It seems many are surprised by the outcomes of the USA Presidential elections, and the results also for Congress and the Senate. All of which it appears added to confusion already created by the Brexit result. Apparently the popular media, and modernist urbane societies, could not understand how such decision could occur. Quite clearly the silent majority spoke, the so called rise of the conservative and rust belt/working class vote shouting loudest when it mattered.
Perhaps surprised as they did not believe people thought their agenda was not ok. The silence of the majority partly because so many were vilified, called bigots, homophobes, lazy, simplistic, old fashioned, and much nastier names, whenever they dared counter the secularist/humanist manifesto which was a type of selfish, educated socialist capitalism, a malaise of social ways, which effectively was all relativistic in its values, and more about self-gain. There are of course those that see globalism as part of the so called unifying of mankind, however the sacrifices that seem to require it terms of identity, beliefs, societal values, is proving too much for the silent majority.
While for some of the persecutors of biblical Christianity have some sense of social justice, it appears is based purely of a slipping scale that is all fitted in to an Industrial Age view of conformists and tolerance of anything that does not rock the boat and interrupt the system, and runs to the motto of all is allowable “as long as it is not in my backyard”. Often they reject Christ because of the errors in the church, and have been deceived to believe that their desire to care for some hurting can even mean the sacrifice of faith in God, because they have believed actions of an uncaring the messenger of God, are those of God Himself. Or maybe they have lost faith in His bigger perspective, and do not trust Him. Indeed, for many secularists they see it is necessary to reject religion as it creates belief systems that place a greater value on a way of life and person (God) that is eventually contradictory to one that requires a non-individual identity world view, and an acceptance that each person needs to see that they are a necessary placement in a type of industrial production system made of people, and all are production units first.
The traditional family and associated ethics matter
However, consider the views of the traditional/conservative voters, and perhaps you can see why they became so concerned at rapid escalation of secularism at almost any cost, where Christians are openly persecuted. For many the Bible simply states much of what they are supposed to tolerate is morally wrong. Let us consider some of these concerns, however remember that these are not the only reasons for the uprising of the silent majority.
For them murder/abortion is wrong, which Clinton and many other modernist apparently cannot accept as they think that it is okay even up to the point of delivery – apparently a woman’s choice is more important that a defenceless life. Changing the name from baby to foetus doesn’t change the reality. It’s a baby. For them a woman has a right to decide what happens to her own body. But all of our rights stop when they violate the rights of another – in this case the unborn. The main biblical purposes of authority is to speak on behalf of those who have no voice. The unborn qualify. They wait silently for someone to stand up and speak. God speaks of knowing us before we were conceived, and knowing us in our mother’s womb, and that life is gift. It seems liberals (even apparently “Christians”) have refused to do recognise these truths, as well as preferring others. The sign of a decaying society is one that cannot treasure the unborn.
For conservative Christians they believe that one of the primary responsibilities of the government to protect its citizens. When someone like Clinton does not protect representatives who were crying out for help at Benghazi, or other government officials stand by as their citizens suffer death and torture for their beliefs or for being their citizen so as to protect the world system, why would they not wonder who they are actually governing. Such people find it hard to accept that the citizens of their community or nation can be sacrificed for the greater good of a type of “peace” amongst nations, which in reality if more a type of chess game played by certain players where they are in fact happy to waste a “pawn” for the greater strategy.
Many have the view that compassion for immigrants is vital, but also believe this should not be at the cost of the foundational beliefs of their nations, and should value the safety for its citizens. Many see that the open boarders violate such a responsibility, creating an impossible task for our law enforcement officers and immigration works who already live in the daily challenge of risking their lives to provide safety for all enter our borders, citizens or not. We also have a great need to demonstrate compassion to those who are here illegally to come to a redemptive solution where possible. On the other hand what right do our leaders have of choosing what laws they want to enforce or ignore. The global alliances of nations pressure all to take in their proportion accepting immigrants at almost any costs, and to some extent complicit with the view that such uncontrolled intakes creates the very compromise malaise of beliefs that they seek.
This is not an easy issue, as the Bible makes it clear that we should welcome the stranger and alien, however it is also true that they are to also fully embrace the God, laws, and societal values of that nation. In addition, the capacity of the people of the nation needs to meet the care demand of all who arrive…and for too long many have seen that as government’s role, and the church seemingly unable to meet the need due to dwindling hearts and people. Above all, love should be given to all.
