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Atheism versus Christianity

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Mark Erichsen

The following papers were written for the “Dangerous Books” elective, similar to the selections presented in issue seventeen.  The two main books read this quarter were On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche and selections from Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, which we will continue into fourth quarter.

When one talks about religion and the creation of the world, two of the most common views brought up are Christianity and Atheism involved with Darwinism. Christianity is rooted in history (back to the B.C. era) with one of the most reliable sources in history, The Bible, while Atheism also arose in the B.C. era and became even more popular than it already was with the publishing of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Christianity revolves around the belief of intelligent design and the governance of a one true deity; and Atheism is the belief in no such deity at all, with evolution being the basis for creation.

The question here is would the world be better off if Atheism dominated cultural and intellectual life? For further clarification of the question Atheism will be compared to a world dominated by Christianity and most comparisons made will refer to the population of the United States of America. As stated before Atheism is the belief in the absence of any ruling deity(-ies). One of Atheism’s biggest tenets is the belief in Darwinism, a view in which all life as we know it today evolved from a single, single-celled organism up to fully sentient humans. The problem with those who accept Atheism is they lack the belief in the Christian God, and along with the belief in the Christian God comes the understanding of intelligent design, morals, and a deeper understanding of Creation.

The biggest problem is the lack of morals. Those who do not identify as being affiliated with religion tend to make their own sets of morals or usually just fit in with whatever is popular. Of course there are Atheists who hold themselves to their own moral standard based off of personal experience and strive to live a good life by doing good works and treating others as themselves; but what it comes down to is an overall lack of morals in today’s culture. This is attributed to the lack of and adherence to religion in the United States. In 2014, a survey was conducted and about seventy percent of America’s population identified themselves as Christian. However this does not take into account the “annual Church attendees.” The sad thing is the percent of real, dedicated Christians that regularly attend Church and live a Godly lifestyle is far lower than seventy percent.

Many families and individuals identify as Christian but only go to Church twice a year: Christmas and Easter. Their actual adherence to Christian beliefs and values are subpar also. This percentage of fake Christians and the twenty percent “unaffiliated” group probably make up at least over half of America’s population. Along with this comes the destructive fundamentals of today’s culture. The basics of today’s culture include sleeping around as much as one wants (with little to no commitment), living life believing you have no consequences for your actions, and making you the center of your own universe. In the past five to six years these views have become more and more popular up to the point where our country’s government has been corrupted and is beginning to make all the wrong decisions.

This can only get worse and with the population shifting more and more to an Atheistic point of view, one can only imagine what might happen if the world was dominated by America’s culture (and where America’s future is headed). The world would not be better off if an Atheistic point of view dominated intellectual and cultural life. Once again, this can be attributed to the ever-present Atheistic belief in America. Now, if Christianity were the dominating religion in the world, let alone America, things would be much different. Despite seventy percent of Americans identifying themselves as Christian, Christianity is clearly not the dominated religion/belief.

Despite culture’s morals and values being completely different, more valuable works would be produced. Now there are plenty of books and movies made in this day and age that will surely stand the test of time, but if Christianity dominated, Christian thought would also dominate. For example, there would most likely be more apologists, and critical thinkers would be pumping out books left and right analyzing different religions and viewpoints. Overall, the arts would flourish.

Alongside this, America’s original and intended values would not be skewered and misinterpreted; they would be protected. After all, America was founded as a one true nation under God. The fundamentals of popular culture would look more along the lines of making it one’s goal to live and imitate a life Christ led. Paul, a mouthpiece of Christ and the greatest missionary who ever lived, says in Ephesians 4:1-3, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Christ instructs us to live a Godly life, and be the best examples of Him we can be. Peter, another mouthpiece of God, says in 2 Peter 3:17-18, “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lost your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him Be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

Alexander Fleming and the Importance of Penicillin

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Mark Erichsen

Throughout American history have been various groundbreaking advances in medicinal technology and treatment, one of them being the discovery of a certain mold named Penicillin.  Alexander Fleming was the first in his field of Bacteriology to discover the potential benefits mold could have in fighting infections.  Through his constant research, Alexander Fleming changed the way of American life and inspired many scientists such as Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and Norman Heatley to follow in his footsteps.

