[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

A New Age of Idolatry

Many believe that the age of religion and superstition is over—that mankind has finally moved past its days of worshipping gods, lists of commandments, and condemnations of sin.

They would be wrong. Welcome to the world of “New Gods” and “New Sins”—a world we’ll explore on Tomorrow’s World, right now!

Religious Devotion to Secular Causes

Greetings and welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we help you make sense of the world through the pages of your Bible. We’re delighted you’re here.

In this episode, we’re going to discuss the world of “New Gods” and “New Sins” that surrounds us today. We’re also going to offer you one of the most powerful and relevant DVDs I believe we have ever sent to our viewers: “A World Gone Mad.” As always, this DVD is completely free for the asking. Watch your screen for the details you need to get your DVD.

Now it might sound strange to speak of “New Gods” and please don’t misunderstand me. What Jesus Christ told His disciples on that Passover evening 2,000 years ago is still true today: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

But the more you examine the world around you, increasingly you see a wilderness of new religions growing up like weeds. These aren’t the traditional religions of the past, focused on the ancient gods of, say, the Greeks, or the Egyptians, or Norse mythology. Yet, their followers are every bit as fiercely passionate as those ancient pagans may have been. And their devotion to their deities every bit as complete.

The sort of “gods” we’ll discuss today are reflected in the words God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel in his condemnation of ancient Israel—a condemnation that rings just as true today. Ezekiel wrote, “And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity…’” (Ezekiel 14:2–3).

“They have set up IDOLS IN THEIR HEARTS.” It’s easy to think of idols as statues of stone or gold—or even as engravings, icons, and other artwork. And such items often DO violate the Second of the Ten Commandments, to be sure!

Yet God reveals here that idol worship goes FAR BEYOND what we create with our hands! Man is particularly adept at creating idols in his HEART—false gods, to which he devotes himself religiously, submitting his mind, his actions, his morals, and his conscience.

And, my friends, today we are living in a virtual PANTHEON of idols of the heart: POLITICAL PHILOSOPHIES, SOCIAL CAUSES, IDENTITY ISSUES, NEW WORLDVIEWS… the world around us represents a growing collection of “New Gods,” ready for you to become their follower—and ready with lists of enlightened “New Doctrines,” “New Dogmas,” and “New Sins” for you to agree with and embrace as your own.

More than that—the followers of these “New Gods” are increasingly ready to wield power to FORCE belief in their faith upon the world and ready to PUNISH those who will not fall into line.

Unlike biblical Christianity, which from the beginning sought to win people’s hearts and minds through sound words and good example, the acolytes of these “New Gods” are more like what is seen in the apostate Christianity that followed: willing to do whatever it takes to forcibly compel either confession or compliance.

Whether it is the power of the courtroom, the power of the legislature, the power of the markets, or the power of the media, the faithful acolytes of these “New Gods” seek to punish anyone who dares defy the faith to which they have devoted themselves so fully.

In a moment, we’ll begin our look at several of these “New Gods”—including one that, I freely admit, truly breaks my heart.

Scientific and Environmentalist Fanaticism

Let’s take a look at some of the philosophies, worldviews, and mindsets of man that have been elevated to the status of “godhood” in our society today.

The first we’ll consider is SCIENCE. This one breaks my heart because I love science. Proverbs 25:2 tells us, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter,” and, to me, the practice of science demonstrates one of the best examples of searching out a matter.

Through the scientific method, human life has been greatly enhanced, and many sources of human disease, discomfort, and distress have been addressed. We’ve learned some of the secrets of the universe, and our understanding of our world is richer for it.

Yet science isn’t God. It doesn’t tell us right from wrong. The theories and experiments that revealed the secrets of the subatomic world also allowed us to build the weapons that would devastate Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, killing thousands.

No matter. When one is kicking God out of civilization, something has to take His place, and those who don’t understand the limitations of science (or don’t care) are happy to build altars to its name and declare it one of the “New Gods.” And like any other god, the religion its worshippers create has its orthodoxies, dogmas, and sins. As if invoking the name of their God, people seek to win arguments by claiming they have the “SCIENCE” on their side—regardless of whether, in reality, scientific studies give support to the other position, too.

Scientists are treated like priests, delivering the word of God—and the view of the majority of scientists is considered canonical truth, such that those who dare to DISAGREE with that canon are considered heretics to be “burned at the stake”—even if they are scientists, themselves.