Trust is the key
Honesty is a core value of God’s kingdom, and Clinton and many others have violated that value. While some delete hundreds of thousands of emails, or documents (some of them classified) to cover their own tracks, and perhaps cover the fact that they in fact do not govern according to what people believe they were elected to do. There actions to be made regardless of the safety of their state or nation. This, to be fair, is certainly not something many see only Clinton is guilty of, as many politicians struggle with transparency in their actions, with so called open government often given lip service, but little content. Fundamentally, the decisions of those appointed to govern, and the actions they take on our behalf, must be made in the context that all are equal, and obliged to accept that everyone is subject to the basic rule of law, and such people in government are not the sole bearers of all relevant knowledge. Openness creates trust, and this stance should be default, and secrecy needs to be applied only when truly necessary.
For the conservative redefining the family according to the latest immoral code is in fact cursed by God. Tragically this is a primary focus and value of the modernist politicians who believe that they can redefine any social definition of the family or community, regardless of the established design of the Creator, and that has stood the test of time. Sadly, love has become confused for many through abuse, fractured families, and well planned deception by a spirit and a movement that preys on the vulnerable, and has as it heart the destruction of religion, and the focus on a hedonistic lifestyle. It seems people believe they can define what love is, and when challenging Biblical views on marriage and family, they appear to have forgotten God is love, and it is only He that defines it. In fact, His very word is also love, as His direct and perfect expression of love is Christ, who is also the Word of God and one with Father God. It is true that while many conservatives need to return to love, rather than religious zeal. It is also the case that those with liberal theology, and a heart for social justice, need to do so also, for their focus must on God, and out of love trust His way…and seek to heal the broken hearts who are now confused about love due to man’s intervention.
Many biblical Christians believe that he who blesses Israel is blessed of the Lord, and that the present liberal agenda has put at risk decades of success with this important ally. For them it is hard to understand how the UN and many others can simply re-write history to continue the constant persecution of the Jews, by taking from them they right for a home nation, and it seems ignore the fact that for many thousands of years they had one, and it is called Israel. It is true those, that in the blessing of Israel, this must be done through the wisdom of God, and not contrary to His will and new Covenant. Sacrificing the ultimate gift of God, freedom and eternal life in Christ should never occur.
Globalism should not mean conformity
Conformity seems to reigns, and the resultant political correctness is nothing new, however Jesus Himself faced these challenges. He refused to be governed by popular opinion. For many the fear of man, which is the goal of political correctness, is a stench in the nostrils of God for it removes freedom to think for oneself. The message He presented one clearly that each of us has a unique identity and purpose in God, and this should be allowed its full expression within the framework defined by the Lord (Grace and truth), and yet cognisant that we are part of a “body” of which different roles to play that are designed by the Creator to form a perfect community wide one-ness while not sacrificing our individual design. This inter-dependent view, requiring some key fundamental ingredients for true unity – a belief that there is only one head to the body (God), and love (sacrificial, unconditional) holds us together.
God values each nation uniquely, and that the present move towards globalization is nothing more than a modern Tower of Babel. For many of the conservative Christians what they see is the globalisation of communities and economies is man’s efforts towards creating unity through uniformity, instead of being free to celebrate diversity both with individuals and nations. There is a danger of a new found antagonistic nationalism rising up as a response to the radical secularism/socialism associated with this global movement, and so it is an imperative to support the desire of people and nations to have their own unique expression and identity, as well as strive for the type of unity noted above, that has as its glue a love that is full of grace and mercy, but does not ignore truth, places a very strong value on protecting these loving relationships, but acknowledges that there is a God who sits over all, and the focus on Him will necessarily addressing the tendency of man centric systems having a slippery slope of values.
It is somewhat ironic that those of the postmodern secularism junta can believe they have the right to persecute religions as the see them as the enemy of all be unifed, when in fact in many way humankind, and the planet we are on are all intertwined, and our actions very much effect each other without some sort of conspired sense of connectedness. This is inherit in God’s creation, and the truth that ‘no man is an island’ means that unless we follow the lead of God by His Holy Spirit, and live within His design principles, our connectedness means we will all suffer the effects of each other’s sins…except for those who have received Christ as He breaks the binds of sin that restrain us from His freedom
Many in the media of course, seem to promulgate this new world order, for reasons known to them, the core of their support is the spirit behind the lies, and this type of acknowledge they are well placed to gain from the wealth of such a system. Counter culture characters, that particularly challenge these “modern views” become the target of ridicule, and absolute lies. The imperfect characters of protagonists apparently fair fodder for every accusation under the sun (that generally did not exist until they stuck the head up for political office), and without any room for forgiveness. Most conservatives are not foolish, and in many ways will be challenged by the history of characters like Trump, and perhaps concerned about his true motivation. However, there comes a time where they can also see that this is much more about the fate of their sense of community and the nation’s future, and are prepared to trust in God and actually believe in statements of apology.
