Canada’s National Post carried this headline:
“Lost without a map: Despite a globalized
society, university students can't locate the
Atlantic Ocean."
Professor Judith Adler at Memorial University in
Newfoundland had a hunch that her students lacked
basic geographical knowledge, knowledge
fundamental to understanding the world
around them--thus she decided to examine her
hunch by testing her students.
“I used to ask
if they could identify France, England or
Ireland--which is the background of a lot of
students here, or Spain or Portugal, which is important
for this part of the world,
but I've stopped asking that.”
Over time, Adler simplified her questions.
“I asked them to indicate where on the map South
America is, where Africa is, and Antarctica, the
Arctic, and to circle Europe, label Australia
and show where Asia is and label the Atlantic,
Pacific and Indian Oceans and Mediterranean Sea--and
I've become much simpler in what I have
asked over the years.”
How did her students fare?
I think you can see ahead that they didn't do very
well, but why is this important?
I’ll answer these questions in a moment.
I’ll also be offering an important resource in
connection with today’s program, so be sure to
have writing material available to take down the
contact information.
So stay with me because I’ll give you the surprising
answer to Ms. Adler’s quiz, and show you why
this subject is important.
♪
A warm welcome to all of you from all of us here at
Tomorrow’s World.
Professor and sociologist Judith Adler of Memorial
University of Newfoundland, began giving
her students geography quizzes when she perceived
that their understanding of the world in which they
lived was lacking.
So how did they do?
“A sizeable proportion of the class would reliably
have no idea where the Mediterranean is.
Some students would circle Africa and indicate that
it’s Europe, and if asked to locate England and
Ireland, they would put them in Africa.
I have had students that aren't able to correctly
label the Atlantic Ocean, even though we are on it.”
Man on the street interviews in the United
States indicate Americans are equally ignorant of
the real world around them.
Some confuse cities as states, and show virtually
no understanding of geography, much less history.
We now live in the richest information age in
history, but also the most poverty stricken when it
comes to understanding where we are, where we
came from, and how we got here.
Is there any wonder why we have so many
“flat-earthers” amongst us?
But geography and history are vitally important, as
brought out in this Virginia Tech comment on
repeating history:
"Variations on the repeating-history theme
appear alongside debates about attribution.
Irish statesman Edmund Burke is often misquoted
as having said, “Those who don't know history are
destined to repeat it.” Spanish philosopher George
Santayana is credited with the aphorism, “Those who
cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat
it,” while British statesman Winston
Churchill wrote, “Those that fail to learn from
history are doomed to repeat it.”
One lesson of
history, is that empires rise and fall.
The fall of the Roman Empire is one of the most
studied lessons of history, and has important
warnings for America in particular, and the West
in general, because one lesson of history is that
power abhors a vacuum.
When America falls, as it surely is in the process
of doing, unless it turns and goes a different
direction, another power will fill the vacuum; and
it may not be, in fact will not be, so
benevolent, according to Bible prophecy.
Whole books have been written about the collapse
of the Roman Empire, and historians agree that its
collapse had no single cause.
Instead, it was the result of a series of internal
and external forces occurring over decades
which pulled the fabric of the Empire apart, ending a
power that ruled for
more than five centuries.
Mass migration from outside the Empire is
often cited as a primary cause.
One of the most obvious reasons for the downfall
of Rome was the relentless and seemingly endless
waves of migration and invasions from the
Barbarian tribes that bordered Rome’s northern
frontiers.
In the early days of the empire, Roman legions were
able to repel Barbarian tribes with relative ease,
but this started to change towards the end
of the 2nd century CE.
A particularly destructive migration took place in
the late fourth century when Eurasian Huns invaded
Europe--driving Germanic tribes to the
borders of the Empire.
The Romans grudgingly allowed members of the
Visigoth tribe to cross south of the Danube and
into the safety of Roman territory....
The parallels of mass migration into the
Roman Empire from the north, and the literal
invasion of illegals on the U.S.
southern border, ought to be a wake-up call for
America, but politics is apparently more important
than preserving the country.
In fiscal year 2020 (that is, October through
September) there were more than 458,000 border
encounters with illegals.
These were those who were caught or who simply
crossed illegally into the country and turned
themselves in, claiming asylum.
In 2021, this number rose to nearly 1,735,000, and
in 2022 to a staggering 2,378,944.
