A brief overview of history might help resolve the quest-ion.According to the Bible, the originally created set of human beings were given the same choice: obedience or death.Because they chose disobedience, they died spiritually and started to die physically. [Note: had God not allowed for this possibility of disobedience, man-kind would be no different than animals - not really possessing the freedom to love or reject their creator].Since that time, the history of humanity has been a history of continual conflict and bloodshed.This is not to say that mankind has not achieved magnificent artistic and intellectual accomplishments over the years, or that there are not isolated examples of sacrificial love and kindness.However, to deny the savagery which our race is obviously capable of is to deny reality.In just the last 150 years "modern man" has been capable of these atrocities:

• Six hundred thousand killed during the American Civil War because of the desire for wealth based on slavery.
• The murder of approximately 60 million people under the last 70 years of Communist oppression.
• The murder of 6 million Jews due to Nazi prejudice.
• Multiple millions of deaths from starvation due to the Hindu religious caste system. There are enough cows to end this starvation but they are considered sacred as human life.
• The death of a hundred million unborn children worldwide from abortion. The vast majority were disposed of because their births would have been an inconvenience.

Many other examples of the cruel side of humanity could be cited.The overall picture is not a pretty one. Whenever the absolute values based on the teaching of the Bible are removed or ignored...some other person, religious system, or political system will move in to fill the void.

Returning to the dilemma raised in The Day the Earth Stood Still, history shows a consistent answer to how humanity would respond to such a challenge - man has always crossed the line.

Individually, and as a society, we are capable of incredible accomplishments and charitable acts. This is the side of humanity on which we prefer to concentrate. The reality of human history is that humans are rebellious. What force has historically been able to briefly hold sinners in check? I believe only three are apparent:

1. Brute force as in the case of Communism, Fascism, Marxism, and to a lesser degree, socialism.
2. Rigid religious systems with stiff social penalties for disobedience such as is found in Buddhist, Hindu, or Moslem countries.
3. The freedom and liberty which comes with acknowledging the Christian absolutes as reality.