People used to associate the Anglo-American Empire as the British Empire but at present, it is known as the US Superpower. There seems to be a big difference between the two, for those of us who are living at the present. These two empires actually seem to be guided by the same underlying world view without sharing the same language.
So, has the Anglo-American Empire been a blessing or a curse on the world?
Tony Campolo, who is a very gifted speaker have spoken about all good Christian preachers and challenged each one of them to have more than what they have. He is also known to be interesting, insightful and challenging. His ideas are very rewarding but can be uncomfortable when first heard.
Tony spoke on the topic of loving one's neighbor. He used an anecdote that he speaks on several times before. No doubt it affected him deeply and was formative in his passion to love the poor. He spoke of a time he had been approached in a third world country by three underage girls, earning a living as child street prostitutes. Instead, he paid the money, and allowed them to fall asleep in his hotel room eating ice cream and watching Disney movies. But his cry to God was always that he had only alleviated their suffering for a night. And this has obviously stayed with him for many years.
He was pushed for World Vision child sponsorship, no doubt for its worthy goal.
If people from the US or UK would share some money from their spare change to help out the people from the third world countries, it would be a great impact on their lives. People who are living in the US or UK may sometimes believe that they are not that wealthy or blessed, but when compared to third world countries where child prostitution is rampant, they are actually lucky.
Where did this money come from? And where did the will to use it to make the world a better place come from?
The British Empire is usually questioned, so are all US attempts at intervening for foreign policy. However, this act seems very politically correct.
Yet it remains an historical fact that the average man in the street has never been better educated, better fed, wealthier, healthier or freer in the history of the world, than right now, in an English speaking nation.
Society and humanity will climb higher and higher with every passing generation. This is the mythical force of social evolution which most people believe in. This can be seen in the writings of the likes of Nietsche. And it was as false when G.K.Chesterton and C.S.Lewis debunked it in the 1900s and 1950s as it is now. Empires rise and empires fall.
We have lost much of what made us great. Today, we could not achieve today what our ancestors achieved in, for example, the settling of the west (USA), the industrial revolution (China), or the Second World War. But if people rediscover and re-embrace what made the Anglo-American Empire great, it may yet rise to new heights of greatness as yet undreamed of. The empire would not be teetering on the edge after all. If it does, this empire, like every other empire before it, and there were many, will decline to be a footnote in history.
That is why, it is very important to identify some of the beliefs that shaped our ancestors lives, where most of them are lost by now.
So, has the Anglo-American Empire been a blessing or a curse on the world?
Tony Campolo, who is a very gifted speaker have spoken about all good Christian preachers and challenged each one of them to have more than what they have. He is also known to be interesting, insightful and challenging. His ideas are very rewarding but can be uncomfortable when first heard.
Tony spoke on the topic of loving one's neighbor. He used an anecdote that he speaks on several times before. No doubt it affected him deeply and was formative in his passion to love the poor. He spoke of a time he had been approached in a third world country by three underage girls, earning a living as child street prostitutes. Instead, he paid the money, and allowed them to fall asleep in his hotel room eating ice cream and watching Disney movies. But his cry to God was always that he had only alleviated their suffering for a night. And this has obviously stayed with him for many years.
He was pushed for World Vision child sponsorship, no doubt for its worthy goal.
If people from the US or UK would share some money from their spare change to help out the people from the third world countries, it would be a great impact on their lives. People who are living in the US or UK may sometimes believe that they are not that wealthy or blessed, but when compared to third world countries where child prostitution is rampant, they are actually lucky.
Where did this money come from? And where did the will to use it to make the world a better place come from?
The British Empire is usually questioned, so are all US attempts at intervening for foreign policy. However, this act seems very politically correct.
Yet it remains an historical fact that the average man in the street has never been better educated, better fed, wealthier, healthier or freer in the history of the world, than right now, in an English speaking nation.
Society and humanity will climb higher and higher with every passing generation. This is the mythical force of social evolution which most people believe in. This can be seen in the writings of the likes of Nietsche. And it was as false when G.K.Chesterton and C.S.Lewis debunked it in the 1900s and 1950s as it is now. Empires rise and empires fall.
We have lost much of what made us great. Today, we could not achieve today what our ancestors achieved in, for example, the settling of the west (USA), the industrial revolution (China), or the Second World War. But if people rediscover and re-embrace what made the Anglo-American Empire great, it may yet rise to new heights of greatness as yet undreamed of. The empire would not be teetering on the edge after all. If it does, this empire, like every other empire before it, and there were many, will decline to be a footnote in history.
That is why, it is very important to identify some of the beliefs that shaped our ancestors lives, where most of them are lost by now.
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