Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Ignorance and Slavery

"Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength" these words from George Orwell's 1984 sound like they could have been spoken by Satan himself. History proves that Satan fights against all truth, not just gospel truths. Galileo was persecuted for saying the Earth revolves around the Sun and not vice versa. He was not alone.

Dr. Semmelwise was the first to discover that doctors needed to wash their hands in between patients. He and other doctors of his time delivered babies, then took care of the patient in the next bed, then delivered another baby. Many women were dying of "Child Bed Fever". When Dr. Semmelwise suggested that perhaps lives could be saved if the Doctors washed their hands between patients, the other doctors were outraged! How dare he suggest that THEY were the source of the problem. He was mocked and driven out of medicine. He died in an insane asylum.

Alfred Wegener is now know for his work on continental drift. He wrote a paper on this theory that a super continent he called Pangaea had once existed, and the the continents we know now today were pieces of it that had drifted apart. His work was largely ignored until 30 years after his death. His theories are now commonly accepted.

Dr. John R. Christopher was a Master Herbalist and Naturpath. He was imprisoned so many times that in the morning when he left for work he jokingly tell his wife, "I'll call you from jail." He was arrested for healing people medical doctors said could not be healed. He was eventually forced to close his practice. Undaunted he started The School of Natural Healing, which carries on his legacy today.

Surely these are but a few of many examples of how Satan has fought truth throughout history. The next question then is why? Why does Satan want to keep us as ignorant as possible?

Exploring history for the answer to this question, we don't have to turn the hands of time back very far. There are answers in the pre-Civil War slavery era.

There were states in the South where it was Illegal to teach slaves to read, write and do math. Why did they not want slaves to be literate? Some answers may be that a slave who could read and write could look at a map, could make maps for others, read and write letters. . .all things that would be helpful in an escape. In other words ignorance is key to slavery. Education is vital for freedom.

That is why Satan fights against all truth! He would have us all as slaves if he could. What does this mean for us? Is he succeeding?

To answer this question, we must broaden our understanding of the word freedom. We tend to think of freedom only in terms of political freedom, and yet there are many areas of life in which ignorance can imprison us.

Health is freedom. When we do not have health we can be limited in the things that we can accomplish. In the past people died of diseases that we can easily cure today. If the knowledge were available to us, what diseases might we be free from today?

Financial freedom. Everyone knows that money can limit your opportunities in many different areas. Is it possible that there are principles of prosperity that could unlock the prison doors, if we knew them and applied them.

Spiritual freedom, emotional freedom. . .what freedoms are you lacking in your life?

If Satan desires to imprison us, we know who desires to set us free. But we must take the key, knowledge, and put it in the lock and turn it.






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