Let me emphasize that I'm not referring to any particular secular individual who may in fact have firm moral convictions. I'm referring to secularism as an ideology. Secularism is atheism. Secular Humanism is a religion that regards man as the supreme being. A secularist can be a committed believer in aristotolianism, platonism, empiricism, utilitarianism, existentialism, pragmatism or any other system of philosophical thought.

Some of the above mentioned philosophies relate well to each other but most secular philosophies contradict each other in radical ways. For instance, consider communism and fascism which are two opposing totalitarian political philosophies. Communism and fascism are both secular and have certain points in common yet they've clashed violently for nearly a century.

Secular philosophy has no transcendent authority. There is no authority above man. Secular philosophies were not chiseled in stone but were simply were written down on paper by "dead white males."

Modern secular philosophy (modernism) is the idea that absolute truth exists but it is discovered by human reason rather than given by revelation from God. The fact that no central core of truth has been discovered by human reason has tended to discredit the modern notion of truth in the opinion of many secularists.

Modernism has produced no agreement, no unanimity as to how humans should behave. Modern secular thought systems contradict each other. The age of reason is over. Man can't figure it out.

Many secularists have left modern philosophy for postmodernism. Postmodern philosophy claims that there is no absolute truth. Each person makes up his or her own truth on the basis of what he or she feels is true. Emotions, not reason, is the final court of appeal in postmodernism.

Some secular people have left modern philosophy and embraced Christianity. Christians maintain that truth is given by God and we are accountable to Him. Man has a purpose. The Westminster Catechism teaches that the purpose of man is to know God and to enjoy Him forever. This is also what the Bible itself implicitly teaches.

There is a sharp division of views in America today because of the failure and collapse of modernism. People are gravitating to either of two worldviews, the Christian or the postmodern and these views are radically different.

Because of the fact that secular people (including secular minded nominal Christians) far outnumber Christians it is apparent that postmodernism predominates. "Political correctness" is the vague catchall phrase that describes the current philosophical fad among the secular.

Secularism gives no hope for life after death. The best that a secular humanist can hope for is annihilation. (Many secularists claim to have a vaguely defined faith in God and a hope for heaven but secularism as an ideology in a strict sense does not allow for this.)

Secularists, lacking a definite hope of an afterlife, tend to focus more heavily on the things of this world. This is the reason that utopian ideologies such as communism have had such appeal among the secular. Communism is based largely on modern philosophy and its brutality and subsequent fall was a strong factor in the discrediting of modernism. It has been documented that over 30 million people were killed in the former Soviet Union in their attempt to create heaven on earth.

So what do the secularists want for America? Maybe I should rephrase the question: What is the fruit of current secular ideology? Secularism leads to an America where you are free to buy pornography or abort your unborn child but you are not free to protect your child from homosexuality. Your child will be coerced to sit through pro-homosexual lectures in class at public schools paid for by your taxes.

Even the modernists (in contrast to the postmodernists) considered homosexuality deviant. Even from a natural law perspective homosexuality was seen as irrational and contrary to nature. For two people of the same sex to join sexually is unnatural because human bodies aren't designed for that kind of sex! Same sex eroticism is ultimately unfulfilling. Average life expectancy among homosexuals is much shorter than among heterosexuals.

Postmodernism is an ideology of lawlessness where everything is tolerated except absolute truth, decency and reason. I freely admit that some individual postmodern people live orderly lives. My point is that the dominant secular philosophy - postmodernism - is an ideology of disorder and social breakdown.

I am optimistic, however, because people have seen the failure of modernism and have embraced postmodernism as a last refuge. Postmodernism is a last refuge because as people see the futility of lawless, directionless, purposeless postmodernism they will turn away from it also and will turn to God who created them and loved them enough to send His Son to die for their sins.

The Bible is scientifically accurate! Find the evidence at www.icr.org.  

Steps to salvation: Jesus said "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)

1. Believe that God created you and loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
2. Believe that Jesus the Messiah came in fulfillment of over 300 Bible prophecies to die for you to take upon Himself the penalty for your sins. (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 3:18)
3. Turn from sin and call on the name of Jesus to receive forgiveness. (Romans 10:13)
4. Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth. (John 1:12, Acts 2:38)
5. Follow Him as Lord. (John 14:21)

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13)

To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:

"Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen."

If you prayed that prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!

Bill Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of West Harrison, New York, USA

(C) 2010 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish if credit given

DEFENDING THE FAITH APOLOGETIC ARTICLES Bill Nugent currently writes a series of articles called "Defending the Faith" which, as the title suggests, defend the Christian faith from the many attacks leveled against it in our postmodern world. The articles deal with such topics as evolution, UFOs, cults, modern/postmodern philosophy, liberal theology and popular culture. At the end of each article is an invitation to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. These articles are sent out over the Internet to several opt-in email lists. People who receive these articles are encouraged to resend them to their own lists and in this way reach their own unsaved relatives and friends with the Gospel. All Defending the Faith articles are © 2009 William P. Nugent, permission is granted to email or republish if credit given. To receive these articles which are sent out once per month fill in your email address below and click the SUBMIT button. *Security: Write the characters in the image above (Case sensitive)