In October and November, the first two months of
fiscal 2023 (and the latest figures available at the time
of this recording), there were 231,294 and 233,740
respectively.)
This goes beyond politics, my friends.
It strikes at the heart of the question of whether a
country can survive with what is clearly an open
border policy.
History holds many lessons for modern man, but if
history teaches us anything, it is that we
never learn from it.
Sadly, today many don't even know history.
How many understand how the Roman Empire has been revived
six times since it's fall in 476 A.D.?
And according to Bible prophecy,
it will revive one last time.
And that final restoration is destined to bring the
world to the edge of cosmocide.
Our free resource, The Beast of Revelation,
documents how the Bible predicted Rome’s rise and
fall, and how it would be revived seven times.
This is not fiction.
It's not something too obscure to understand.
It was all spelled out hundreds of years in
advance.
So if you'd like to know what will happen in
your near future, pick up the phone or go to our
website TWTV.org/Beast and order your free copy of
The Beast of Revelation.
When I come back, we'll see what other lessons we
should learn from the fall of Rome.
For today’s free offer call...
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will help you understand this vital truth--
straight from the pages of the Bible.
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World magazine.
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and modern culture will help you make sense of
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Before the break I said we would see what other
lessons we should learn from the fall of Rome.
History.com lists other reasons for Rome’s
collapse in addition to mass migration.
Some of these reasons were:
Overexpansion and military overspending,
Government corruption and political instability,
and Christianity and the loss of traditional values.
Now that last reason may surprise you.
How could Christianity be an empire killer?
In a high school and college history book first
published in 1909, P.V.N.
Myers explains how Christianity (falsely so-called)
contributed to the loss of respect for
the institution of the Roman family and the
resulting decline in birthrate.
Another cause of the decline in population was
the singular aversion that the better class of the
Romans evinced to marriage.
We meet during the period of the empire with a crowd
of imperial edicts dealing with this subject.
Penalties and bounties, deprivations and
privileges, entreaties and expostulations are in turn
resorted to by the perplexed emperors, in
order to discourage celibacy and to foster a
pure and healthy family life.
But all was in vain.
The marriage state continued to be held in
great disesteem.
And Christianity instead of correcting the evil,
rather made matters worse; for just now the teachings
of the monks were persuading vast multitudes
of the superior sanctity of the solitary or the
monastic life, and thereby filling the deserts of
Egypt and the monasteries of all lands with men who
believed they could best live the higher live
by freeing themselves of all family and social
cares and duties.
Now America has few men running off into the
desert to live a monastic life, but far too many
prime aged men in America, Canada, the U.K.
and elsewhere, are sitting on the sidelines instead
of going to work, getting
married, and raising families.
Even before COVID-19, participation in the labor
market by 25-54 aged men was a troubling concern
for policy makers and their concerns point
directly to the health of the family.
In 2019, during what has been described as the
longest economic expansion in U.S.
history, with historically low unemployment,
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah admitted: “I’m concerned that if
more men can't find stable, steady work, the
result is likely to be fewer marriages, in the
first instance, and more
divorces, in the second instance....”
"It's also likely," he said, "that as marriage rates
fall, men will feel less of a need to be
breadwinners and involved with their children, which
in turn would lead to more unemployment and less
stable family lives."
Manhattan Institute senior fellow Oren Cass
agrees--there is a downward spiral, regarding
work and the stability of the family unit.
When one is negatively impacted, so is the other.
"Work, especially for men, helps establish and
preserve families.... Where fewer men work,
fewer marriages form.
Unemployment doubles the risk of divorce, and male
joblessness appears to be the primary culprit," he said.
“These outcomes likely result from the damage to
both economic prospects and individual well-being
associated with being out of work, which strain
existing marriages and make men less attractive
as marriage partners,” according to Cass.
Without regard to the specific cause, the effect
of low birthrates and disrespect for the
family institution brings about the same
result--a nation in decline.
In modern America, Canada, Europe, Russia, and
elsewhere, birthrates are at historic lows, well
below replacement value, and there is a connection
between low birthrates
and unchecked illegal immigration.
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer
of New York called on Republicans
Wednesday (that was November 16, 2022) to join in passing a
pathway to citizenship for “all undocumented” [ read:
Illegals] in the United States, citing the fact
that Americans were “not reproducing.’’ Why are
Americans and others not reproducing?
One obvious reason is unrestricted abortion, a
major platform on which Senator Schumer's
party proudly ran in the
2022 midterm elections.
