Top Three Takeaways – January 19th, 2021
- What do you stand for? The group Fun, sang about this several years ago. In a symbolically ironic way, the video was a civil war reenactment. Right now, as the country stands bitterly divided, is a time to know what you stand for because times are changing. You’ll often hear me talk of the premise. If the premise of anything is false anything built on it will fail too. I’ve found over the years that most of the geopolitical threats to the premise of our country, our Constitution, you name it, derive from those who don’t specifically stand for anything. The biggest difference in our society today, compared to times of great political change previously, is found with our perceived premise. As recently as 1967, 98% of Americans believed in God according to Gallup. Most recently, 21% of Americans polled by Gallup don’t and only 64% are convinced God exists. For the faithful, a belief in God, is our personal premise. Incidentally, it’s our country’s premise as well. God was cited four times by our founders in the Declaration of Independence and related values crafted our Bill of Rights. That takes us to...
- Self-determination. The faithful know that whether it’s a pandemic, the Holocaust or a war, misery is largely derived from self-determination. When people engage in sinful activity, there’s generally a negative, often tangible consequence. But what if you don’t believe in God? What if you don’t have a specific moral compass? What if you think our country’s founding is flawed in part because it was founded on beliefs you don’t hold? At that point you can just make up your own value system, your own rules and shutdown those don’t agree. Sound familiar? Whether it’s what’s happening with big tech’s censorship, the cancel culture or what’s threatening radical political change in Washington – there's one clear and consistent theme. They don’t share the same values; they aren’t grounded with same premise and thus they don’t respect our country as founded. But they do know what they stand for. That’s why it’s important to...
- Know what you stand for and if you believe it say it. Last week I spoke at length regarding the unprecedented threat to our First Amendment by big tech censorship, aided by their allies in news media and hard left politicians who’re soon to assume power. The next two years will be two of the most important in American history as there’s an active effort underway by those who’ve created their own premise to radically alter our country as founded. For decades the faithful stood by as God was stripped from our schools via a Supreme Court ruling and subsequent actions of a newly created Department of Education. We’ve watched as two generations of adults raised in that environment increasingly shunned God, our Constitution and the once shared values that allowed for there to be more which united Americans than separated us from each other. Last week I called on you to no longer cave to political correctness, and to never vote for politicians who’d support the limiting of our First Amendment rights. Today, I’d ask you to be clear regarding what you stand for because those seeking to tear this country apart from its founding are clear on what they’re doing. It’s important for those of us who believe in God and in the greatness of our country to be clear on what we stand for. And to not be afraid to speak up. It’s not likely a coincidence that the further removed from our society God is, the more negative our outcomes have become and the more separated from each other we’ve become. Now is a time where our society needs more faith, not the decades long continuation of less. And if you believe but won’t speak up who will? And if you don’t, at what point will you no longer have the right to? I don’t have all of the answers but I know who does. That's where we should all be looking for answers.
Photo Credit: Getty Images