KONY 2012: The Debate and Christian response.

Over 85 million people have watched the KONY 2012 video, put together by Jason Russell, so over 85 million people have heard about the atrocities of Joseph Kony, a Ugandan warlord who is responsible for thousands of crimes against mostly children. (Nota Bene: He has only committed dozens of different crimes, but there he is responsible for those crimes being done thousands of times.) He and his Lord's Resistance Army have terrorized African countries like Uganda.

The video itself is one of the most high-quality videos that encourages people to join a cause. Russell uses his personal life, popular beliefs and symbols (like the peace sign), emotional appeals, popular music, appeals to being part of a greater cause and many other Rhetorical devices to convince the watchers of his opinion. He incorporates references to technology and social media to tell his story (e.g. using a Facebook timeline to show his relationship with Jacob, showing that people are joining the cause with rising numbers of people joining the group on Facebook) to show that this new generation uses social media and technology to join together. He doesn't overwhelm the audience with facts and proofs, proofs and facts till they're bored to tears, and not doing that is also a Rhetorical device. The video is 30 minutes long (All right- 29:58 if you want to be exact), so he doesn't have to cram everything together; he has enough time to keep everything nicely spread out. He makes his plan very real, not vague, and he does an especially good job of showing concretely what the viewers of the video can do to help this cause.

About five years ago the group talking about the Invisible Children came and gave their presentation at my church. It definitely invoked my pity, but for some reason I think that the mention of The Lord's army was only passing, and I don't remember if they mentioned Kony by name. This video actually did more to motivate me then their entire presentation because it shows concretely how I personally can help and it makes me feel like part of a greater cause.

There is some debate about Kony, brought to light by Russell's video. Some areas of debate include whether Kony is dead or alive, whether the US has actually deployed soldiers to Uganda, and whether Kony's army has already done its worst. Some people claim that the whole thing is a complete scam. There have been some very strong reactions incited by this video.

But there is one thing that is not in debate; that the crimes of Joseph Kony are despicable, twisted and wrong.

The Bible tells us that God has given a conscience to all men to tell the difference between right and wrong. This is a perfect example of how all people will admit that some a actions are wrong.

"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

The "Problem" Of Evil. (Not as much of a problem as you think.)

How many times have Christian apologists heard the argument about the "problem of evil"? The argument goes like this:

"God (Assuming He exists) is omnibenevolent and omnipotent. If God is omnibenevolent He wouldn't want evil in the world. If He was omnipotent He would have the ability to get rid of evil in the world. There is evil in the world. God must not exist. QED."

Some Christians would say that this argument is illogical. But they would be wrong. This is actually a perfectly logical syllogism.

"But God does exist! How can this be logical??"many Christians would say. Well, obviously it's false. So how can it be proven wrong? Well the formatting of this argument fits the laws of logic perfectly. But just because an argument is logically formatted right doesn't mean that it's actually true. Here's an argument that is perfectly logic and perfectly untrue:

"If Mr. Davis is an Omnibus teacher, he's the King of France. Mr. Davis is an Omnibus teacher. Therefore Mr. Davis is the King of France. QED."

Perfect logical format. But the conclusion doesn't follow from the premises. The one step that fails is the one that implies that if Mr. Davis is an Omnibus teacher he's the King of France. Does the problem of evil have a failing premise? It has to have one because it's perfect logically, but it's obviously false.

Which step is the one that fails? Well God is omnibenevolent and omnipotent. There is evil in the world. God does have the ability to get rid of evil in the world. So the only one left is "If God is omnibenevolent he wouldn't want evil in the world." It is my belief that this is the weak link in this logical chain.

A friend once asked me "If God is omnipresent, and there's no evil in God, how is there evil in the world?" He was joking, and omnipresent isn't really the correct word, but the question still remains. I couldn't think of a way to answer this problem until Mr. Davis compared the world and history to a story where God is the author. "See, in Lord Of The Rings," Mr. Davis said, "is Tolkien evil for having evil characters? No, because he disapproves what those characters are doing. But he wouldn't have a story if there weren't evil people in it." Imagine LOTR without evil people. The name would have to be changed to, "Frodo and Sam Have The Jolliest Time In The Land Where Nothing Bad Ever Happens." It's a mockery of a story. God is supreme over all of His creations, and I try to just trust whatever He chooses to do with me. This analogy is immensely helpful to me because I love stories. But if this analogy doesn't help you, then it's just an analogy. Find one that works for you, while still saying the truth.

In enemy territory

I am a Christian first and foremost. Anything that I come into contact with will first be examined by that standard. If it isn't in accordance with the Bible I will not examine it with the air of person coming to hear an argument, thinking about the idea of joining that side. I will examine it like a scientist examines a cancerous cell or a flu virus; hating it and being disgusted by it and only enough contact to understand how to destroy it.

Some Christians would say that if it doesn't fit with the Bible-"Don't handle it at all." "It's obviously sinful-It will tempt those who come close to it," they'll say. These are the ones who raise their children making sure that they never talk about pagan views. The ones who make sure that their children never read books that have "bad characters" in them. The ones who dictate who make sure that their children don't have any non-Christian friends. These are the ones who will be shocked to find their children leaving the Christian faith for some new religion. But it should come as no surprise: The people raised like this have no immune system.

But going to the other extreme isn't the right choice either. Having a 5-year-old totally exposed to the ideas of Buddhism with-out Christian protection is obviously a bad idea. Christians have to learn how sin will fight so that in battle they'll actually be prepared to destroy it. Consider the Bible. The Bible is full of references to sinful people doing sinful things, and yet it's all viewed through a lens of Christianity-namely that the evil people get punished for wicked actions.

Evolutionary Hymn (Lewis) & Analysis

Lead us, Evolution,lead us
Up the future's endless stair;
Chop us, change us, prod us, weed us.
For stagnation is despair:
Groping, guessing, yet progressing,
Lead us nobody knows where.

Wrong or justice, joy or sorrow,
In the present what are they
while there's always jam-tomorrow,
While we tread the onward way?
Never knowing where we're going,
We can never go astray.

To whatever variation
Our posterity may turn
Hairy, squashy, or crustacean,
Bulbous-eyed or square of stern,
Tusked or toothless, mild or ruthless,
Towards that unknown god we yearn.

Ask not if it's god or devil,
Brethren, lest your words imply
Static norms of good and evil
(As in Plato) throned on high;
Such scholastic, inelastic,
Abstract yardsticks we deny.

Far too long have sages vainly
Glossed great Nature's simple text;
He who runs can read it plainly,
'Goodness = what comes next.'
By evolving, Life is solving
All the questions we perplexed.

On then! Value means survival-
Value. If our progeny
Spreads and spawns and licks each rival,
That will prove its deity
(Far from pleasant, by our present,
Standards, though it may well be)




I love this poem because it makes fun of the blind "patriotism" that evolutionists sometimes give to the random changes of evolution. Also it shows how the evolutionary view doesn't have anywhere for morality. If you think about it, according to evolution: survival is the only thing that matters. Obviously. It says,"We're all just animals fighting tooth and claw to survive."  In the evolutionary world-veiw there is no room for morality-There's no place for it to come from. If we're all just animals nobody can come and impose a law of morality on anybody else because we're all on the same level. 


And that's why we get our standards of morality from a higher source: God. He clearly sets out standards for us in The Bible. Unfortunately, because we're fallen we don't have the ability to follow those standards anymore. And that's why we need Jesus Christ to restore our shattered relationship with God.