Worldview
Why Free Speech in the 60s is Being Banned This Century
Some of us are old enough to remember the “free speech movement” of the 1960s. It featured bully pulpits on the Berkeley, California campus (and many other universities) that championed the right to say what you please. The leaders of the movement proclaimed the “right to free speech.”
That’s a good thing. Freedom of speech is paramount in our Constitution based on the inalienable rights that God gives each human being.
The free speech movement took place during the height of the Vietnam conflict, the hippie culture. and the overall youth free love/sexual revolution. The young dreamers demanded their right to speak out. They said that “freedom” was the issue.
But today’s generation is actively squelching free speech–at Berkeley and many other bastions of education.
Why was free speech sacred in the 60s but now banned by the same people this century? Read More
Orlando Massacre: The Two Sided Truth
My new book, The River of God, (which is currently being perused by a publisher), describes the worldview battle taking place in our time.
The Western Front of that war–primarily in Europe and the United States–is a titanic struggle between biblical faith (our heritage) and secularism (atheism) which is trying to topple it. On the Eastern Front, the Islamic worldview rules in parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia. It’s at war with all infidels (non-Muslims).
That particular worldview inspired a man to kill fifty people in Orlando, Florida this week. And now proponents on the Western Front are spinning their solutions.
Here’s my two-sided take on the truth behind the Orlando Massacre.
I will focus predominantly on the battle between biblical faith and secular atheism. We understand the simple strategy of Islamic jihad: kill anybody who resists Mohammed and Allah.
But the Western World battle is more subtle and nuanced. After the horrific murders in Orlando by a killer I refuse to name, I want to shed some light on who is saying what, why they are saying it, and analyze where the truth lies. Knowing and living the truth should be the great goal of our lives. Truth brings freedom (John 8:32).
In the search for the truth, I will discuss the Orlando Massacre from four angles:
- Guns and National Security
- Sexual Lifestyles and Liberty
- Koranic and Cultural Islam
- The Depravity and Ideology of the Killer.
Guns and National Security
There have been a number of terrorism attacks under the current Administration. When most of them occurred, the voices of secular ideology–including that of the president–focused primarily on the need to limit or ban guns in the United States. The POTUS said so again emphatically this week.
Why do secularists always blame violence on guns and try to legislate gun control? Because the secular mind-set is all about control–liberal fascism is a fair term for their view of life. Fascists have always taught that the way you control societies is to take away their arms. A nation without guns is one that can be ruled by tyrants. This is the secular end-game though many refuse to admit it.
Biblical faith, on at least a governmental level, stresses self defense against evil (a concept the secularists don’t appear to understand). National security in all its forms is a legitimate response against evil forces, whether they be armies or the government itself. America’s 2nd Amendment concerning the right to bear arms was designed to protect Americans from all forms of tyranny.
So when terrorists strike, biblical voices say “We need to defeat evil and help people protect themselves!” Secularists say “We need more gun control and regulation of firearms!”
I believe the truth has two solutions here. The 2nd Amendment is a good idea and America’s military should destroy the terrorism source (currently Isis). Also, if we really want to protect lives, let’s use metal detectors in schools, security guards in other public places (retired police?), and ban no carry zones. If one person had possessed a gun at the club in Orlando, many lives would have been saved.
Congress should declare war on Isis and cut off the “head of the snake.” On the home front, we should act to protect more people with more fire arms for defensive purposes and more metal protectors–not less. Both of these would have stopped or hindered the Orlando murderer
Lifestyle and Liberty
Secular folks believe there is no God to whom we are accountable. They believe that all sexual activity is okay and God is not the author of marriage or healthy sexual relationships. Fornication, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality and pedophilia are simply “lifestyle choices.” There’s no right and wrong in sex.
On the other hand, faith folks believe God is wiser than people–that all sexual relations outside of a man and a woman in marriage are personally and corporately destructive. People of biblical faith cannot condone the sexual choices of those who rebel against their Creator. In that one regard, biblical faith and Islamic teaching are similar.
But that’s where the similarity ends. In the Old Testament period, God prescribed severe penalties for sexual sin (even death in some cases), but that’s because unleashing venereal diseases in a primitive world was a death sentence to whole societies. New Testament grace and modern medicine removed those penalties–but not the view of what is immoral.
Islam never changed. Practioners of the Koran still condemn sexual sin–they believe it should still be punished by death. This was apparently one of the motives of the evil Orlando killer.
Followers of Jesus do not. We condemn the sin but love the sinner. We believe in liberty–even for those who sexually sin. God will be the final judge. In the meantime, we must live and share the truth just as many Chick Filet outlets did in Orlando the day after the massacres.
Jihadists kill sinners. Followers of Christ serve them to bring them to salvation.
