Self-worship is at the heart of all kinds of evils. Greed, lust, selfishness, fear—all are forms of self-worship … [Here's a graphic example of how self-worship works]: In Phnom Penh, a twelve-year-old girl has been sold to a brothel by her father. As a victim of her father's self-worship, she has been reduced to a solution for a desire or need that he has. She is the sacrifice to his self-worship. Every time she is raped for pay, the man raping her uses her to gratify his perverted sexual desires in an act of self-worship. The brothel owners who commoditize her flesh are worshiping self as they daily exchange her pain for their profit.

While this is most vivid in the red-light districts of Cambodia, the reality is that self-worship is at the heart of nearly every decision and every system or city that we make today. That same self-worship is at the heart of our decisions to go to porn sites and pay for the flesh of the downtrodden and oppressed, our decisions to purchase products manufactured by known violators of child labor laws, and our decisions to consume foods and beverages that come from people who receive little or nothing for their labor.

In the end, we are all Phnom Penh. We are all a part of the nightmare, and we are all unfit for the dream of God.