Conservatism without love is a loud clanging bell
While these view of family, life, and beliefs are important, and the apparent rapid erosion of great concern, there is also the core issue of unemployment, the widening gap between the rich and poor, and the ever increasing costs of living, against a back drop of low or no wages growth. Large swathes of the Industrial Age industries such as agriculture and manufacturing have been impacted by productivity improvements due to technology advances, and the use of cheap overseas labour. In the meanwhile, those earning the gain from such improvements in output have largely hand balled societal care to government, rather than use their wealth for the good of all. Such a shift resulting in people left unemployed in great numbers, with communities suffering…all because industry and government saw it as someone else responsibility. It seems certain that the father of capitalism Adam Smith would turn in his grave when he sees the economic systems of today, as his’ wealth of nations’ was premise on the moral sentiment of all, and the knowledge that wealth is a gift of God, and largely by grace, and not of works lest we should boost. Capitalism as we have developed it is at the cross roads…because many have forgotten God, and truly prefer themselves over others.
Hear is the conservatives’ dilemma, as rightly so many on the social left see those labelled as such as right wing fundamentalist as appearing to care little for the needs of the poor. Sadly, their policies appear to reflect this, probably as a blind assumption that the economic rationalism they have been trained in will somehow make it all ok, and yet the social morals of wealthy and corporations seemed to have slipped to a place where the gain of wealth for the sake of it was the only goal. Perhaps though, there is also a deeper challenge.
The Deeper Challenge
For many understand that God gives us the ability to make wealth, and that merely giving people money without work can create a lifestyle of dependency that is dangerous for them and our government. Where this becomes problematic is the definition of work seems limited, and determined by tradition, and based on an apparent lack of value for caring and equipping family and community. It is true though, that failed liberal agenda espoused by many actually creates the problems they claim to fix. The welfare system masquerades as compassionate when it actually robs people of their much needed self-esteem gained in their ability to work, and some become dependent on this state income and see little reason to work. Each person has the right to work to create wealth for their families in order to break the cycle of systemic poverty. This is the heart God for every household of every race. The problem won’t be fixed by merely throwing money at the problem. But neither will it be fixed without throwing money at the problem. People compassionately helping people is desperately needed. It is also the privileged responsibility of any society to care for those who cannot care for themselves.
Many conservatives see socialism is contrary to Jesus and His teachings. He strongly taught of the importance of giving to the poor. But when he talked about taking from the one person who had one talent (a sum of money) and gave it to the one who had the most, He appears to have disqualified himself from being a socialist. For some Socialism robs people of personal identity and liberty at the expense of national control and power. When government takes from the rich to give to the poor they can be robbing the wealthy of the self-esteem gained from being a part of the solution through compassion. True compassion is when you freely give your money to those in need, not when you take it from one to give to another. Yet, there is little true reward for those who do, and government’s often have simply responded to the failure of the rich to care for the vulnerable and less well off, and not just because of some socialist agenda. Tax incentives to encourage giving appear to be failing as evidenced by the widening gap of the wealthy and poor. In such an environment, it is easy to see why governments had to act to try and more fairly distribute gain…and the wealthy were not. Citing the rights of the individual, many conservatives have lost sight of the fact we are created to care for each other, and our blessing we receive is to bless others.
It is not sufficient to complain about this enforced social support system when you do not provide an alternative. One should not blame Adam Smith for what has become of capitalism, He assume a society framework built on the fear of God, and the command to love your neighbour, and the understanding we are all part of family, body. The very nature of government intervention largely to address the falling morals of a society to truly care for each other. The one whose first concern was the moral sentiment, on which was based the wealth of nation, would be shaking his head at the lack of awareness of the wealth that their gain is by grace and not for their own benefits, but also for the community in which they live. Christ made it clear we are to care for all, particularly the weak, prisoner, alien, defenceless, poor, neighbour, and that the wealth is in fact God’s (not ours), and our trust should be in His provision, not the work of our hands. The Bible makes it clear that if you have the provision to help another’s needs you should act…not just say “I’ll pray for you”, and then judge them as to why they cannot provide for their own needs. It deserved to be repeated..’Capitalism is indeed at the cross roads’ because it has forgotten the very foundations upon which is was based.
