10/04/19

Q.221: “What’s wrong with the world?” (I asked the kids this one)

Plenty, but it so was in Jesus’ time too. Lots of things were wrong (Roman occupation was only one of them), no hospitals or medicine as we know them today. Jesus began a new way called ‘Love’ and chose 12 disciples to carry His message after He was gone. Its theme was LOVE! Phew!! Read that again please.

Much is wrong. These are what some Year 7 kids wrote around 1999.

Pollution, people rude and angry, do not belong, garbage, litter, bottles, plastic, suffering, murders, rapes (and more rapes), slack police, war, poverty, sickness. BAD BAD BAD, war, garbage, criminals, children suffering, a lot don’t know Jesus so do silly things, not in harmony with nature, lies, money, greenhouse gas. Phew! Kids do know what’s wrong!! (‘theanswerer’ would add drugs and alcohol today as a source of real problems).

These wrong things are very clear to some people. Big business like supermarkets, fast food joints, car makers, giant oil companies, and the people who spend much time, effort and money to sway (to direct) public thinking and opinion. Mostly it is by the TV, radio and news are the cause of most of the problems. Greed and money is the basic cause. The commercial TV stations believe that disaster and trouble gets ratings. “IF IT BLEEDS IT LEADS” (the news) and viewers watch, moan and say “Oh!”, and the TV channels make money via the ads.

The bold bit above is very real! Much time and money is spent where you do not see it…to ‘bend’ public feeling so that wars can be started, stuff sold, and objectives gained (oil and land to name two). I see on the WWW that the latest aircraft carrier in the United States Navy cost $62,000,000, plus their navy and the air force. The USA have 30 aircraft carriers! Some people in America starve and cannot afford to buy, or keep, their houses so live in cars or on the street. “What do you think about that?”

BUT, there’s another side, a good side. A certain professor, Dr. Ian Clarke, dreamed up a device to help deaf children hear Mum’s voice. His Cochlear Ear Implant worked when 99% of his fellow doctors said: “You’re wasting your time – it can’t be done.” But 250,000 children who were born deaf can now hear their mum’s voice with many more to come. Also, two West Australian doctors discovered that stomach ulcers were not caused by stress but by a bug. Most doctors thought they were mad and ignored their theory: “We’ve always known it is stress!” To prove it, one of them swallowed a dose of the ‘bugs’ to infect himself, and then cured himself! And they got a Nobel Peace Prize ($1,000,000) for the many years work on that. Both still work on medical research; they love research.

Mr Ian Keirnan saw all the pollution in the ocean and founded CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA DAY, and tens of thousands do clean up Australia.

Jesus warned people against: “Storing up earthly treasures where moth and rust corrupt and thieves break in and steal.” (Matt.6:18-20). Too many people think that things (possessions) will make them happy. They are nice to have but often they satisfy for only a little while then we have to buy another one: and all the while millions starve and the ‘possessions’ create rubbish, millions of tonnes of it.

So “What’s wrong with the world?” is that mostly, the ‘First World’ (of very rich nations) are obsessed with possessions. Possessions cannot fill the “God space” in the human heart. Only the peace of heart and mind that comes with knowing Jesus personally (closely) makes people happy, and caring for others and the environment.

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The Answerer

The Answerer - Peter Harris, answered children's questions from his many years of teaching "Scripture" classes.
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