Not a week goes by that we don’t see Christianity and its values under attack. Recently it was Karen Pence, wife of our vice president, and Brian C. Buescher, an Omaha-based lawyer nominated to the US District Court.
Pence, because she’s teaching in a Christian school that upholds biblical views on marriage; Buescher, because he belongs to a Catholic organization advocating sanctity of life and marriage.
Where are the voices to defend them? Who will speak up for them? What has happened to the voices of the quiet majority who love their God, their faith, and their values?
Five robbers
The authors of Christ Centered Therapy note that “secular, humanistic, atheistic, agnostic and Eastern forms of spiritually are accepted because they are regarded as politically correct. But the values and worldview of Christianity on which this culture is based are increasingly met with hostility.”
I agree with them. In recent years, we have seen the rapid rise of five popularly accepted movements that are influencing our attitudes, behaviors, and ways of thinking. These movements became deeply entrenched in our culture without our really being aware of them.
All these movements have one thing in common: the desire to overturn the foundations of our country. If we value our cultural and spiritual heritage and its freedoms, like the freedom to speak our honest beliefs and opinions without fear of reprisal, we must wake up and use our voice.
1. Multiculturalism
While in graduate school (2005), I was schooled in multiculturalism which emphasizes the distinctiveness and value of other cultures, while denigrating our own American story and heroes. In attitudes and words, many professors disrespect and belittle our National heritage, our legacy of faith in a Creator.
Since the 1970s, its proponents have been rewriting our textbooks. They are robbing students of the right to learn about our unique heroic beginnings (David Hackett Fischer, Paul Revere’s Ride).
2. Political Correctness
Political correctness is rampant. Society condones or disapproves of certain language simple because of its perceived effect on certain groups of people. “Gay “is politically correct, but “sexually deviant” is not. We must say “pro-life advocates” instead of “abortion opponents.” And this week, Catholic boys shouldn’t wear certain hats in our nation’s capital, because they are poisoning young minds.
While accepting other worldviews, this movement rejects Christian views as politically incorrect. Christianity is increasingly met with open hostility, robbing us of our right to express our opinions in the public square, including universities.
3. Post-Modern Constructivism
While at the university, I also learned there is no such as absolute truth anymore. It negates the teachings of Jesus: “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
Post-modern constructivism works to destroy any consistent, externally-sanctioned set of standards and values historically prescribed by our founding fathers and our faith. Perhaps this explains the rapid rise in stress, anxiety and other neurotic disorders.
4. Utopianism
Utopianism propagates the idea that we can be educated and controlled to do only good. Its proponents believe that tragic events in life are due to society’s structures, not personal responsibility. They refuse to acknowledge the old-fashioned concept of sin. Their cure: increase education, remove poverty, and eliminate oppression, rejecting the power of God.
Their goal is to destroy the family, home, and church—they’ll decide what kind of settings you need for your well-being.
5. Environmental Movement
A radical segment in the environmental movement implies that the environment, nature, and animals are more important than human beings. How fundamentally different from the biblical view that only human beings are made in the image of God!
You are the light of the world
Do we want to continue to hand over the freedom to share our faith and values that our Republic was founded upon? Or have we become too afraid to take a righteous stand, fearing reprisal for our honest opinions?
While living in Germany, my friends said they were taught that religion should be discussed privately, never in the public square. But the Bible tells us: “You are the light of the world” (Mt. 5:14). What will happen to the United States of America if our lights are allowed to be extinguished?
We must find our voice
After Communism fell, poet Andrei Codrescu wrote to his Romanian people “The first thing in becoming a free people is to speak freely without fear. If you do not know how to speak freely, then you are not free yet. When we are protected so long from honest opinion, we live fully in our own delusions” (The Hole in the Flag).
Like St. Paul, we must pray for the courage and the voice to speak up—to our children, our family, and the world around us.
“Pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth … that I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”—Ephesians 6:19-21.