| COMING CULTURAL CHAOS AND PERSECUTION I have had, I believe, a healthy skepticism about apocalyptic prophecy since hearing of at least seven Antichrists, who were not. Books crying wolf like “Eighty Nine Reasons Christ Will Return in 1989” followed by another in 1990 have fueled my cynicism. But something is different today. I have learned to trust my spirit over the years. When my spirit says something is wrong, it usually is. Some call it a “gut feeling.” Something is up. An air of uneasiness is hovering just under the surface. The rhetoric coming out of The speed of the grab for money and power in the last six months is breathtaking. The ruinous debt will take us down one of two roads: bankruptcy or inflation. Either the government will say, “We are sorry there is no more money” or more money will be printed and become worthless. Chaos and panic are probable. When the money runs out, riots are inevitable. And marshal law will have to be declared. Freedom will die. When government fails, as it inevitably will, it will need scapegoats to take the blame. The previous administration has been the first scapegoat and there is some justification. But as time passes others will have to take the blame and the rhetoric has started. The previous pattern for scapegoating is: labeling, rhetoric, trivialization, marginalization, isolation, and elimination. The rhetoric is just beginning. We hear of “possible” enemies of the state. Ex-service men and women could be potential Timothy McVeys. Christians are bigots because they don’t want marriage redefined. “Fundamentalists” are potential terrorists. Those who attended the Tea Parties against federal spending are racists. Ditto those who want to have secure boarders. Prolife advocates are labeled single issue extremists. And on it goes. Admittedly this is just isolated talk at present, but the volume is increasing over powerful communications networks that can spread propaganda with lightening speed. Views of the state’s enemies are trivialized. “Crazy’s” in adversarial groups are called “typical” minimizing serious debate and marginalizing descent. Finally, we will hear that enemy groups have to be eliminated, for the “good and safety of the society.” This was Hitler’s “final solution” for the Jews. Pol Pot in Cambodia, Stalin in More serious is our nation’s elimination of God from the government, public squares and educational system. We have asked the God who blessed our country to leave us alone and he has withdrawn. His blessings are dissipating and his protective walls are down. This was God’s message from the 9/11 attacks. The arrogance that we can rebuild without God’s grace and blessing will destroy us. “Pride comes before a fall.” Solomon said. There is a sense that we cannot spit in God’s face much longer. We have asked him to leave and he has turned us over to ourselves and seeing the evil man can do to himself makes this prospect truly frightening. [See Romans 1] How did we get here? Just like Germany did not get to the holocaust over night, neither did America. Eleven destructive philosophies have been fed into the minds of our children for over 150 years slowly replacing God-centeredness with humanism. Our high schools and colleges have dumped millions of graduates into the culture believing a damaging, man-centered world view. The last election was a watershed proving the effectiveness of this training as over half the voters indicated they wanted more government control and handouts. This election makes it improbable that a populist revolution will change the country’s course toward European socialism and soft Marxism. It only takes a few in power to remove freedoms and control the people. What are the destructive ideas which have created a new secularist world view moving Judeo Christian principle to the side of the road? Paul warned, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men according to he basic principles of the world.” [Col. 2:8] (1) Darwinism which has undermined man’s feeling of significance and purpose and morphed into social Darwinism giving pseudo scientific justification for “super races” and “elimination” of “inferior” people. (2) Freudianism introduced the “blame game” undercutting personal responsibility and leading to scapegoating to relieve guilt. The all stars of this game are Washington politicians seen nightly on TV news, passing the buck. It is frustrating to watch, because no one wins. (3) Relativism erroneously rooted in Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, undermined the concept of absolute truth leading to moral relativism. All opinions are given equal value at the expense of truth. (4) Liberalism brought the doctrine that man is basically good and only needs environmental change to develop good character. While man is created in the image of God, giving him a certain dignity, he needs a heart-change, not just external pressures. Man’s root problem is sin and he needs a Savior. Liberalism has eliminated the need for a savior making way for the state to become the