Capitalism is designed to have a heart
Conservatives, and the church, need to take a long look in to their hearts, and challenge their motivation, for unless those who gain for modern productivity can help other develop new skills, and perhaps also provide a greater value for the care of the weak, addressing the massive discrepancy in the wages of the employed, government will have no choice but to act. We need to find a heart, and go beyond charitable donations, to truly providing housing for the homeless, reducing the cost of homes so that both parents do not have to go to work, addressing key infrastructure needs, food for the hungry, rightly value the protection and healing of our people (including the key role of mothering). Government needs to free the shackles of the individual, encouraging innovation, the creation of wealth, protecting its citizens, and the key Judeo Christian beliefs that are the bedrock of a thriving and caring society.
It seems to that we need to remember the key motto of Christianity, “not by works that we should boast”, and rediscover that grace and mercy are undeserved, and yet we must move with such motivations. Yes, diligence, and a good work ethic are biblical principles, and laziness should be frowned on, however we need to be quick to offer such a hand of help, rather that judging and assuming the worst. In addition, in a world where up to 40% of roles in the western world will be gone in the next 20 years, we need to revalue that which truly matters, and also understand that unless we help those who are either in those roles and cannot be reskilled, or are not able to participate in the new economy due to poverty as they are caught in the disruptions that can impact the innocent within a whole industry that crumbles in this digital age. The current culture means many more will fall in to the poverty trap, unless industry and the more wealth understand they have a role to play to help those not being blessed..
Wealth is a gift of grace, much more than one of hard work, and therefore its recipients must extend such grace and help spread this wealth for the betterment of all. Society needs to strive for healthy, connected communities and people, who are valued for their unique contributions to it, and rediscover the importance in ensuring that families have truly supported to be the nurturing, safe, innovative, creative, and caring nucleus that is essential for a prosperous society.
True Corporate Citizenship
As part of this, corporations must step up to their function in community to provide for its needs in much the way it seems only governments now do so. Notional contributions to road and community infrastructure do occur by developers, but only because they are required to by government. This should come out of sense of true corporate responsibility. This need goes much further to the other major entities such as banks, manufacturers, media, tech companies, and beyond. In the industrial Age’s earlier era there were certainly abuses of works, but there were also some employers and individuals who saw their gain must go towards the welfare of the workers and the community. Building houses, roads, and providing for daily needs.
In this the so called digital industrial revolution/second industrial age, there is no less need. In fact, the requirement is extreme, but so too the wealth being generated. As an example, banks seems to gain more from higher mortgages, and see no need to address the lack of affordable housing, and yet this is what they should do. Wealthy individuals are apparently willing to own many homes, and build bigger ones, and yet ignore the state of their brother who lives in squalor. In the end, not addressing these issues will hurt all. It may not come quickly, but it will come, and not addressing these issues will see all lose. That is a certainty.
Centring on God, restores conservatives; meeting God saves liberals.
We all need to takes stock of what is truly important. Conservatives do have much to add in terms of restoring better moral values and beliefs to a society, however for the many who also seem opposed to socialism, they must realise that in doing so you need to step up and offer the assistance that they you criticise governments for doing. In reality this is the job of all – government/kings, companies, and the community, and particularly those with the means. For the liberals and socialist, we should cherish the heart and inspiration you bring to see care for the needy, however they need to (re)discover God, and place a trust in the very system He has created where the balance of the individual, family, and community is achieved through a framework of love, grace, truth, and freedom that can indeed mean all share in a healthy and prosperous society…under God.
There are those, who reject God, and believe that a postmodern system needs to have as it core fundamental premise that all can determine their own morality, what is a healthy lifestyle, and really leverage the selfish needs of some, rather than pursuing what the Lord wants, and the basic commands to love God, and each other. The Lord is issue a call to both sides..to rediscover the heart of God’s love for them, and in turn respond in love to Him, and their neighbours…acknowledging He is Lord.
Kingdom Blog 