Koranic and Cultural Islam
Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton have all said that “we are not at war with Islam.” At the least, that is misleading. At the worst, it could get us all killed.
It’s true that many Muslims are not violent people. They’re normal human beings who want to live their lives in peace. In essence, these folks are nominal Muslims just like some Christians are nominal in their faith. This really means they don’t practice their religion–it’s just a thin cultural veneer.
Let’s call these “peaceful” folks cultural Muslims.
But the real strain of Islam–the historical one that was embodied in Mohammed and written about in the Koran–has never been peaceful for those who refuse to conform. The Koran contains over 100 war verses that motivate devout Muslims to hate all those who refuse their terms. These views are not “perverted” as President Obama tells us, or out of the Muslim mainstream.
Whereas cultural Muslims are the bigger group, the ones who take Mohammed and his Koran might number as many as sixty million. Not all will kill with impunity. But many are sympathetic to it.
Let’s call the jihadists Koranic Muslims–because it is from their holy book that their terror ideas derive.
Two things must happen to win the War on Terror. Just as the West united to defeat the Nazis seventy years ago, we must unite again to crush Isis and all its affiliates. Then we must convince he remaining peaceful Muslims of the world to reject the Koran and worship the true God in peace and civility.
The Depravity and Ideology of the Killer
The man who committed mass murder in Orlando was quickly labeled a terrorist because he identified with ISIS. Secularists tried to avoid that label because they have sympathy with diversity–even when it’s lethal. But the outlets with a more truthful biblical worldview saw it for what it was: he killed in the name of religion. He was a Koranic Muslim.
Many people said he specifically targeted the Pulse nightclub because Sharia Law pronounces death to homosexuals. That could have been part of his motivation.
But we later found out that he was either engaged in a homosexual lifestyle or at least had homosexual tendencies. Those tendencies indicated he’d given in to temptations we all face in different ways due to our human depravity–in this case, those of a sexual nature.
So, did he kill because as a jihadist he hated homosexuals, or because he hated himself or been rebuffed at the bar by other patrons?
Only God knows. But both human depravity and ideology are in play.
There are a few practical lessons to learn from the Orlando Massacre:
1) We must militarily defeat the Islamo Nazis–ISIS.
2) We must better protect ourselves from those who devalue life.
3) We should trust God and follow His wise commands regarding human sexuality.
4) We must report evil when we hear about it, and
We must fervently pray for a moral and spiritual awakening in our world to restore God’s blessings and protections.
Will the Cult of Self Take Down Western Civilization?
One of the advantages of older age is being a ring-side spectator to change–over a lifetime.
You saw things when you were young. You encountered change in your middle years. And in the latter portion of your life, you have a much bigger perspective on how cultures and nations go through powerful changes over time.
During my lifespan, both the United States and, indeed, our entire Western culture, has morphed from one worldview and its norms to another that is threatening its very existence.
To put it simply, we’ve retreated from being God-centered (or respecting) societies to self-centered ones.
Will this cult of self eventually take down Western Civilization?
There are voluminous examples I could use to demonstrate the movement from God-centeredness to self-centeredness in the West:
- The removal of prayer and biblical truth in education, replaced with secularism and self-help.
- The focus on feelings and emotions over critical thinking and wisdom.
- The attack on Christian holidays (like Christmas) and the growth of pagan ones (like Halloween).
- The pursuit of pleasure through materialism as opposed to godliness via service.
- The growth of laziness and apathy in contrast to past generations’ focus on hard work and study.
Recently I’ve been thinking about two other “institutions” of Western culture that are being swamped by our narcissistic, self-seeking cultural tide.
Marriage Ceremonies and Funeral Services.
Marriage Ceremonies
First of all, many Westerners are taking marriage outside of churches into parks, beaches, and other private settings. I understand the beauty of nature and the desire to consummate the wedding ceremony in a lovely place. But many that are doing it are leaving God back at the church.
And many marriage ceremonies today are conducted by “friends” not ministers–cheapening the meaning of marriage as a God-made institution that should be formalized in God’s name. Instead, marriage is just a man-made contract where anything goes–and vows (which should be made before a Holy God), mean little or nothing.
I’ve talked to many young people–including those with a Christian heritage–who now share a pagan concept of weddings. They say, “It’s all about us. We will go where we want, say what we want, and make the focus on us and our love.”
That’s not how my wife and I thought in 1976. We were committed to Christ and wanted to honor and glorify Him in all situations (1 Corinthians 10:31). When we planned our wedding, every decision was made based not on self-desire but how we could be pleasing to the Lord and give Him praise.
We held the ceremony in a church. We asked a minister to perform it. We asked him to preach the Good News to those in attendance. We used the reception to talk about our calling in ministry, had people pray over us, sang worship songs, and deflected all the wonder of our new union back to the One who had chosen us for each other and should receive all the credit.