Think that is harsh? Real-life experience says otherwise. The website “Free Science” lists the names of several scientists who have experienced virtual excommunication for their willingness to dissent from the dogma of evolution. They have faced the loss of positions, the loss of jobs, investigations by their departments, cancelation of their courses… In one case, that of double-PhD biologist Richard Sternberg, even the United States Office of Special Counsel concluded in its investigation, “It is… clear that a hostile work environment was created with the ultimate goal of forcing you out of the SI [that is the Smithsonian Institute]” (“Richard Sternberg,” Free Science, FreeScience.today). All because he had allowed a peer-reviewed paper, sympathetic to evidence of design in life instead of evolution, to be published in a science journal.

Because when Science is elevated to the status of false god, even a hint of disagreeing with evolution is a heresy, and heresy is not to be tolerated.

Another “New God” that many lump in with Science—though not at all exactly the same—is the “New God” of CLIMATE CHANGE.

And let me be up front. It makes good sense to be good stewards of the earth. Man wasn’t made for the earth, but the earth was made for man, and it makes sense to wisely manage our resources. And I’m not here to argue about whether global climate is actually changing, or whether mankind is the chief cause of that change.

Those things are beside the point, because once Climate Change has been elevated to the status of “godhood,” all things are thrown out of perspective. No other good matters next to serving the divine desires of Climate Change, and moral good and evil become determined by nothing more than their environmental impact.

Destroy a nation’s productive capacity, economic systems, and social structures to achieve a Green New Deal and save the environment. No problem. For the “New God” of Climate Change, the ultimate moral good is caring about the earth—or at least APPEARING TO OTHERS as though you care about the earth.

Political science professor Michael Munger made this point in a 2019 article for the American Institute for Economic Research. Upon giving a presentation at a recycling conference about how recycling glass is actually bad for the environment, given the pollution involved, the carbon costs, expense, etc., he expected pushback from the attendees, all of whom were die-hard recyclers. What he received, instead, surprised him. He writes:

One fellow was perfectly forthcoming: “Oh, we all know it makes no sense to recycle glass. The economic case is easy. But people should still recycle, because it’s simply the right thing to do. IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACTUAL ENVIRONMENT. It’s about enlisting people to care about the SYMBOL of the environment. Overall, recycling is still worth doing, regardless of its effects.”

A young woman piped up: “It’s okay to say that sort of thing here, because we are insiders. But it’s better not to talk about the economics of things to the general public. We need to help TRAIN THEM to care about the environment, and recycling is one of the best ways to do that.”…

The message I had worried about, and expected to be controversial, was old hat to the industry folks. But it was beside the point, because recycling was for them a MORAL imperative. Once you begin to think of recycling as a symbol of RELIGIOUS DEVOTION rather than a pragmatic solution to environmental problems, the whole thing makes more sense (“For Most Things, Recycling Harms the Environment,” American Institute for Economic Research, AIER.org, August 14, 2019).

Going meatless because you are concerned about the cattle industry’s impact on global warming, deciding not to have children so as to reduce humanity’s “carbon footprint”—such steps are small prices to pay to ensure one satisfies the demands of the “New God” of Climate Change. But eat a burger, have a large family, or fail to recycle that soda bottle, and be prepared to be called out as a “sinner.”

Sexual Immorality and Even Thought Control

We’ve examined two of the “New Gods” of the modern age. Our next “New God” is SEXUAL ANARCHY.

When it comes to sex, the biblical model is simple: Humanity was created male and female, categories obvious in their biology. And they were created for each other, so that when man and woman committed to each other before God in marriage, then the benefits of marriage were available to them, including sexual intimacy and the children that would follow.

Yet, the “New God” of Sexual Anarchy dictates that sexuality and sexual nature is not bound by any rules, or constraints, or natural laws, at all.

In the eyes of devotees of this “New God,” the list of sins is long and detailed, but they can be summarized fairly simply: Anyone claiming to believe in biblical concepts of gender, sexuality, and marriage is to be labeled, at best, a prude, and at worst, a bigot. Such ideas are considered far too “restrictive” by the worshipers of Sexual Anarchy. And as the word “anarchy” implies, everything is up for grabs.

Sex is no longer confined to marriage. And marriage itself has been redefined to include any two people, regardless of their gender. In fact, even gender has been redefined—no longer correlating to the two sexes, male and female, but freed to move fluidly along a spectrum of possibilities—a spectrum without rules, constraints, or boundaries.

Each year, many children are sacrificed to this “New God” of Sexual Anarchy. Children not considered old enough to vote, serve in the military, or drive a car, are allowed to make fundamental and far-reaching decisions about changing their gender that will change their lives forever.

