Now I’m going to tread where I rarely go. Bear with me until the end while I get political for a moment and then mix that with religion.
Who said we can’t do that, anyway?
The thing I’m getting out of the way right off is, though my convictions would lean more towards Republican, I am now registered “Unaffiliated.” I’m embarrassed by both parties and neither of them truly represent my convictions.
I grew up in a military household in the 1980’s. The Reagan era. You can guess where my ideologies lie, yet I may still surprise you there.
Ronald Reagan, in my opinion, was a great President, probably the best of my lifetime. He is not, however, the saint that the Republican establishment seem to remember. Regardless of his achievements and his faults, I’m convinced however that we’ll never see another conservative like him, no matter what the current GOP alumni claim.
And, just like John F. Kennedy, another one of America’s greatest Presidents, who would not be elected to today’s Democratic Party leadership, neither would the Republican Party flock once again to Reagan.
Things Have Changed
Somewhere along the line in the story of our nation, political things changed that had an impact on the church. The conservative party of today is more liberal than the old Democratic Party, while today’s Democratic Party more and more resembles something that may have made Senator Joe McCarthy blush.
Now, if you’re a Republican or a Democrat, before you pick up your stones to chuck at my head, understand that not only have I read the Communist Manifesto, I’ve also learned and understand the Communist agenda…
Oh, and I’ve lived in an authoritarian former Soviet country that still adheres closely to Communist ideology.
I’ve seen, experienced and have a first hand understanding of what I’m speaking about on how liberal ideology has been influenced by Marxism and the effects that’s had on our Republic, and more importantly, on the church.
And, if you don’t think that American culture has massively shifted in a downward spiral since 1960, then I can’t help you until you pull your head out of the sand. Maybe this will help.
The Devil Isn’t In Our Differences
It’s not wrong to have differing views, ideologies and convictions. That’s part of what made America great. Differences also make us humans, not robots.
What’s wrong is when one ideology destroys another through hostilities. It’s wrong when people decide that to disagree with someone is to hate them. It’s even more wrong when that destructive system leads their followers to that same altar of destruction by deception.
And it’s wrong that there has been a massive, almost impenetrable wall built between the 2 controlling parties in our country.
We can blame the media or the politicians, but at the end of the day we’re still a nation of people and we’re divided along the lines of political ideas that are keeping people in this country apart.
And it’s getting frighteningly ugly.
How Indoctrination Destroyed a Free Republic
Here’s an example of what I mean about indoctrination. Among the most profound tactics in the Communist playbook are to undermine America’s unique Judaeo-Christian, faith-based culture, to undermine the traditional structure of the American family, to control knowledge by indoctrination rather than education, and to replace American ingenuity with a social welfare model.
Don’t shoot the messenger, those are just the facts of the movement.
And if you took an honest look at the social changes in America since 1960, you would not be able to deny the facts.
Social changes in America since 1960 have deteriorated our culture.
- The Family – Since 1960, adultery, promiscuity, divorce and homosexuality have all been normalized. When I stand against any of these things, I risk being labeled as hateful. Why is that? Because what was once acceptable is now unacceptable, and what was once unacceptable is now celebrated.
- Education – Over the last 40 years, history has been systematically rewritten. Deniers of this will scream otherwise, but that doesn’t change the facts. For example, the Confederate Flag is now a symbol of hate, even though history proves that General Robert E. Lee acted in opposition to slavery and President Lincoln was not an abolitionist. It was the Republican South that gave us much of our first free, black American political and judicial leaders, whereas the Democratic Party founded the KKK and openly supported segregation well into the 1960’s.
- Welfare – How much further do we have to look than to the Millennial’s massive support for Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist? With the promise of free goodies to all, the 18-30 year-olds in America have embraced his socialist ideology.
- The Church – There is within Communism a “1%, 9%, 90%” rule. This is the rule that has been applied by it’s leaders specifically to American Christian seminaries since at least 1958, according to Reverend Manning Johnson, former Communist. Reverend Johnson tells us, “The policy of infiltrating seminaries was successful beyond even our communist expectations. 1%…….9%…….90%. It is the axiom of Communist organization’s strategy that if a body has 1% Communist Party members and 9% Party sympathizers, this 10% can effectively control the remaining 90% who act and think on an individual basis.”
How Has this Affected the Church?
