In his Encyclical Letter Dominum et Vivificantem, No. 38, Pope John Paul II says, "The analysis of sin in its original dimension indicates that, through the influence of the 'father of lies,'* throughout the history of humanity there will be a constant pressure on man to reject God, even to the point of hating him: 'Love of self to the point of contempt for God,' as Saint Augustine puts it. Man will be inclined to see in God primarily a limitation of himself, and not the source of his own freedom and the fullness of good. We see this confirmed in the modern age, when the atheistic ideologies seek to root out religion on the grounds that religion causes the radical 'alienation' of man, as if man were dispossessed of his own humanity when, accepting the idea of God, he attributes to God what belongs to man, and exclusively to man! Hence a process of thought and historico-sociological practice in which the rejection of God has reached the point of declaring his 'death.' An absurdity, both in concept and expression! But the ideology of the 'death of God' is more a threat to man, as the Second Vatican Council indicates when it analyzes the question of the 'independence of earthly affairs' and writes: 'For without the Creator the creature would disappear...when God is forgotten the creature itself grows unintelligible.' The ideology of the 'death of God' easily demonstrates in its effects that on the 'theoretical and practical' levels it is the ideology of the 'death of man.'" (Citing Gaudium et Spes, No. 36).
President Obama's School Czar has embraced this "death of God" ideology. This is all the more chilling since, as Fr. Vincent Miceli reminds us, "When the atheist, against the vast evidence of the world in which God's 'visible attributes are clearly seen,' decides against possessing the knowledge of God, he simultaneously arrogates to himself the mission of persuading others to embrace his atheism. The mysterious psychological explanation of this drive to win converts to atheism is that this drive is but the passionate dimension of the atheist's decision against God. His denial of God is simultaneously his assertion of himself as being above God. His rejection of God is his projection of himself into the place formerly held by God." (The Gods of Atheism, p. 461).
The consequences of this "death of God" ideology? Fr. Miceli: "Whoever strikes against God strikes down himself. The atheist denying God degrades himself. The atheist exalting himself above God sinks below the level of animate and inanimate beings. Liberation from God is enslavement in creatures. Absolute humanism is the sure road to absolute despotism. Denial of God as truth begets the imprisonment of man in the self-imposed darkness of his own myths. Flight from total dependence on God guarantees for man the utter loss of his freedom in a brutal enslavement either to sheer anarchy or to the tyrant who must eventually arise to impose upon the chaos of limitless human liberty the artificial, inhuman order of the concentration camp." (The Gods of Atheism, p. 461).
The way is being prepared for this tyrant, whom we know from Sacred Scripture as the Man of Sin, the Antichrist. And still, many pastors remain silent. Many Christians are still asleep, oblivious to the dangers ahead.
President Obama's School Czar has embraced this "death of God" ideology. This is all the more chilling since, as Fr. Vincent Miceli reminds us, "When the atheist, against the vast evidence of the world in which God's 'visible attributes are clearly seen,' decides against possessing the knowledge of God, he simultaneously arrogates to himself the mission of persuading others to embrace his atheism. The mysterious psychological explanation of this drive to win converts to atheism is that this drive is but the passionate dimension of the atheist's decision against God. His denial of God is simultaneously his assertion of himself as being above God. His rejection of God is his projection of himself into the place formerly held by God." (The Gods of Atheism, p. 461).
The consequences of this "death of God" ideology? Fr. Miceli: "Whoever strikes against God strikes down himself. The atheist denying God degrades himself. The atheist exalting himself above God sinks below the level of animate and inanimate beings. Liberation from God is enslavement in creatures. Absolute humanism is the sure road to absolute despotism. Denial of God as truth begets the imprisonment of man in the self-imposed darkness of his own myths. Flight from total dependence on God guarantees for man the utter loss of his freedom in a brutal enslavement either to sheer anarchy or to the tyrant who must eventually arise to impose upon the chaos of limitless human liberty the artificial, inhuman order of the concentration camp." (The Gods of Atheism, p. 461).
The way is being prepared for this tyrant, whom we know from Sacred Scripture as the Man of Sin, the Antichrist. And still, many pastors remain silent. Many Christians are still asleep, oblivious to the dangers ahead.
* John 8:44
