How to Lose a Country and Culture

More Amusement, Less Moral Certitude

Two books written near the end of the last millennium have a message that Americans, especially American Christians, need to hear. The first is AmusingOurselves to Death: Public Discourse in an Age of Show Business, written by Neil Postman. The second is The New Absolutes: HowThey Are Being Imposed on Us How They Are Eroding Our MoralLandscape, by William D. Watkins. The former warns of the risk of preoccupation with various kinds of self-absorbing entertainments and the like, while the latter warns of a redefinition of morality, often introduced as amorality, that is meant to replace the Judeo-Christian values that have anchored and defined Western Civilization and the very heart of the United States, both government and culture.

Before I continue, let's engage in a little exercise. I'm going to make a quick list of concerns that arise in the political area, to a great extent because people with an ideological agenda have begun to use the election and governmental processes to implement cultural change, to take us away from the Judeo-Christian foundations created by our founders and fore-fathers. Western civilization civilization is under attack everywhere it exists. One large piece of that assault is illegal immigration. In many places, the influx of Muslims has created numerous problems up to and including violence and terrorism. Its disrespect for women has led to rape and honor killings. Enclaves of such immigrants are so difficult that, in some places, even the police will not go into them.  On top of this, we have far too many people coming without permission and without English, creating perpetual outsiders; we have violent drug gangs and drug smuggling worsening our opioid epidemic; and we have human trafficking of women and children for sex, all being fostered by a political party willing to allow such evils for votes.

In the United States we now have a growing problem with antisemitic Muslims elected to Congress openly proclaiming their views. Communities of mostly Muslim residents live, not under American law and the U. S. Constitution, but Sharia law, which is often in opposition to them. The current denial by the Left and its mouthpieces in the propaganda media of the border crisis is a nearly open secret regarding their goal of turning more states blue. Drug smuggling, violent gangs, sex trafficking, along with smuggling aliens into the country are a much hoped for electoral boon for them, but they are a disaster looming in our all too near future.

Now before I continue my list, let me show you where I'm going. I don't know if we have time to stop this disaster waiting to happen. Those coming have been indoctrinated into how to game our system of immigration, sanctuary claims, and law enforcement, with the open support of the Left who are doing all they can to prevent correction or constructive change. And, please, don't be fooled by their idealistic sounding talk of socialism. They are elitists who expect to be safe, wealthy, powerful, and protected from the problems they're working so hard to create. Most if not all of the Democrats, at this point, don't care about any to whom they promise utopia. That's why it's hard to be hopeful about the future, so far as it relates to the political system, elections, and the handful of leaders who understand the problem. We have plenty of so-called conservatives who are also elitists, who lie, who say the right things, then fail to do them. Politics and elections may yet manage to save our culture, heritage, and way of life, but we Christians dare not put our faith in them. Not only may they fail, but that is not where our faith and works belong in the first place.

Brothers and sisters, we have a primary duty that too many of us ignore and that even the committed may be going about in the wrong way. For the sake of our amusements and deceived by distorted values, we have often been silent or silenced, led into ineffective means, or simply kept preoccupied by games of no lasting, let alone eternal value. We know what God wants us to do. “Wherever you go, make disciples.” “Don't be conformed to this world...be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” “As I have loved you, love one another...that the whole world will know you are my disciples.” This is not something we pay experts to do; even the finest evangelists cannot overcome the poor reputation of God's people. No one can take your place in demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ to a lost world.  No small handful of committed disciples can replace a energized and loving Church!

The added blessing is that we can win earthly engagements to preserve and restore the cultural influence of God's grace and love, whether those engagements are large or small. While I don't believe it is our duty to “bring in the kingdom” to this world—God in the end will do that—I do believe we have a duty to influence our communities with wisdom and the God-given values that are best for human living. After all, if we truly believe God has revealed ultimately “true” truth, then we must see that his wisdom, commands, and direction are what he knows, as Creator, to be best for his greatest, most beloved creation, humankind.

As to amusements and absolutes, we must not allow ourselves to be led astray by either. Modern technology has gone well beyond simple television as a distraction, with computers, the Internet, smart phones, social networking, and a seemingly endless variety of games. Some will immerse themselves so deeply in games that they neglect even the most basic of bodily and social necessities. We have virtually limitless opportunity for social interaction, and yet many are socially isolated, neglecting real personal involvement for the illusion of electronic connections. Television, cable, and the Internet offer an almost limitless potential for viewing shows, movies, sports, and ironically “real” lives for a kind of voyeuristic entertainment. Beyond amusement, the degrading of morality in all these media has allowed the acceptance of the most obscene sorts of pornography.

So it is not surprising that our commitment to traditional values and Biblical morality has slipped, to say nothing of the moral attacks that have increased over the last several decades. As unpleasant and harmful as the degradation of sexual values, the destruction of the normalcy of truth and honesty is much worse. Without truth, there is virtually no trust, trustworthiness, or faithfulness, which are the cement of relationships, along with genuine caring and compassionate love. Add to that our loss of the value of life itself, based first on abortion of the unborn and now newly born, and we are headed back to the very paganism that the escape from which created Western civilization.

We face a triple threat. First are the amusements that distract many from even noticing what we are fast losing, including not only our culture and history, but our very freedom and prosperity. Then second is the erosion of our personal morality by the normalizing of evil; sex is not entertainment but the most precious and intimate of personal connection, two becoming one flesh in faithful, lifetime union. Along with sex are many other of our most basic values. Finally, there is the growing threat of persecution to remove, if possible, the final bits of moral integrity and worth.

We have an important, necessary, and indeed urgent job to do. We must become influencers, working kindly and persistently to counter these forces of cultural erosion. We dare not be complacent. Our commission to share the Gospel and the love of Jesus Christ require this as well. In this strategy of the devil, it can be nearly impossible to demonstrate the need for Christ without making a case for virtue and holiness. We may not feel a duty to our nation and heritage, fully grounded historically in a Christian worldview, but we do have a mandate from God and a commission to love our neighbors that requires the same sort of influence. The benefit is that our communities will benefit even as we fulfill our spiritual task of reaching out to our neighbors.

Permit me to add this:  God doesn't need us to be social or political critics, sitting on the sidelines, loudly affirming our opinions.  Those kinds of words often cover a simple pride that alienates more than attracts.  I have lots of opinions, but too many of us express them in ways that drive people away or leave them untroubled in their own.  Our task is to win them over.  The truth is beautiful, loving, redemptive, and uplifting, and that is what people need to hear, see, read, and experience.  Who us is likely to share that truth, if not us?  Share, not argue, not debate, not with fighting words!  I haven't mentioned yet another barrier to a inspired and motivated Church:  God doesn't need smug, comfortable Christians, doing nothing while they wait for Armageddon either.  That's the last thing I want to be caught doing when the Lord returns, engaging in self-righteous, superficial holiness!