A particular rant on a popular social website lay claim to the “ascent of man” while insulting and name calling a presidential candidate in the most profane and uncivilized manner. This seemed ironic, for in what way do we measure and lay claim to man’s ascent? By bashing someone?

I began to think about this a bit more and concluded that the ascent of man will never be measured in our species’ artistic or technological achievements. If that were so, the nation of Israel would not have a problem staging the operas of Richard Wagner. But they do have a problem because, even though Wagner’s music is lauded as a massive humanistic achievement, his anti-Semitic views expressed during his life cannot be overlooked by the Jewish state even though anti-Semitism is not readily apparent in his operas. And many times we are called to boycott someone who has expressed a certain viewpoint even though their talent or work seemingly contributes to our supposed “ascent”. Why?

Because the “ascent of man” is not really expressed in what we do with physical mediums such as marble, wood, metal, sound, film, silicon, technology or physiology. It is advanced in how we treat other human beings when we are both powerless and powerful. It is shown in how we treat others when we disagree politically, ideologically or demographically.

When I think of man’s ascent, I don’t think of marble statues, works of literature and massive operas. I think of the great manifestation of divine attributes like forgiveness, mercy, compassion, humility, sacrifice, honesty and things for which only a few people have been lauded but which each of us can exercise everyday—despite our talents or resources. Do we?

Consider these individuals that have contributed to the ascent of man even though you may not find their work in a museum or cinema:

• Nelson Mandela
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• Corrie Ten Boom
• Jesus of Nazareth
• Paul of Tarsus
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Oscar Schindler
• Amish Congregation of Nickel Mines, PA.
• Mother Theresa
• Saint Francis of Assisi
• Albert Schweitzer

So next time you feel the need to rant about Republicans, Democrats, Christians, Atheist, Wall Street protesters, Tea partiers, Michelle Bachmann, Barack Obama or anyone else and drag them through the mud with a stream of spewing vitriol, please don’t claim a role in man’s ascent. You have forfeited that alliance.

In a recent interview with John Stossel, atheist, author and magician Penn Jillette talked about his new book, “God, No!”, espousing an active moral life without the need for God, deity or divine authority in general. It sounds like a book I might read since the author stated that the tone wasn’t mocking, i.e. Christians and people of faith as I’ve come to expect from such books, but a tone of sharing in the marketplace of ideas.

During this interview, Jillette made the claim that, should you remove all the atheists from the world, 97% of the Academy of Sciences would be gone whereas only 1% of the prison population would be affected. I’m not sure about the numbers but I will support his claim that a preponderance of people in high social positions such as top scholars, top scientists, celebrities and business people are overly represented by those who call themselves atheist vs. those who would claim to be Christians or theists. I would also say that you will find the reverse in such positions in the ranks of the poor, destitute, uneducated and, yes, incarcerated.

What?!!

That’s right, I agree with Penn Jillette. People of faith are at the bottom of the social pyramid and people professing no faith or an atheist worldview are at the top—generally speaking. Ironically, this squares perfectly with the Bible and its teachings, the very thing that Jillette repudiates.

As the Bible repeatedly illustrates and how history routinely bears out, rarely is the pathway to God traveled on the same road that leads to personal riches, self actualization, fame or academic prowess. God is almost never encountered at the “top of our game” but frequently when we arrive at the “end of our rope”. Only in our inability and desperation will we beat a path to the hope and forgiveness presented to us by His Gospel, whereas on our up-and-coming we usually abandon Him entirely, inflated with our own success, education, self confidence and other forms of idolatry. Sadly, but predictably, God is the choice we make only when we’ve exhausted every other avenue: influence, money, skill, education, degrees, intellect, medicine, nutrition, philosophy, good deeds and (no kidding) religion.

Charles Colson, one time advisor to President Richard Nixon in the early 1970’s, learned this the usual way. He was the type of person Penn Jillette talked about, the 97% component that comprises the apex of society and personal achievement—that is, until he was swept away in the Watergate cover up, landing him in jail where he embraced the Gospel and converted his life forever.

If the Bible is a concoction of myths as Jillette believes, the creators certainly portrayed this phenomenon accurately when they painted the “myth” of King David. At the bottom of society, David was a shepherd boy of no influence and yet marked as the Apple of God’s Eye. After rising to power with endless successes in battle, becoming well connected, well wed, rich and dwelling in a palace as the anointed king of Israel with an everlasting covenant to boot, David started believing his own narrative, believing his own PR, believing in his own abilities …and then it starts. In one episode he had a dutiful soldier in his own army murdered so that he could cover up an adulterous affair with the soldier’s wife. Does that sound like myth-making material—or does that sound like our modern headline news? What sort of myth is this where the heroes are curiously identical to the tragedies of today: Tiger Woods, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Anthony Weiner, Eliot Spitzer, Bernard Madoff, Bernie Ebbers and the countless fallen who once comprised that 97% of society’s cream.

Penn Jillette, self described as a a “puritanical atheist”, is smart, moral, sincere, and hysterical; I had the privilege of seeing his show at Ford’s Theatre centuries ago. And I agree with him that we won’t often find God in the great halls of the academy, the hills of Hollywood and the high offices of power. No, we will often find Him in want, in need, hungry, thirsty, sick and in prison. Perhaps if Penn Jillette had re-read Jesus’ description found in Mathew 25:34-36 he might be surprised just how much his world view correlates with scripture.