Christians believe - at least, it seems to me they should - that God is the Ground of All Reality. The Christian conception of God, what is revealed of Him to us in the Bible, is that "in Him we live, and move, and have our being." (Ac. 17:28) In other words, if God ceased to exist, so would everything else. If this is true (and, of course, I believe that it is), then to turn from God is to turn from reality. What should we expect to happen when a person turns from Reality? What is likely to occur if a whole nation turns from Reality? I think we're seeing what will happen played out in North America right now.
It isn't that there has been a sharp, sudden move away from God in North America; it's just that the societal drift from Him over the last several decades has developed some momentum and the effects of doing so are appearing now with greater rapidity and extremity. I remember when I was a child, tobogganning down King Hill in the winter time. If the hill had seen a lot of use, the snow would be hard packed and very slippery. All I had to do was sit on the toboggan and lurch forward a few times and the toboggan would begin to slide. For the first fifteen or twenty feet my descent was slow, but as I continued to slip down the icy incline of the hill, my speed changed dramatically. By the time I was near the bottom of the slope, I was rocketing along, a high-speed projectile in need of a soft bank of snow in which to come to rest. Not a few times, I shot right through whatever unpacked snow there was at the bottom of the hill into the bushes and trees beyond. It seems to me now a bit of a miracle that I didn't poke out an eye, or impale myself on a branch, or break a bone or two. Thank goodness for thick, protective winter wear and the resilience of youth (and a diligent guardian angel)!
In any case, my careening trip down King Hill on a toboggan shares some similarities with the slide into illusion - or should I say delusion - that is on display at present in North American culture. It has taken some time for the slide to pick up speed, but we are, as a society, quickly reaching the "high-speed projectile" stage. What am I talking about, exactly? Here's a few prominent examples (my linking to the articles below is NOT an endorsement of the site on which they appear or even of the articles in their entirety):
Becoming disabled by choice, not chance: 'Transabled' people feel like impostors in their fully working bodies
Rachel Dolezal's definition of 'transracial' isn't just wrong, it's destructive | Syreeta McFadden
Caitlyn Jenner Regrets Transitioning To A Woman, Wants To Become Bruce Again: Report
Trans-Species? Meet the Grown Men Who Identify as Dogs...
"Trans" no longer means "across" (as in trans-Atlantic or transfer). It is the prefix a culture racing headlong into insanity has chosen to legitimize and describe its insanity. A man dressing up as a puppy, and getting his ears scratched and his tummy rubbed, and eating from a dog dish is not warped and deluded, but merely "transpecied." A fellow cutting off his arm because he believes it is better to live without it isn't nuts but simply "transabled." Insert "trans" in front of whatever vile and/or psychologically-unhinged practice appeals to you and it seems the culture will now accommodate it. So, what is the world coming to, you ask? It is coming to the only place it can come to when it has denied the Ground of All Reality who is God: full-blown, unbridled insanity. If history is anything to go by, when a culture is this far gone, it cannot be retrieved from eventual dissolution.
What can those who have embraced Reality, who have embraced God, do? Pray. And pray some more. We must also not be intimidated into silence by the increasingly fascist left-wing segment of the culture that is so rabidly promoting the insanity described above. We are commanded by our Heavenly Father to let our light shine, to be beacons of purity, reason and truth even - and perhaps particularly - among people who crave darkness and delusion. We must be steadfastly counter-culture and understand that our time of ease and peace among the lost is coming to an end. But this we ought to expect. Scripture warns us of the trouble disciples of Christ will inevitably face as they speak his truth in the midst of a nation mad for fantasy and illusion (Jn. 15:18 - 20). However things look from our perspective, God remains in control. However unlikely it seems, God's will is being accomplished. He reigns holy and supreme and one day every knee will bend before Him and every tongue confess that it is so (Phil. 2:9-11)
John 16:33
33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Selah.
It isn't that there has been a sharp, sudden move away from God in North America; it's just that the societal drift from Him over the last several decades has developed some momentum and the effects of doing so are appearing now with greater rapidity and extremity. I remember when I was a child, tobogganning down King Hill in the winter time. If the hill had seen a lot of use, the snow would be hard packed and very slippery. All I had to do was sit on the toboggan and lurch forward a few times and the toboggan would begin to slide. For the first fifteen or twenty feet my descent was slow, but as I continued to slip down the icy incline of the hill, my speed changed dramatically. By the time I was near the bottom of the slope, I was rocketing along, a high-speed projectile in need of a soft bank of snow in which to come to rest. Not a few times, I shot right through whatever unpacked snow there was at the bottom of the hill into the bushes and trees beyond. It seems to me now a bit of a miracle that I didn't poke out an eye, or impale myself on a branch, or break a bone or two. Thank goodness for thick, protective winter wear and the resilience of youth (and a diligent guardian angel)!
In any case, my careening trip down King Hill on a toboggan shares some similarities with the slide into illusion - or should I say delusion - that is on display at present in North American culture. It has taken some time for the slide to pick up speed, but we are, as a society, quickly reaching the "high-speed projectile" stage. What am I talking about, exactly? Here's a few prominent examples (my linking to the articles below is NOT an endorsement of the site on which they appear or even of the articles in their entirety):
Becoming disabled by choice, not chance: 'Transabled' people feel like impostors in their fully working bodies
Rachel Dolezal's definition of 'transracial' isn't just wrong, it's destructive | Syreeta McFadden
Caitlyn Jenner Regrets Transitioning To A Woman, Wants To Become Bruce Again: Report
Trans-Species? Meet the Grown Men Who Identify as Dogs...
"Trans" no longer means "across" (as in trans-Atlantic or transfer). It is the prefix a culture racing headlong into insanity has chosen to legitimize and describe its insanity. A man dressing up as a puppy, and getting his ears scratched and his tummy rubbed, and eating from a dog dish is not warped and deluded, but merely "transpecied." A fellow cutting off his arm because he believes it is better to live without it isn't nuts but simply "transabled." Insert "trans" in front of whatever vile and/or psychologically-unhinged practice appeals to you and it seems the culture will now accommodate it. So, what is the world coming to, you ask? It is coming to the only place it can come to when it has denied the Ground of All Reality who is God: full-blown, unbridled insanity. If history is anything to go by, when a culture is this far gone, it cannot be retrieved from eventual dissolution.
What can those who have embraced Reality, who have embraced God, do? Pray. And pray some more. We must also not be intimidated into silence by the increasingly fascist left-wing segment of the culture that is so rabidly promoting the insanity described above. We are commanded by our Heavenly Father to let our light shine, to be beacons of purity, reason and truth even - and perhaps particularly - among people who crave darkness and delusion. We must be steadfastly counter-culture and understand that our time of ease and peace among the lost is coming to an end. But this we ought to expect. Scripture warns us of the trouble disciples of Christ will inevitably face as they speak his truth in the midst of a nation mad for fantasy and illusion (Jn. 15:18 - 20). However things look from our perspective, God remains in control. However unlikely it seems, God's will is being accomplished. He reigns holy and supreme and one day every knee will bend before Him and every tongue confess that it is so (Phil. 2:9-11)
John 16:33
33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Selah.