Even the courts have recently recognized at least some of the problems in such a position. On December 1, 2020, the BBC reported on a case brought against the UK’s National Health Service by several individuals, including a young woman who had been prescribed hormone blockers as a teenager to help her irreversibly prevent puberty, in line with her then-desire to be a male. The claimants won the case, arguing that children simply do not have the capacity to make decisions like that. In the words of one of the judges, “It is highly unlikely that a child aged 13 or under would be competent to give consent to the administration of puberty blockers. It is doubtful that a child aged 14 or 15 could understand and weigh the long-term risks and consequences of the administration of puberty blockers”.

But don’t expect the true believers in Sexual Anarchy to abandon their faith after one small setback. They will continue to seek to punish those individuals who believe biblical sexuality and morality is best for society—and sacrifices will continue to be made, as they march their faith forward.

In fact, faith in the “New God” of Sexual Anarchy is only one sect in a host of “New Religions” that fall under a broader “New God”—much like the gods of Ancient Greece were under Zeus, or the gods of the Romans under Jupiter. This larger “New God” could be dubbed SOCIAL REVOLUTION.

Part of the power of this “New God” is its ability to be cast in the image of the worshipper. If you believe sexual and gender norms are the Great Satan preventing society from progressing, then Revolution centers around that. If you’re a women’s studies major at an Ivy League university and believe that the world won’t be safe until the Patriarchy is destroyed, then the “New God” of Social Revolution is prepared to bless your cause. If you believe capitalism is the real bane of society, no matter how many lives it has helped, then the God of Social Revolution is ready with placards, signs, and even Molotov cocktails to help you press for socialism, communism, or even anarchy, if you prefer. And if the dream of Martin Luther King Jr., that his children would be judged by the content of their character instead of the color of their skin, seems “not quite enough,” then the god of Social Revolution is ready to arm you with Critical Race Theory—arming you for battle on social media and indoctrination in schools and workplaces.

“New Gods” bring “New Sins,” and for the god of Social Revolution, the greatest sin is increasingly ThoughtCrime, taken right out of the pages of George Orwell’s 1984. Those who think differently than the worshippers of Social Revolution must be canceled, sanctioned, and publicly disavowed. University professors are threatened with job loss, prestigious and successful writers, such as J.K. Rowling, are threatened with boycotts, and other media figures find their livelihoods endangered by discoveries of past Tweets or comments to the media, as Inquisitions examine every public statement to ensure their thinking is pure. Sometimes, after paying penance through very public apologies or social media posts in which they recant their former positions and declare fidelity to the new faith, individuals may be forgiven—though they tend to remain tainted.

The “sin” of wrong thinking is simply not to be tolerated.

Freedom from Sin?

Welcome back.

In a sense, these “New Gods” act more like the “Old Gods” of ancient mythology than they might seem. Like the stories of the Greek gods bickering back and forth in jealousy and spite, these false gods do the same from time to time. For instance, scientific studies that disagree with the conclusions of sexual anarchists are deemed hateful and inaccurate—not on factual grounds, but ideological. And even within the individual faiths generated by these “New Gods,” there is internal strife and conflict. Some of the most passionate and ugly debate that you will find on the Internet takes place between feminists and gender-identity advocates.

But, these “New Gods” are older than they appear for far deeper reasons. Each of them is simply a manifestation of a very different sort of false god, one who has reigned here on earth for quite some time: Satan the Devil.

Referring to him as “the god of this age”—or, in the King James, “the god of this world”—the Apostle Paul explains how Satan uses tactics like these false gods and idols of the heart to distract people from the truth that the REAL GOD OF THE BIBLE would have them understand;

“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do nnot believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:3–4).

Since the devil enticed Eve to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and gave to her husband to eat with her, mankind has trusted in his own philosophies, systems of government, and explorations of the world around him instead of the God who made him and who has a purpose for him. These “New Gods” are simply the latest in a long line of manifestations of a deceived mankind’s misplaced trust in his own foolishness.

But, thankfully, God has not abandoned us to our foolishness.

He will send Jesus Christ back to this earth, to restore all things and to usher in the Kingdom of God, the only true hope for humanity. In the light of that Kingdom, the “New Gods” will be judged, just as the gods of Egypt were when the Almighty freed the children of Israel.

Science will be returned to its natural place, as a tool for exploring the creation. Sexual anarchy will be replaced by peace of mind by the one who created sex. The environment will be healed, and mankind will be taught balanced ways of maintaining it for the good of humanity. And the ultimate social revolution will have taken place—all of society will look to God for His guidance, wisdom, and love.

May Christ soon return and save us from the day of “New Gods” by pointing the world to the True One.