Alexander Fleming was born in the small town of Lochfield, in Ayrshire, Scotland on August 6th, 1881.  During his youth, he attended many different primary schools such as Louden Moor, Darvel Academy, and Kilmarnock Academy.  Before officially starting the brunt of his schooling and research at Saint Mary’s Medical School, he worked for four years at a small post office in London.  After finishing his schooling in 1906, he began his research in bacteria and its natural effects on the human body under Sir Almroth Wright.  Around the year 1914, he served as a Captain of the Medical Corps in the army during World War I.  He returned to Saint Mary’s Medical School in 1918 to resume his studies, and the rest is history.  Alexander Fleming passed away on March 11th, 1955 and was buried in Saint Paul’s Cathedral.

During Alexander Fleming’s work on the influenza virus and vaccine in 1928, he made an accidental discovery.  On a discarded petri dish of a bacteria called staphylococcus, he noticed a circle of mold forming; however, he could tell something was different about it.  Throughout Alexander Fleming’s work experience and research, he had always seen different colonies of bacteria and mold grow together.  So, when he saw a small green circle of mold with a bacteria-free circle around it, he realized he might have stumbled across something he could not take for granted.  He was then inspired by the experiment and started a continuous study on the mold he had found in his abandoned petri dish.  He soon discovered a concentrated mold culture of this “mystery organism” could withstand and kill bacteria such as staphylococcus even after being diluted up to eight hundred times.  After further research and study, he named this “mystery organism” Penicillin.  The reason why Penicillin killed other harmful bacteria was it released an antibacterial agent called Bellis.

Keeping Penicillin in mind, he continued older research on bacteria in the blood and tissue of animals and humans.  After testing Penicillin in animal tissues, he saw it was non-toxic and could possibly be used on human subjects.  After various theories and hypotheses, he turned the mold Penicillin into a wonder drug that could kill different types of disease carrying/causing bacteria in the human body.  In the year 1929, Alexander Fleming published his findings and said if produced in mass quantities, Penicillin could have the potential to save countless lives in the medical field.

As mentioned before, three scientists named Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and Norman Heatley stepped onto the scene.  Almost ten years later, in 1938 at Oxford University in London, all three scientists began to study Alexander Fleming’s work in earnest.  The three of them began to expand on Fleming’s work.  They understood Penicillin in mass quantities had the potential to save millions of lives, so they began work on how to properly cultivate and grow mass colonies of the wonder drug.  The only problem was Penicillin was extremely costly to produce in mass quantities, and the three scientists had no way of acquiring factory resources in order to manufacture it.  This is where war stepped in.  By the time Florey, Chain, and Heatley’s research began to show real promising results, World War II had begun.  Because of World War II, much of England’s governmental and industrial resources were drained.  However, the devastation World War II caused also sparked an interest in the United States in the wonder drug Penicillin.

Scientists, along with generals in the Army and the United States Congress, finally saw the potential life-saving benefits Penicillin could procure.  No one wanted a repeat of World War I, where soldiers would survive their wounds but perish due to bacterial infection and illness such as Pneumonia.  In 1941, Florey, Chain, and Heatley’s research was moved to the United States for more funding and project flexibility.  The research continued, but the over-arching problem of inefficient production still loomed over the heads of the many scientists involved.

Florey, Chain, Heatley and their team of scientists were now in a race against time to efficiently produce the drug before more soldiers died on the battlefield.  Finally in late 1941, Florey, Chain, Heatley and their team were able to dramatically increase the production rate and yield of Penicillin.  In 1943, the clinical trials needed were finally able to be administered.  After the trials, Penicillin became the most effective anti-bacterial agent in history.  Production of Penicillin skyrocketed, and soon after enough Penicillin was produced to treat all the soldiers involved in D-Day.  At the end of the year, so much Penicillin was produced hospitals were able to treat over seven million patients per year, and the wonder drug was still being made.  It soon became so accessible and widely used the price per dosage of Penicillin went from twenty dollars down to only fifty-five cents.

Thanks to Alexander Fleming and his groundbreaking research and the accidental discovery of the wonder drug Penicillin, the field of medical treatment, and more importantly the world, changed for the better.  The impact of Penicillin was most greatly experienced during World War I and World War II.  In World War I, millions of soldiers died from infection and Pneumonia.  It was one of the greatest killers of the war, but after Penicillin’s administration, the death rate of soldiers from Pneumonia dropped from about eighteen percent down to below one percent.  Because of his research, Fleming was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 1945.  His work greatly impacted American healthcare and changed the American way of life for the better.

Bibliography

Coffey, Alaina.  “20th Century Medical Advancements & American History.” Blogspot. Web. 03 October 2015.

Nobel Media. Nobelprize.org. 2015. Nobel Media. Web. 03 October 2015.