Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

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