The first man and woman turned their backs on God. But having gained the “liberation” they wanted they now had to manage affairs as best they could. They soon discovered that their best was far from good enough. Inexperience and limited knowledge led to problems. That is why many of us have become victims of discrimination or injustice. That is why all of us have come into bondage to human imperfections, why we get sick, suffer abnormal physical and mental pain, and shed tears of sorrow. Or, why “all creation keeps on groaning together and being in pain together until now.”-Romans 8: 22. Never before have so many men wanted liberation from authority of employers and governments, so many women from the authority of husbands and fathers, and so many children from the authority of parents and teachers. Man’s first liberation attempt thus turned out to be one that enslaved him. For 60 centuries now, he has been trying to liberate himself from its bad effects. But with what success?Racial or national prejudices directly contradict the Bible truths that God “made out of one man every nation of men” and that “God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.”(Acts 17:26; 10:34, 35) For example, consider the black race. Some so-called Christians claim that black skin color is the result of a divine curse placed upon Canaan and his descendants, consigning them to a position of servitude. In this they err. The black race descended not from Canaan but from Cush and possibly Put. And no curse was placed upon either of them.Man has experimented with all kinds of government. Those oppressive or unjust, or that failed to meet the people’s immediate needs, have been discarded or even violently overthrow and replaced by others-but with dubious results. Replacing one imperfect government with another is hardly the ideal way to bring ab...