It’s no secret that the same split in America’s political structure has also split the American church as a whole. Entire denominations are splitting over social issues as quickly as they are over theological differences.
There have been splits within the Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist and the Episcopal churches. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America gave us the biggest split in American church history.
And are these splits over doctrine, or whether or not to use drums and guitars in worship? Not at all. They’re over social issues.
Does the radical Westboro Baptist church really represent Baptists? Do they protest with the best interest of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in mind? You know the answer to that, but did you know that their cultist theological teachings are as dangerous as is their hate?
The church in America is sick and there are many causes. One of them is political. Most of them are called compromise.
How did the church get here? Was it really a political agenda, masterminded by evil henchmen hellbent on creating social unrest and mayhem?
Or is it because all of humankind, even Americans, have a common enemy that has only “to steal, kill, and destroy” as his own single-minded agenda? (John 10:10)
What’s the Solution?
I’m not so naive as to think that we can fix social problems and differences in America any more than we can fix the Middle East. These are problems as old as humanity itself.
But we can make the world around us better.
And how do we do that? By voting? I don’t know, maybe, if votes really do count for anything any more.
By attending social rallies? Probably not. While some of them may be good causes and full of good intention, they usually string people out emotionally, and that’s not always a great thing.
The solution, as simple as it sounds, is the answer you gave to questions in Sunday School: Jesus.
Love for God and love for others would go far in healing a broken nation.”
You see, in Jesus’ day, there were differences and disagreements just like today. Only without Facebook. And on one occasion, a few of these high ranking guys were arguing between themselves about what would be the greatest commandment.
The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:29-31
And there’s the solution.
You and me… love God, love others. No matter how they vote.
Hey Gene!!!!! Long time no speak!!!! Since I left face book I have not been too much into the whole political world these days. Mainly because it surely does bring a divisiveness among friends and family and those around to be caught in the cross fire!!!! Any who, I enjoyed this post. I thought it to be informative and I do like to hear what some one else has to say, especially when that someone doesn’t share my political views. Your view point comes from your world view. And that world view has been shaped by the many travels and experiences that you have experienced that I have yet to. I think that’s great. I think that offers a whole new insight into why you feel the way you do for me.
I would like to throw in a couple of points if I may and I would love to get your input back. Socialism in certain aspects is not that bad right? I mean we do all pay tax dollars that go towards education, police, fire, parks and recreation, as well as highway maintenance, etc. All these things are for the public good. Things we all use at one time or another and may be in need of. The best example is that of Unemployment Insurance, welfare, medicare, Social Security, etc. Do the programs have abuse? Of course. I would never argue differently. Are they perfect? Not at all. Anything run by the government is bound to be imperfect. But we keep these programs to bring a better good to the citizens of the US and until recently most of these programs have fared well. I believe we can fix them. I believe that this country still has a chance to come back together and fix the problems we face. I may be naive at 31 but I think that the love we find in Christ is enough to fix it all.
The main question I would ask you would be this. Often times Christians, myself included, use scripture to back our points of view. But we do happen to forget those powerful verses that show us and teach us the hard lessons. The book of Acts comes to mind when talking about this topic. This verse specifically:
” And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all [men], as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
And of course this one:
“And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any [of them] that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid [them] down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, [and] of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold [it], and brought the money, and laid [it] at the apostles’ feet.”
So my question would be to you how do you render this to not be a communist/socialist community? And if this is how the church truly was, and in my opinion should be, why are we as the body of Christ so concerned with what are tax dollars go to? Shouldn’t we be more than willing to give it all up so that our fellow man can have his needs met too?
This is where Darwin couldn’t really place the “survival of the fittest” theory on man. Do we have it? Yes I believe we do. Just look at corporate culture and how people will do anything to get ahead no matter if that means ruining your fellow man. But in nature animals don’t have the safety nets that we have created for each other. Especially in America. If we killed each other off in this way by not having a safety net in society we would be worse off in my opinion. Just a thought.
