A former colleague of mine emailed me this article with the comment: "I'm not sure what to say about this." But I did. So I wrote him back...
There are three categories of people:
All those in category 1 are clueless, but will eventually end up in category 2.
Those in category 2 will join the French Revolution (a disorganized mob that riots in hopes of tearing down their disappointing idol and erecting a new more worthy god). If this revolution is successful, it will destroy society.
Those in category 3 will join the American Revolution (an organized citizenry that defies a government that presumes to have divine power). If this revolution is successful, it will restore the government to its proper limited role.
So the question isn't whether America is pre-revolutionary or not, but whether those who presently oppose our god-like government want a new god or a law-abiding government.
There are three categories of people:
- Those who believe the government can provide all their needs,
- Those who've previously placed their faith in government (but have come to realize that their man-made god is untrustworthy), and
- Those who've always believed that government tends to attract ambitious, power-hungry scoundrels who abuse power to promote their utopian agendas. (Those in category 3 also tend to understand that most dangerous of these scoundrels are those who seek the "greater good", since their conscience is unbothered by the evil they do in their quest to "help the downtrodden".)
All those in category 1 are clueless, but will eventually end up in category 2.
Those in category 2 will join the French Revolution (a disorganized mob that riots in hopes of tearing down their disappointing idol and erecting a new more worthy god). If this revolution is successful, it will destroy society.
Those in category 3 will join the American Revolution (an organized citizenry that defies a government that presumes to have divine power). If this revolution is successful, it will restore the government to its proper limited role.
So the question isn't whether America is pre-revolutionary or not, but whether those who presently oppose our god-like government want a new god or a law-abiding government.
2 comments:
Bravo! Great insight.
To me, the question boils down to the same one Israel had when they entered the promised land. Will present day Americans choose God to be their King (limiting man-made government and allowing God to rule in their lives, trusting in His providence and deliverance), or will they prefer man to reign over them, a Saul (your options 1 and 2).
Unfortunately, my fellow Christian, the trend seems to lean towards the rule by man. I pray that I am wrong and that God will give our countrymen wisdom to choose His way. That is what our Founding Fathers chose.
I enjoyed this post!
Yeah, I have to agree with you, JP. We are indeed an idolatrous nation. Some time back I wrote this post where I argued:
"I'm not saying that any American politician today is like Adolf Hitler. It's worse than that. I'm saying that America is now so desperate for a political messiah that we'll even accept someone who is so much less charismatic than Hitler was. The problem isn't that we have demigods running for office (for there's certainly nothing new about politicians' presuming to possess divine powers). The problem is: we now expect these demigods to perform miracles for us. We have degenerated from dependence on the Bible's God of the universe, past a begrudging acceptance of Kipling's "gods of the copybook headings", to worshiping the Chicago machine's skillfully crafted idol. Germany bowed to an inspiring orator who stood on a magnificent stage at Nuremburg. America worships a mumbling snob who stands before a Styrofoam Parthenon that was borrowed from some Hollywood back lot."
Sadly, it took no gift of prophecy to predict that our newest idol would prove to be such a disappointment.
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