The kids and I attended the Tax Day Tea Party in our town on Wednesday. I was very impressed with the number of people who showed up. It was a very peaceful demonstration, thankfully, with lots of honking horns (friendly honks) and lots of citizens of all ages with signs and t-shirts.
I'm sure most of you have by now picked up on my political persuasion, so I won't even bother to reiterate it. The point now is that even though the tea parties being held all over the country are proving that there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of Americans that are seriously unhappy with our current administration's spending policies, I think it is time that those of us who are part of the conservative right, admit to ourselves that there are also plenty of citizens of this country who do not agree with us on spending and more importantly on morality.
The current ruling in Iowa concerning homosexual marriage is just one example of that. Iowa! What other state would we have called the "heartland" of America? I think we had best admit that our country's "heart" is beating to the tune of a different drummer these days.
Another example, that I venture to guess you did not hear about on the news is the Supreme Court ruling on the high school football coach who desires to bow his head during the opening prayer. You can google search this yourself, but here is a direct quote from the local newspaper.
"The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down an appeal from a high school football coach who was banned from bowing his head during student-led team prayers.Without comment Monday, the nation's highest court ended Coach Marcus Borden's efforts to overturn a township decision that as a public employee, Borden cannot mix religion with his work as a coach."
I think it is time to admit to our conservative selves that the common people do not, in fact, agree with us. Maybe now the question is why? What has happened in the past two hundred or so years to change the direction of our nation?
The simple answer, at least to me, is found in Scripture.
2 Chronicles 7:14 says this, "and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. "
1 Timothy 2:1-2 says, "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."
These verses make abundantly clear that the health of a nation lies at the feet of the body of Christ. Are we on our faces daily before the God of all on behalf of our country and its leaders? Even the ones we don't care for?
Notice that God promises in Chronicles to "heal the land" but the condition is that the people of God humble themselves, pray, and turn from their wicked ways. Can the world around us make much distinction between the people of God and anyone else these days?
Paul writes in Timothy that we must petition God on behalf of all in authority, SO THAT we may lead lives of peace and dignity. Wow! Most days reading the news does not leave me feeling much peace and I absolutely feel that the majority of the moral laws in our nation leave the most innocent among us without dignity.
We, the true church, have a huge responsibility. Dare we blame the unbelievers for the state of our nation? They are simply acting as those without God are bound to act. We are the ones who should know better.
Those of you who know me well, also know that I can not help but make one more statement as to why I believe our nation is taking the turn it is taking.
I looked up the definition of socialism in the dictionary and here is what I found:
"the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles"
I could write an entire post expounding on that statement, but I will leave you to think about it yourself; think in relation to what you see on the front page of the Wall Street Journal every day. You do read the Wall Street Journal don't you?? (Just kidding, I only look at it because I have a finance guy for a husband!) :)
The statement I do want to make is controversial at best. I know some of you reading will disagree with me, it might even make some of you totally angry. That's ok, looking at statistics, 90% of American parents disagree. I'm perfectly ok with that, and if you would like to talk to me about it, I have my beliefs from a Biblical perspective spelled out in a written document that I would be happy to let you read. You may think I'm wrong, but I can prove to you that I have not acted rashly in the way I educate my children; my husband and I thought long and hard about what we do.
Anyway, with that disclaimer, let me say that practically speaking the main reason I believe our current generation has turned its back on God and walked blatantly away from everything I believe in is because a hundred years ago, we began the process of turning over America's most precious commodities to a socialist institution.
What is America's most precious commodity? I believe without a doubt, it is the American people, more specifically the children. Children are the future of America, just like the children of each generation grow up to be the present leaders, and so on and so forth. When someone decided that there should be laws passed that said children were required to be put together in large groups and educated by the government, so began our decline into socialism. Remember our definition...it says that socialism is characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles. I looked up the word collectivist and here is the definition I found, "the political principle of centralized social and economic control."
GK Chesterton is one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, known in christian and secular circles for works such as The Everlasting Man. Mr. Chesterton said this about public education, "Public education was designed to deprive the common man of his common sense." I could not agree more passionately, and sadly we are seeing the evidence of lack of common sense all over our country today. Young people of today have no idea what is going on in our nation. They are making political decisions based on the plight of polar bears and ice caps. They are voting for men and women based on who celebrities vote for. They follow those who promise them "hope" yet they have no place concrete to put their hope.
At the TEA party we attended there was a newsman there from our local television station. An older lady approached him and asked him to interview some of the children. My kids were there with a fairly large number of their friends, as you can see from the pictures. The response of the 20 something camera man was, "I'm not going to talk to them, they are just kids and they are only here because their parents made them come."
Well, I would like to submit this piece of information. My kids and their friends knew exactly why we were there, and if they had been asked by the news crews, they could have answered as well as many of the adults in the area. They are the future of America and they are being taught to think outside the box, not to blindly follow. They have their common sense in tact and common sense says this about economics, "Do what you say you will do, and leave other people and their personal property alone." Translated.....don't buy things you can not afford, pay your debts, and unless someone is infringing on the personal rights and property of another person, it is probably not a government issue.
Anyway, I will get off my soapbox now, since I have probably offended most all of my readers. I would apologize, but the truth of the matter is that I think that most of America, children and adults alike have been lulled into a state of total apathy, both spiritually, academically, and emotionally. There is so much garbage every where we turn, from television to the news. We are inundated and desensitized to the things that break the heart of God to the point that it doesn't break our hearts anymore. I implore you not to allow that to happen to your precious children. If Jesus tarries, they will be the future of this country -- this country needs them!
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