Navigating Cultural Shifts: Upholding Christian Values

One of the studies that is quite shocking is the work of the political scientist Charles Murray, I recommend reading this book entitled, 'Coming Apart: The Story of White America, 1960-2010: Charles Murray'. His thesis is not encouraging; you see the title of his book -- America is coming apart. [00:01:02]

The four principles of cultural success from America's founding; and they are -- honesty, industry, marriage and religion; summed up in the term 'virtue'. How is virtue doing in the present society is really what he says. George Washington in his farewell address argued that so long as they remain any virtue in the body of the people, then we will never fall into monarchy, oligarchy, aristocracy or other despotic or oppressive forms. [00:01:41]

And unless a great awakening takes place that rediscovers these founding principles, all is lost. But can we expect this to happen? And if we cannot, indeed all is lost. For Murray, really doesn't look either at the religious side of things. It's only the sort of moral habits of the people. [00:02:53]

The political philosopher and former president of the Italian Senate Marcello Pera, stated "The apostasy from Christianity is exposing the entire West to the risk of a grave cultural and political crisis and perhaps even to the collapse of the civilization." So here you have people from Italy, the sociologists arguing that our culture is lost. [00:03:41]

The moral crusade for sexual egalitarianism, which I think is the tip of the spear is running roughshod over the very notion of the image of God. It is indeed the embodiment and sacrament of Oneism. Melanie Phillips who I cited earlier, who talked about the attack on Western civilization argues indeed, that sexuality is the battering ram against the fundamental tenets of Western culture in order to destroy it and replace it with a new type of society altogether. [00:04:37]

And this revolution is taking place within a single generation. We used to say, "You're on the wrong side of history," actually that means "you're on the wrong side of the latest news cycle." Things are happening so much. And the culture is falling apart morally. I read an article which said, "Most industry watchers say -- fornication has never been as widely on display on television ever," and you know that. [00:05:19]

The reason is that what society allows must become normative in the way we run society. So by redefining marriage as the union of any two people (and eventually we will see this extended to any number of people), the belief in exclusive heterosexual monogamy is repudiated by federal law, and the normativity of pansexuality is affirmed by the highest laws of the land. [00:08:33]

And so we see the invasion of the schools, the brainwashing of the next generation is underway. In the subtle introduction both of Eastern spirituality and of what we call, Pansexuality. This is really a recruitment technique for the changing of the minds of the next generation of citizens; who are, sort of, forced to believe that any sexuality is OK, you see. [00:09:31]

And you find yourself, you see, in a totally immoral culture. In the name of the rights of some, you have relativized everything. And you are discriminatory when you affirm your views of things and you must be silenced. And that's really I think where we're going and you've seen it on numerous occasions in the last few years. [00:14:04]

In terms of epistemology (the theory of knowledge), according to postmodernism -- "Distinctions between 'true' and 'false' must be abandoned as socially constructed illusions." So at the philosophical level, we're getting rid of the binary of 'true' and 'false'. In terms of science, the human is being joyously celebrated as co-creator of the cosmos. [00:16:10]

The apostle Paul concludes as he looks at the Roman Empire, "For this reason, God gave them over to dishonorable passions. And to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done." Is our culture at this stage? -- the stage of being "Given over?" Alas, because of the intimidation factor, a number of Christians are tempted to give in. Let's not do that. [00:23:16]