THE PITFALLS OF MODERNITY
(Click the photo.) A pitfall means falling off a cliff into a pit. As the article THE IDEOLOGY OF MODERNITY IS PULLING US OVER A DEMOGRAPHIC ABYSS explains, we're chasing after modernity's built-in goals of career success, financial security, conveniences and comforts, but we're failing to meet the 2.1 fertility rate required for any society to endure.
Birth control and abortion are the two biggest culprits. This means that the average woman needs to give birth to at least two or more babies, or else the population begins to fall. No society in human history has ever survived if its fertility rate remains below 1.6 for an extended period. And that "fatal pitfall" fertility rate now includes virtually all of the modern "industrialized" countries in the world.
The above article mentions another: Modernity's Self-Destruct Button. This button is built into modern society. We need to turn back to forms of society that have endured for thousands and thousands of years: living in harmony with nature, having large families, and preserving earth's resources instead of plundering them. This is called "permaculture" that tells us how one person can permanently live off 1/2 acre of land, or a community of 30 people can live off 15 acres of land: see How Much Land Does it Take to Feed One Person?
The recent U.S. political campaigning was full of anti-immigrant talk. But the simple fact is that we need immigrants, we need a new influx of willing workers, because we're not producing enough children. And we need to treat immigrants fairly:
"You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he be of your brothers, or of your foreigners who are in your land within your gates: that same day you shall give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down on it; for he is poor, and sets his heart on it: lest he cry against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you. The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
You shall not withhold the justice due to the foreigner, or to the fatherless, nor take the widow's clothing to pledge; but you shall remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you there: therefore I command you to do this thing. When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgot a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it: it shall be for the foreigner, for the orphan and the widow; that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it after you: it shall be for the foreigner, for the orphan and the widow.You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt: therefore I command you to do this thing." (Deuteronomy 24:14-22)
This and similar Bible texts are often referred to by the pro-"undocumented immigrant" Christian left folks, encouraging immigration. That phrase "every man shall be put to death for his own sin" may seem a bit puzzling: why is it included with all these commands about caring for the poor and immigrants? Perhaps it's because the anti-"illegal aliens" Christian right folks spread the blame for the sins and offenses of a minority of those immigrants onto all of them, calling them all a bunch of thieves, rapists, murderers, and drug smugglers. However, the "golden mean" – the proper response to this – is that foreigners coming to live among us are welcome but also must obey our laws, including our laws about immigration:
“And if a stranger sojourns among you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native.” (Numbers 9:14)
“And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he shall do as you do. For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.” (Num. 15:14-16)
(See "How to Relate to Foreigners Among Us" for the rest of my article that I wrote in January 2017 when we in the U.S. were facing a similar situation concerning immigration.)
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