It wasn’t any different from Russell Wilson pointing to heaven after a touchdown pass. “Do all to the glory of God.” We didn’t even think about what would puff up ourselves or “make us happy” as Cam Newton does in his Superman dance after he scores a touchdown.
That’s the cult of self. Wilson’s deference to God is the humble, God-glorifying display.
Many weddings today reflect the cult of self. No wonder the institution of marriage is dying.
Funerals (Memorials)
I’ve officiated at numerous funerals or memorial services during the past four decades. In my early years, they were all held in churches or funeral halls. At the service, there was often a solemnity and dignity over the reality of death. Ministers not only eulogized the deceased, but also spoke to the living about making sure they were right with God and ready to face their own mortality.
I was once invited to officiate the wedding of a non-believing family at our local cemetery. The one-follower- of-Christ in the family asked me purposefully to preach the Good News to his relatives and glorify God in the service. I was glad to do so, and many were touched by my words.
After I finished the address and they were lowering the body into the ground, I wandered over to the grave sites of some family members. A young woman who’d attended the grave side service approached me there and said: “I really appreciated your words. How can I give my life to Christ to have hope of eternal life?”
Over the graves of my ancestors I led this young woman to Jesus.
God had been glorified through the event.
Recently I’ve attended some memorials that seem to have a different motive. They’re themed with what the deceased “liked”–sports teams, hobbies, interests etc. with little or no mention of God and eternity. At these events, friends and families so praise the dead person that they are hardly recognizable.
It’s all about them. The cult of self strikes again.
I don’t think it’s wrong for funeral services (mostly solemn) to move toward memorials (predominantly celebratory.) There’s a good and healthy balance. But when God, heaven and hell, and our mortality and accountability are left out, then the event simply becomes a self-centered party that loses the whole meaning of being ready to face your Maker.
Let’s now take this to a higher level.
Europe’s Christian civilization is dying even faster than America’s and is also being replaced by the squishy cult of self. Listen to Joe Cunningham’s prophetic perspective:
“Way back in the day, and we’re talking centuries, Europe was a hotbed for the expansion of Christian ideas and philosophies. They were the foundations of European culture, government, and way of life. It influenced kings and empires, dictated the ways of life of millions for centuries.”
“The greatest empire the world had ever known, the British Empire, was built upon that foundation which stemmed back to the earliest days of Christendom. France, Spain, even Germany built legacies on top of the essential pillars of the faith.”
“Did they lose their way at times? Absolutely. But those foundations were there. They were fighting for something greater than people – they were fighting for identity, for country, for God, and for king. But, beginning late in the 20th century, those ideas were being tossed aside in favor of humanism [self]. The result of this transition has led to social program after social program that has left a lot of Europe broke and on the verge of collapse. “
“Via the Wall Street Journal: ‘Europe is dying because it has become morally incompetent. It isn’t that Europe stands for nothing. It’s that it stands for shallow things, shallowly. Europeans believe in human rights, tolerance, openness, peace, progress, the environment, pleasure. These beliefs are all very nice, but they are also secondary.'”
“What Europeans no longer believe in are the things from which their beliefs spring: Judaism and Christianity; liberalism and the Enlightenment; martial pride and capability; capitalism and wealth. Still less do they believe in fighting or sacrificing or paying or even arguing for these things. Having ignored and undermined their own foundations, they wonder why their house is coming apart.”
“Ultimately, what makes Europe’s downfall so imminent is that it does not seem to recognize, as the Left here in America doesn’t, that it’s their own policies within this modern era that are killing them.”
“The focus has been placed on the individual in such a shallow way while ignoring the individual in a deeper, meaningful way. They focus on how we feel, what we do, and how we can be fair to one another. Meanwhile, they ignore the very basis of humanity. The need for something greater than ourselves to believe in. The need to be part of something greater.”
“Big government types love to tell us that we can belong to the government, but the government is shallow. It, too, focuses on the shallow person, not the greater person underneath. It cares little for religious liberty because religion can offend you. It says ‘belong to us, but don’t claim a national identity. You’re not American, you see. You’re not British. You’re not French. You’re not Spanish or German. Your identity comes from your race, sexual orientation, gender, or whatever else we can think of. But we never belong to a nation.'”
“That has to change. In Europe and in the U.S. It has to change because society cannot build deep and lasting foundations on things that are so shallow.”
Amen, Joe.
There’s nothing more shallow than self. It’s limited to you–sinful you. On the other hand, there’s nothing bigger than God–the glorious and holy Creator and Savior of all that there is.
The Western world needs a Christ-centered revival that will once again re-shape all that we do.
If we don’t experience it, the cult of self will kill us.