“The abandonment of the
supernatural,” states Martin, “leaves us with a process view of life and
existence, including man. We shift from an absolutist view to a process view…
The conclusion was reached that there is nothing but change” (Martin, 2006). Process
philosophy represented a profound alteration in thinking that greatly impacted
the way we think, live, love, socialize, teach, and work today. Rather than
assuming, as most intellectuals did before the 1870s, that reality was
immutable and that God had created “an organological mature with theistic
characteristics,” process philosophy “abandoned the absolute and absolutized
the process instead” (Martin, Lecture Notes 4.1 on Worldviews
from the 1870s to the Modern Era, 2013) This shift in thinking
has infiltrated almost every area of American society, but there are two facets
of modern civilization that have been most significantly affected – the economy
and the family.
Modern economic thinking today is imbued with
process philosophy at every level. A vital component of process philosophical
thinking is evolution, and J. Potts, author and lecturer at the School of
Economics in the University of Queensland stated that “evolutionary economics
is a new scientific approach to economic analysis and one that has come of age
in the past decade or so” (Potts, 2003). But of course the most powerful
example of process philosophy’s influence on modern economics is Marx’s Communist Manifesto, the Bible of
Communism and the basis for much of America’s Fabian Socialist thinking today
(Martin, 2013). As Martin says, “Marxism presupposes that all change is
progress” (Martin, 2013). Therefore Marx’s view of the economy is that through
the natural forces of evolution, the lower classes will eventually take over
the nation’s wealth and overthrow the bourgeoisie middle class. As we have seen,
this evolutionary state of economics is a poor disguise for what is, in
reality, a planned economy managed by the state. Martin points out that in the
area of economics, process philosophy necessitates a “shift from a
market-oriented economy toward a planned economy, as the state seeks to become
the dominant force in the market, in the economy, and in the whole of society”
(Martin, 2006).
A second area of modern life that has been
greatly influenced by process philosophy is marriage and the family. According
to Patricia G. Miller of the Pittsburgh Post, “America's divorce rate is
approximately 50 percent…when you include a subgroup - those folks who have
already gone through a divorce - the rate is closer to 60 percent (Miller,
2000). Clearly something has gone wrong with the marriage relationship in our
society for the rates to be this high. Martin stated quite correctly that
“without the absolute standard of God’s Word, marriage becomes a social
contract between two presumably equal individuals” (Martin, 2013). Intimate
relationships between imperfect human beings become very difficult indeed when seen
through the eyes of a worldview, which holds that all change is good – there
are no absolutes, rules, standards, or criteria that must be upheld to maintain
such a relationship. Marriage becomes, as Martin put it, an “anarchy or
hierarchy” (Martin, 2006). He goes on to declare that if God is out of the
picture, “no basis for a presupposed equality remains,” and he questions, “On
whose terms is such a presupposed equality established? Yours? Mine? By what
standard?” (Martin, 2006). These very questions are the ones that are tearing
apart family relationships in America today, because without God, there are
simply no answers. John Gucciardi Jr. of the Milwaukee Journal states the
situation simply: “The integrity of the family is frayed today” (Gucciardi,
2001).
In conclusion, process
philosophy is an errant way of thinking that has tainted the way Americans
think, which has in turned warped our ideas about many areas of life. When it
comes to economics, Western society has adopted an evolutionary, Godless point
of view, boding ill for America’s future as a supposedly democratic,
free-market society. When it comes to marriage and the family, process
philosophy has taken away the element of “unity with diversity, liberty with
responsibility” and wrecked the relationships of many a couple who do not
understand how to make a marriage work without some sort of absolute standard
(Martin, 2013). Another shift in thinking must be made if we want our society
to keep from travelling along the path to totalitarianism and anarchy, and this
time, the shift in thinking must be from evolutionary, human-centered
philosophy to a presupposed absolute, God-centered one.
Reference:
Gucciardi,
John Jr. (2001, Apr 15). MARRIAGE. Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/261315742?accountid=12085
Martin,
Glenn R., (2006). Prevailing Worldviews
of Western Society Since 1500. Indiana: Triangle Publishing.
Martin,
Glenn R. (2013). Lecture on Worldviews
from the 1870s to the Modern Era. Personal Collection of Glenn R. Martin,
Liberty University, Lynchburg VA.
Miller,
P. G. (2000, Jan 20). AMERICA'S DIVORCE RATE IS APPROXIMATELY 50 PERCENT.
Pittsburgh Post - Gazette. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/391389122?accountid=12085
Potts,
J. (2003). Evolutionary Economics:
Foundation of Liberal Economic Philosophy. Policy, 19(1), 58-62.
