Mark Steyn addressed a Hillsdale College audience recently with a speech titled, “Our Increasingly Unrecognizable Civilization.” Steyn’s thesis is that the progressive agenda that has swept our nation is turning America into a place that is far removed from the basic elements which define America’s exceptionalism. I would encourage you to follow the link and read the entire speech, but I will summarize and bring a Christian perspective on it here.
Civilizations have traditionally been defined by borders,
language and culture. To a large extent, borders have become less predominant
in our global, wired existence. Domestic and commercial relationships can
flourish across national borders without much difficulty in most cases (not with
China, North Korea or Iran, for example). In spite of this globalism, there is
a need for physical borders if our country is to remain economically viable. As
I pointed out years ago in “Man the
Lifeboats,” we cannot continue to allow numberless poor, uneducated,
virtually unemployable people to enter our country and provide them with
education, healthcare, and financial assistance. At some point, a point fast
approaching, we will run out of the means to provide even for our citizens, let
alone hordes of illegals.
The issue of language has two faces. First, words are the
bricks with which we build the philosophies and principles that form the
foundation of society. I have studied several languages, and I know that it is
often difficult to find exactly the right word in one language to express the
thought of another. An immigrant without a full grasp of English will often
have trouble gaining a complete appreciation for the nuances of complex
thoughts. As James Michener rightly observed in his historical novel, Mexico,
for example, “truth for a Mexican and for an American almost always differed.” On
a simpler level, the history and literature of America is written primarily in
English, and as culture is formed on the basis of shared history and literature,
illiterate immigrants will never understand what America stands for without understanding
English.
The second face of the language issue regards the way the
progressives have chosen to rename things so that the underlying difficulties
are hidden. One example from several years ago is the pressure by some to
rename illegal immigrants “undocumented aliens.” The apparent intent was to
cloud the fact that these people are lawbreakers. Steyn points to another insidious
rebranding currently in vogue. The Left refers to the practice of allowing
illegals, non-citizen to vote as “counting every vote.” To oppose this, according
to the Left, is to be against counting every vote. Another subtle change I have
noticed is the constant reference to gender identity as a replacement reference
for homosexual proclivity. If everyone chooses a gender preference, all
relationships will have a “male” and “female” partner and homosexuality is
erased. This has further led to the idiocy of the transgender rights farce
playing out in restrooms, locker rooms and sports arenas world-wide.
I have already hinted at the damage being done to our
culture. As I said, history and literature are elemental to a nation’s identity.
In today’s wild WOKE revolution, fairy tales are being banned and statues are
being toppled across the country. If this progressive agenda is allowed to
continue, the next generation of Americans will have no idea who they are or
where they have come from. In some cases, it is good to forget the past and
look to a better future. In the case of an entire culture however, it rings the
death knell. It may seem trite or cliched to repeat, but it has never been more
true: those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it. The reverse
discrimination of critical race theory is dancing dangerously close to creating
another Jim Crow-type society where color dictates privilege. Banning any
literature that is deemed inappropriate by someone will impoverish everyone.
Surely this cannot be a good thing for America.
As Christians, we must regard culture as an element to be protected
and preserved. Religion is a core component of culture as it is reflected in
all areas of life. Not only in matters of morality, but in forms of government and
societal structures (such as family), religion is the key player. A thoroughly
biblical lifestyle informs every aspect of culture. Today’s progressives know
this better than many Christians; the direction politics and society are headed
is toward suppression of Christianity. Christians can survive without the
America we once knew, but America will not survive as we knew it without
determined action by Christians. The blessing of living in a representative
democracy is that the people have a say in what the government does. Unless
Christians and other like-minded conservative voters stand up and fight, we
will end up with a country like China where Christians are imprisoned, tortured
and executed for their faith.
So certainly, believers must exercise their privilege, their
duty to vote and do anything else that is within their power. But more
important, believers must pray diligently that God will keep America from the worst
that might happen. The best way to bring about the kind of change that will heal
America is to pray and work for revival. Every Christian should be on the
lookout for opportunities to witness to the truth and rescue souls from the
enemy. This is why we are here and not transported immediately to heaven upon
conversion. This is keeping the main thing the main thing. Let’s get to it.
Related posts: America
Held Captive; How
Can They Think That?; Don’t be a
Moron
Good one!
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree that Christians should pray diligently that God will keep America from the worst that might happen.
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