rescuer. (5) Progressivism was championed by several presidents including Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklyn Roosevelt. It added to liberalism the idea that man is getting better and better and with a few wise elites in control, we will create utopia. The massive intrusion of government regulations are justified by elitism, because only the elite “know best what to do” Utopian dreams are counterfeits of the (6) Humanism put man at the hub of the universe rather than God throwing the whole culture and human race off center. When a spinning turbine is off center, it destroys itself, and so it is with man and our culture. (7) Socialism replaced God with the state as the provider and savior of the people. The 20th century has been the century of the state rising as the provider for and controller of the human race. Its record is dismal failing in every country it has been tried. (8) Marxism brought the concept of class struggle and has lead to the use of class envy as a tool of politicians to gain votes and power. And it has worked. Hatred for the wealthy is entrenched. Ironically wealthy politicians, entertainers and environmentalists are exempted from hate, because they are on the “right side.” (9) Materialism has soaked the culture with the idea that matter and what we see is all there is. Spiritual reality is dismissed as a delusion of pitiable, uninformed people. Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” made famous the mantra “this is all there is.” Secularism has effectively silenced spiritual truth in schools and government. (10) Collectivism views man as groups, not as unique individuals, trivializing his individuality. (11) Elitism has resurrected the old Greek idea of Philosopher Kings who alone have the wisdom to direct the culture in the right ways. Pride and power motivate leaders to be in this “in group.” Most of these doctrines are overextensions of necessary legislation. Government regulation is necessary to protect citizens from exploitation. The social contract requires a level of collectivization to maintain order. Taxes must be collected to provide necessary services: police protection, fire prevention, military defense, public roads, parks, schools, etc. The problem comes when government expands to tyrannical proportions eroding liberty, creativity, and initiative. Government intervention and regulation always mean a corresponding loss of freedom. This is the price we are paying for an out-of-control government. The demand for money and power have brought the nation to the verge of bankruptcy, and future generations will carry a heavy burden and will probably not be able to handle it. This will mean chaos and collapse. Along with this steady rain of destructive philosophy a few catastrophic storms battered the culture. The Great Depression provided the crisis to institute huge New Deal socialism. Supreme Court decisions like Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion and Everson v. Board of Education creating the “wall of separation” continues to marginalize the Judeo- Christian value system and world view. The economic crisis of the past months has been used to justify massive government control. As the President’s chief of staff said, “We can’t let a good crisis go to waste.” Explosive technology and communications have made it possible to brain wash huge populations, especially in the West, with these destructive philosophies. The tyranny of the majority has spoken and the train to a welfare society cannot be stopped, because people will demand the continued flow of money. Many are familiar with this insight from Alexander Fraser Tytler, 1748-1813, who wrote in “The Decline and Fall of the From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back to bondage. Many cheer this trend. I do not. There are ominous signs pointing to the scapegoating of the new minority of Judeo-Christian citizens. What to do? Some of my friends are arming themselves, others are planning an escape, others are in a “wait and see” mentality. Some are storing up food and water. God will lead different people on different courses of action. For the past few months, I have been motivated to memorize huge chunks of Scripture in spiritual preparation for hard times. This has not been normal or natural for me so I take it as a sign that God is up to something. Saturating my mind with God’s Word, has heightened alertness to the lies and illusions of the “basic principles of the world.” Jesus advice was to be alert to false prophets and messiahs, know that hard times are part of the plan, and invest in God’s permanent kingdom that will survive the shaking. He called for endurance, alertness, humility, love, repentance and prayer. He said heaven and earth will pass away, but his Word is eternal. He said to be wise and gather your own supply of oil (spiritual light and heat) that will last the night. He said to invest the gifts you have been given to help others. (See Matthew 24 & 25) Paul said, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us.”[Rom. 8:18] |