Defy the Darkness, America!
Thursday, April 09, 2009 Posted by Pastor Fred Wolfe
America, some say, is on the verge of a breakdown.
Many leading voices in this country have suggested that the solution to the problems plaguing the world will only be solved when the voices of the American people are lifted to Washington and the government finally hears our cries of dissatisfaction. Tea Parties, Internet Networks, and Blog Groups have quickly snowballed into a nationwide phenomenon.
As a thinking American, I am ecstatic with the mobilization of Americans coming together to think.
I would like to suggest that WHAT we think about is paramount to whether these mobilizations will have any effect on our future. There is one central issue that I believe could single-handedly, over time, bring our country back to it's former glory.
I present to you the necessity of "The Conservative Biblical Family". Whether you have been a liberal, independent or conservative in your political outlook, a return to this ideology solves problems on so many fronts. Take for example, our public school system. Talk to five public school teachers and you'll get five different takes, but a single overarching disease infecting todays youth: a lack of morality.
About half of all adults (54%) claim that they make their moral choices on the basis of specific principles or standards they believe in. Other common means of making moral choices include doing what feels right or comfortable (24%), doing whatever makes the most people happy or causes the least conflict (9%), and pursuing whatever produces the most positive outcomes for the person (7%).
I get a vision of todays youth walking down a dark hallway. Their eyes are useless in the black and the abysmal ambiguity, and an unknown end to their journey quickly insights chaos. They feel around the hallway, the cool walls offering little comfort or guidance. What feels “good” becomes morally expedient. We are bringing up children without a moral compass, and letting the institutional halls of a godless education replace any solace of spirituality with the bosom of Darwin.
The Conservative Biblical Family would take responsibility not only for the spiritual training of their children, but for their education as well. The conservative Christian world-view formation of our children would resurrect the moral compass of our nation. The history of our country speaks to this. While this country gives freedom for a family to choose their own religion to form a moral compass, there is no doubt that as our families have become gradually less Christian, our country has experienced moral decay, a rise in crime, apathy toward honor, and less of an influence around the world. The Barna Group agrees: "By an overwhelming margin - 74% to 23% - adults agreed that their religious faith was becoming even more important to them than it used to be as a source of objective and reliable moral guidance."
On average, adults who describe themselves as "mostly liberal" on sociopolitical issues were twice as likely as those who describe themselves as "mostly conservative" to participate in activities that conflict with traditional moral perspectives. In particular, liberals were five times more likely to participate in unmarried sex (20% vs. 4%), more than three times as likely to view pornography (30% vs. 8%), more than twice as likely to lie (21% vs. 8) and to get drunk (17% vs. 7%), and twice as likely to engage in retaliation (13% vs. 6%) and gossip (17% vs. 9%).
In today's America, ultimate truth is in short supply. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about a bunch of people walking around fibbing about taxes, fixing ballots, or apologizing for American arrogance. Our problem lies at a more basic level. Many influencers in today's America doubt whether truth can even be known. They prize agnosticism as humility. They see tolerance as the only answer to universal doubt, and I don't see a light at the end of this tunnel without the family finding itself standing on Biblical Truth. Unfortunately, many Christians, especially those associated with the Emergent church, have quaffed deeply of this postmodern wasteland. Instead of standing on an unpopular platform of universal truth, some have chosen an easier lighter burden of ambiguity. '
George Barna, in his book, "Think Like Jesus" states, "Few people in churches have a biblical worldview because most preachers seem intent on teaching broadly rather than deeply. That’s emotionally and intellectually appealing, but until people have a mental framework through which they can process the numerous principles, ideas and stories provided in the Bible, preaching is typically an exercise in information overload. We have to prepare people to know what to do with the information. A biblical worldview gives them the filter they need to know how to categorize and implement the facts and ideals they receive."
I would like to leave you with these questions, and hope they inspire those who read it to stand with me in this necessary battle:
1. How can objective morality exist without God?
2. Are our public schools teaching from a standpoint that God may exist?
3. If objective morality cannot exist without God, why are we allowing “morality” to be a lesson that our schools primarily give our kids?
4. Just how would the nation look if the Conservative Biblical Family were the prevalent system of parenting?
April 9, 2009 1:55 PM
1. How can objective morality exist without God? NO
2. Are our public schools teaching from a standpoint that God may exist? Heck NO!
3. If objective morality cannot exist without God, why are we allowing “morality” to be a lesson that our schools primarily give our kids? Because most of us are too concerned with secular matters. We save our moral concerns for Sunday morning when we wear our pious clothes for an hour or so before we peel out of the church parking lot to go to the beach/ park/ or where ever it is we spend the rest of the Sunday.
4. Just how would the nation look if the Conservative Biblical Family were the prevalent system of parenting? Too many answers to this one but let’s look at a couple: Our president would be a practicing Christian. He or she might be black, white, yellow or red but first of all a Christian. Congress would be more concerned for the good of all and have less concern for lining their own pockets. Students and teachers would stand for and recite the Pledge of Allegiance together. There would also be prayer in school.
April 10, 2009 9:36 AM
4. Answer: Not good. All those who don't fit into the "conservative biblical family model" will face the high probability of being ostracized by some or all members of their family (see gay, socially liberal, etc) or persuaded to repress their true feelings at one level or another. I, and most people I know, were raised outside of this "model' and have turned out fine. They (we) are successful, happy, and open minded adults. We have morals that are based on common sense and respect for other people.
And, as far as this goes: "On average, adults who describe themselves as "mostly liberal" on sociopolitical issues were twice as likely as those who describe themselves as "mostly conservative" to participate in activities that conflict with traditional moral perspectives. In particular, liberals were five times more likely to participate in unmarried sex (20% vs. 4%), more than three times as likely to view pornography (30% vs. 8%), more than twice as likely to lie (21% vs. 8) and to get drunk (17% vs. 7%), and twice as likely to engage in retaliation (13% vs. 6%) and gossip (17% vs. 9%)."
3 of those things are not necessarily sins or immoral outside of certain religious traditions. The other three, telling lies, retaliation, and gossip are almost completely subjective things. Do you "lie" to your child, "retaliate" by overtaking someone who has cut you off on the highway, or "gossip" when you say anything about anyone to anyone else at any time?
and to this: "Talk to five public school teachers and you'll get five different takes, but a single overarching disease infecting todays youth: a lack of morality."
I know three public school teachers very well and none of them would agree with that. I think funding, awful teaching models, and poor teaching performance are a much larger problem.