Thursday, November 8, 2012

Thoughts on Demise of America from C.S. Lewis and Pastor Dick Jones

C.S. Lewis saw the dangerous trajectory of Western culture over a half century ago. He wrote:

“In a sort of ghastly simplicity, we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fr

uitful.”

Most Americans are “men without chests” today and each time this becomes evident, as it did last night, we find ourselves in despair. The fact is that the majority of Americans elected a President who supports abortion, infanticide, gay marriage, radical environmentalism, government enforced redistribution of wealth, and the secularization of our culture. Those who voted for President Obama did not do it halfheartedly, as we who voted for Governor Romney. They were enthusiastic about his candidacy because they recognized him as one of their own. We voted for Romney as a Hobson’s Choice, the lesser of the evils. Even if we had won, there is a sense in which we would have still lost, for, as Charles Krauthammer said last night, we nominated a Massachusetts liberal to run against a liberal from Chicago.

We must come to terms with the fact that Americans are more divided today than they have been since the War Between the States. And no—it is not about the economy, stupid. It is about core principles and yes, it is a culture war and friends, we are losing.

Republicans are a diverse group, it’s true—Tea Partiers, libertarians, neo-conservatives, a few paleo-conservatives, and the religious right. Ironically, Republicans have become more diverse than Democrats, which is supposed to be the party of diversity. One thing we Republicans have in common, and it’s not pleasant to admit it the morning after taking a licking at the polls: We sent a businessman to do a job that requires a General; a gentleman when we needed a scrapper, a basically nice man when we needed a good man. But then, in the words of the late Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find.

So what are we Christians to do? When General Nathan Bedford Forrest found himself surrounded in battle, he heard his men cry, “General, do we surrender?” He declared, “Charge ‘em both ways!”
We redouble our efforts to build strong marriages, families, vital churches, and good schools and conservative communities, while continuing to participate in the culture that we have largely lost. We do not surrender; we charge ‘em both ways! We do not withdraw from the culture or politics because we don’t like how it feels to get our clock cleaned. Nor do we allow ourselves to become pessimists without hope. Our hope has never been in men but only in King Jesus.

Committed Christians who purpose to bring their faith to bear on culture in conformity to the principles of Scripture are a minority in America today. But God has often used frail, weak men—remnants— to accomplish his purposes. Perhaps He will again.

Pastor Dick Jones, Christ Presbyterian Church
New Braunfels, TX

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