failed to call a spade a spade! Jeyachandran- An Indian Christian

Luke said...

Jeya: Thanks for your comment. I wanted to let you know my church has been praying for the Christians in India as many of you are going through a very hard time right now.

God Bless!