In the last 50 years, Americans have aborted
approximately 64,000,000 of their children.
That amounts to a loss of approximately 64,000,000
“legal” workers in the country.
As fellow Tomorrow’s World writer Wallace Smith has
pointed out, the womb is unmistakably the most
dangerous place for an innocent child.
World Atlas lists seven causes for the decline and
fall of the Roman Empire and then gives this summary.
Do any of these problems sound familiar to us?
The fall of the Western Roman Empire can teach
humans many things about societal collapse and
regression.
Most shortcomings of a civilization in decline
come from within rather than without.
Incompetent leaders, government corruption, a
weak economy, and social dissolution all
contributed to the downfall of Rome.
America’s economy, and America is
not alone, is a house of cards.
Can anyone comprehend a national debt of
$31,000,000,000,000?
As one pundit pointed out, if you spend a million
dollars a day, it will take just short of 3000
years to reach one trillion dollars.
During the COVID lockdowns, the United
States, Canada, and many other countries gave away
“free money.” The result?
The self-inflicted wound of inflation.
We were all too happy to receive it, but what
people fail to realize, is that we will have to pay back
every penny, and more, through inflation.
And who does inflation hurt the most?
The poorest amongst us--those that governments
claim they were trying to help.
But too much "free" money is not an American problem only.
According to Inflationdata.com:
It’s not just the United States that is suffering from
high inflation, countries worldwide are experiencing
higher than average inflation.
This is partially due to the global pandemic but
even more the result of the actions taken by
central banks in response to the pandemic.
Why is it that
mankind never seems to learn from the past?
Part of the answer is that nations become complacent,
self-indulgent, and frankly are too uneducated
to know the past.
Our resource--The Beast of Revelation--shows how the
Bible recorded history in advance, and how these
remarkable prophecies have been fulfilled.
It predicted the rise of the Roman Empire, its
deadly wound in 476 A.D.,
five revivals during an exact period of 1260
years, followed by the Hitler/Mussolini revival,
and one more to come.
The Beast of Revelation is a must read, so order your
free copy today.
And I’ll be back in a few seconds to explain why
nations fail to learn from the past.
This clear and straight-forward resource
will help you understand this vital truth--
straight from the pages of the Bible.
Call now!
Or go to...
Today we're asking why such subjects as history
and geography are important.
As we've noted, nations fail to learn from the
past, and the consequences are catastrophic, but the
problem goes deeper than merely knowing the past.
As Nicholas Clairmont wrote for BigThink.com.
“History shows that both those who do not learn
history and those who do learn history are doomed
to repeat it.” He went on to explain: “According to
Santayana’s philosophy, history repeats.
The phrasing itself certainly is catchy.
It’s a big one, not only because it is so common,
but also because if it is true and if history,
driven by human nature, is ugly (hint: it is), then
this saying ought to guide our public and private
policy.”
Now, I’ll add, more importantly, understanding
that history is “driven by human nature,” ought to
guide more than public and private policy--it ought
to guide our behavior.
For as Clairmont rightfully implies, knowing
history and acting on that knowledge are not the same.
And the reason we fail to learn from history is
human nature.
And that brings us to a different kind of history
book--one that deals with human nature.
The Bible is fundamentally a history book.
It gives us wise and loving instructions from
our Creator.
It records how mankind has rejected those
instructions and the tragic results of that
rejection.
One of the great lessons is that when people hurt
badly enough, they often turn to God for relief--
only to turn back to the old ways
once relief comes.
It's the soldier’s foxhole prayer that is
quickly forgotten.
Two world wars should have sobered mankind, but
sadly, as the late Soviet President, Mikhail
Gorbachev wrote in an opinion piece for Time
magazine: Politicians and military leaders sound
increasingly belligerent and defense
doctrines more dangerous.
Commentators and TV personalities are joining
the bellicose chorus.
It all looks as if the world is preparing for war.
This was published January 26, 2017--five years prior
to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Will this generation of Americans, Britons,
Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders learn
from the past?
What about the French, the Belgians,
the Dutch, and the Swiss?
It’s difficult to see how any can, when some are
consumed with re-writing their past, and when all
possess the same rebellious nature as those
who have gone before.
The speed with which mankind reverts to his old
ways is astounding.
This is shown in the biblical golden calf incident.
