I was listening to Glenn Beck on the radio talking about how atheism is advancing throughout the culture. Of course, there have been atheists (those who refuse to believe in God) and agnostics (those who aren't sure) with us always, but until the past century or so, the vast majority of peoples and cultures believed in some sort of theism, whether one God or many gods. It appears, however, that atheists in large numbers have sensed that this is their moment, their time to "seize the day". Although I believe that many, if not most, atheists are the quiet, live-and-let-live sort that most Christians have gotten along with, it is the activists -- or dare I call them 'true believers' -- that present the most danger to our culture, our nation, and our (Christians, in particular) very lives and freedoms.
Our form of government -- history revisionists aside -- was fought for, bled for and written by men who were steeped in the Protestant version of the Holy Bible, as were the majority of colonists at the time. Although there were non-believers in this country at the time, they were a severe minority. Keep in mind that the first Congress had authorized the purchase of Bibles and the hring of chaplains, conducted church services at the capital and funded grammar school primers based on the Bible. The form of government begun those steamy days in Philadelphia was utterly dependent on a biblical view of life. That way of life meant working hard for what you wanted ( 1 Timothy 5:8, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12, Proverbs 6:6-11), giving God the respect He deserves, and treating others with the same respect you wanted to be treated (Exodus 20:1-20). Although most of the Founders stated in their writings our dependence on God for the survival of the nation, few were quite so on-point as John Adams. Among his many quotes along this line, one stands out to me as a powerful indictment of man without God and an indictment of our own society today:
"We see every day that our imaginations are so strong and our reason so weak, the charms of wealth and power are so enchanting, and the belief of future punishments so faint that men find ways to persuade themselves to believe any absurdity, to submit to any prostitution, rather than forego their wishes and desires. Their reason becomes at last an eloquent advocate on the side of their passions, and [they] bring themselves to believe that black is white, that vice is virtue, that folly is wisdom and eternity a moment..." - from the diary of John Adams, Sunday, Feb. 9, 1772
It's been said that no nation was ever formed upon the altar of secularism until the former Soviet Union, which only predated the Third Reich by a couple of decades. Both those nations were founded on the principles of atheism ("There is no God"), Marxism ("The State is God") and secularism ("Man is God"). History has demonstrated that this type of government, bereft of internal morality, suffers from two problems: they cannot survive for long, and they should not survive for long.
Atheistic, secularist government cannot survive for long on its own because it saps the life out of a people rather than refreshing it. Such cultures are necessarily parasitic, dependent upon sucking the life-blood and treasure from its own people (thereby stifling initiative) and then by preying upon its neighbors or other cultures seen as vulnerable. The ruling Communist Party of the former Soviet Union saw early on that Stalinesque tactics were killing their own countrymen (and productivity) at an alarming rate, and switched to seducing the Western governments (the US, France and Britain in particular) for foreign aid to prop up their shriveling, starving nation. What they couldn't get in international welfare they stole through espionage or conquest. At the same time, since at least the 1920's the Soviets had been infiltrating all the most influential sectors of the West: government, education, the media, and industry. They've been at it a long time, and it has borne bitter fruit; but the worst is yet to come.
I've already touched on some of the reasons why such governments should not survive for long, but let's explore a bit further. The characteristics of atheistic -- let's call a spade a spade: communist or socialist or progressive governments (the label is changed every so often to misdirect the people's attention) -- is that they are thievish and thuggish institutions. Because they induce class warfare (the rich against the rest) and stifle individual initiative (apart from the black market and criminal enterprise), because taxation is kept so high and there are so many barriers to personal success (outside of Party affiliation), fewer and fewer people even bother to try to do any more than the bare minimum for personal existence. After all, why work your butt off if the government is only going to take most of what you earn and give it to all those other folks who feel the same way, and to those who do nothing at all to earn their keep, not to mention supporting the government slugs and heavy-handed enforcers who oppress the 'little people' to keep them in line?
Of course, there's always that little problem which always seems to haunt those God-less governments: they tend to frown upon and treat badly those who dare (or are even suspected of or accused of) raising a voice of opposition to the new regime. Isn't it curious that loudmouth punks can revile, insult and openly work against a free society, but once they take power, they don't want to present that same opportunity to those they displease (which generally turns out to be the vast majority of the population) once the true agenda becomes the force of law?
Perhaps our new president-elect will not follow the course he's been on his entire life. Perhaps he won't stack the bureaucracy with like-minded 1960s-flavored radicals who have plotted how to bring America to its knees since their college indoctrination days. Perhaps he won't pursue his campaign pledges to bankrupt entire industries (including those that provide the very lights and heat in our homes), or reduce our military to a mere shadow of its present self (and expose our nakedness to our enemies).
Yeah; maybe he'll suddenly get enlightened and become a born-again real American patriot; strengthening our economy, insuring our individual rights, building border fences that keep people out instead of in, and even protecting us from all enemies of our Constitution, foreign and domestic, which is part of his presidential (and senatorial) oath of office.
Yeah; and maybe I'll turn my back on the God who created me, saved me and has promised to raise me with Him. I'd guess the chances are about even.
No comments:
Post a Comment