Lastly, as Christians why do we concern ourselves so much with our religion being the law of the land? Lets think about that for a second. Why do we hold non-christians, people who dont want the love of Christ nor believe in it, to a standard that we hold for morality? The social revolution that happened in a post JFK 60’s had a lot to do with people being sick of the conservative ideology of the time. People wanted the freedom to go in their own direction. Not what their parents, church, or society said. Has that been a bad thing? For some I would say they see it as so. I do not. My views are not what rules the land. If you’re LGBT why do I get a say in any of that? Should I? Or should my views of religion be mine and not some law that others have to follow? There was a time, if you remember from history, that the dixiecrats used the bible to condone segregation. Some still do. This is how we treat homosexuals and people who don’t want God or believe in Him. The Word of God is our guidebook. It is the heart of our faith but it certainly isn’t the law of the land. We gave that up when we let the state and the federal government take things like marriage and make them a licensed thing. But that’s for a whole different debate. I wanted to throw in some food for thought. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and I hope you and the family are well!!!!
Hey Mike, really good to hear from you! Man, that’s quite a lot to respond to, I’ll do my best 🙂
You’re right, certain aspects of Socialism are at least appealing. Or, more so, the idea of it is appealing. The biggest problem I have with Socialism is that it is more than Godless, it’s anti-God.
Let me explain. Socialism and Communism share a common ideology. In that regard, there is no difference between the two, only minor differences in how they are executed. Bottom line is they share the same end goal, which is totalitarianism. In that, they share the common ideology that “spirit” doesn’t exist and that only matter exists. Both Communism and Socialism claim that God and the human soul are “illusions” and that there are no heaven and hell. They both make a mockery of God and his word.
Additionally, they share the belief that there are no absolute truths. I’m sure I don’t have to share the details with you on how that form of relativism has invaded Western seminaries and churches, and you may find it hard to believe, but it is a fact that former Communist operatives have said that infiltrating Western Christian Seminaries was a part of Communism’s plan to bring down Western culture.
Socialism and Communism are humanist, totalitarian, and anti-God. They both teach that the “ends justify the means.”
They both begin with the same engine: instigate social unrest and the perception of inequality. Redistribution of wealth is just the tip of the iceberg with Socialism and Communism. This is how they both turn off the flow of ingenuity and individual achievement, robbing people of drive, ambition, and innovation.
Regardless of starting with the best of intentions, and despite the aspects that you and I may find appealing, Socialism is fundamentally the same as Communism. And that never ends well.
I have also considered the early church in the Book of Acts. This was particularly interesting to me when I lived in an authoritarian state for 3 years. I had to ask myself, was the early church Socialist? What I discovered was that they were not Socialist, or Libertarian, or Democratic, or any other political definition. They were a community of believers, and the commonality that they shared with one another was for the sake of the church, which was not a building but a community of people. Their sharing and providing among themselves was not to benefit society at large, or to promote a political agenda. It was for the body of Christians and their’s was a spiritual community as much as it was a physical one.
In other words, there is no political or social equivalent to the Body of Christ that we call the church. Except know we stick it between 4 walls and give it programs to run.
I stand in agreement with you on the point of holding a non-believing world to the standard of Christian morality. It makes me absolutely livid that many Christians continue trying to hold the non-believing world accountable to the standards of a believer. The command of Christ was to make disciples and teach them, and the example He gave was that He loved us right in the middle of our absolute worst when he died for us while we are sinners. That’s the only way to reach a non-believing world.
The problem with today’s cry of so-called inequality is that what was once immoral is now celebrated, and what was once moral is now intolerable. That brings me back to my point that not I made, but former Communist operatives admitted to, and that’s the effort to rot the core of Western morality from the inside. Today’s perception of inequality is hardly more than a calculated attack on Christian morality.
I don’t for a second believe that there isn’t inequality. It’s been a part of the human experience since the fall of mankind in Eden. I also don’t think for a moment that everyone fighting for equality is intentionally attacking Christianity, but look at how their ends justify their means. I also know that all of mankind, believers and not, has one common enemy with one common purpose, and we have one common hope and only one way to redemption.
The hard part is loving people wherever they’re at.
‘Communist’ was a Joe McCarthy term penned to name the Soviets, Chinese, and eastern bloc countries. They were also called ‘Reds’ because of the Soviet and Chinese flags. They were actually socialists, as in Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR). Communism is actually a utopian concept that never works. It’s been tried many times. Someone always gets power hungry and some get lazy. Love this post Gene!!I
Check out Saul Alinsky’s ‘Rules for Radicals’. It’s a plan to take a nation down to a socialist state. Removing the church is part of it. It just so happens that Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama were proponents back in their college days. There’s a quick read(an hour) called ‘The Alinsky Plan’ available on the internet. You can Google it. Good article Gene!