After God brought a slave people out of bondage by
great and powerful miracles that could not be
rationally explained away, the Israelites turned back
into idolatry.
A mere 40 days was enough time for the people to
pressure Aaron, who was left in charge while
Moses was gone, to make a golden calf idol
and hold a licentious festival to celebrate it.
In the aftermath, God commanded Moses the following:
“Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of
which I have spoken to you.
Behold, My Angel shall go before you.
Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will
visit punishment upon them for their sin.”
Dennis Prager makes this observation
about this verse and humanity's shallow understanding of
the God of the Bible:
“In modern times, with its
psychological and therapeutic mindset, many
people tend to think of God as a loving therapist
Who is always there to listen, to understand, and
most importantly, not to judge us.
This verse reminds us that above all, the God of the
Torah is a moral judge.
He demands certain behavior, and holds people
accountable when they fail to live accordingly.”
The Bible is the greatest and most important history
book ever written, but as with history in general,
far too many in this generation are devoid of
historical perspective.
Winston Churchill sums it up in one sentence:
“Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when
action would be simple and effective, lack of clear
thinking, confusion of counsel until the
emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes
its jarring gong, these are the features which
constitute the endless repetition of history.
So what is our history lesson today?
What does the Bible say about our near future?
I’ll answer these questions, but I want to
remind you of today’s offer--The Beast of Revelation.
This free resource documents from the pages
of the Bible and from history what was predicted
hundreds and thousands of years in advance.
The Beast of Revelation began with Imperial Rome,
but it continues with one revival after another all
the way to the return of Christ.
Six of the seven revivals have already taken place, but
the seventh will affect your life and that of
your loved ones.
You need to know what is happening today in Europe
and the Middle East, and how it will impact your
life in the near future, so order your free copy of
The Beast of Revelation.
And do it today before you forget.
And when I come back after this short break, I'll
show you what this remarkable book says about
your near future.
For today’s free offer call...
Or go to...
This clear and straight-forward resource
will help you understand this vital truth--
straight from the pages of the Bible.
If you're calling for the first time, you will also
receive a free annual subscription to
Tomorrow's World magazine.
Ten inspiring issues discussing news, science,
and modern culture will help you make sense of
your world from a biblical perspective.
Call today and join millions around the world
who are turning to Tomorrow’s World for
truth, prophecy, and hope in these confusing times.
Call now!
Or go to...
In addition to being the most important history
book of all time, the Bible does something no
other book has credibly done.
It gives history in advance--what many people
think of as prophecy.
Before the break I said I would show you what this
remarkable book says about your near future, so
let’s get started.
Speaking of the end time, the time just ahead of us,
Jesus explained:
"And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will
be also in the days of the Son of Man:
They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were
given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered
the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate,
they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they
built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it
rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
Even so will it be in the
day when the Son of Man is revealed."
That's from Luke the 17th chapter.
What was it like in the days of Noah?
Here's what we read of in Genesis 6, verses 5 and 11:
"Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every intent of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually...
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth
was filled with violence."
Our day has far more in common
with the days of Lot than we could ever imagine,
even just a few years ago.
So dust off your Bible and read for yourself about
the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the
reasons for it.
The account is found in Genesis 19.
But let's also notice how God inspired the prophet
Ezekiel to write about the pride of Sodom:
"Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and
her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and
abundance of idleness; neither did
she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
And they were haughty and committed abomination
before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit."
The Bible shouts loud and
clear in chapter after chapter that destruction
is coming on our world because we have never
learned from the past.
Just as the Bible predicted in easy to
understand language, the rise and the fall of the Roman
Empire, as well as its seven revivals, so the
Bible predicted thousands of years in advance, the
rise and fall of the British and American peoples.
Our choices today will bring our downfall, just
as sure as that of Rome.
To learn more about what was predicted in advance, be
sure to order your free copy of The Beast of Revelation.
And if the phone lines are busy, wait a few minutes
and try again.
We invite you to join us every week on Tomorrow’s World.
Richard Ames, Wallace Smith, Rod McNair and I
will continue to share with you the teachings of
Jesus Christ, the good news of the coming Kingdom
of God, and the exciting end-time prophecies and
their meaning.
Join us again next week, right here, at this same time.
For today’s free offer call...
Or go to...
Call today and join millions around the world
who are turning to Tomorrow’s World for
truth, prophecy, and hope in these confusing times.
The preceding program is
produced by the Living Church of God.