Although the world may be divided, every nation has had its share of unifying causes. For America, the last one came to an end in July 1969 with a footprint on the moon. That singular event brought to conclusion the last cause that Americans far and wide supported with great enthusiasm. Not since then have Americans united behind a national objective with such fervor.
These days what have replaced causes are slogans. Slogans serve to unite factions of the populace. They offer a rallying cry, a chant often devoid of substance. The American presidential campaigns have given us some examples of slogans trotted out to promote a cause -- most of them vowing to influence society: "America Needs a Change"; "A Kinder, Gentler Nation"; Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow"; "The Better Man For A Better America"; "Yes, America Can!"; Yes We Can!"; and the ever popular, "Change We Need." It seems as if every campaign pitches rhetoric out in an attempt to rally voters around a slogan filled with empty promises and undeliverable -- if not simply unbelievable -- goals.
Today's fragmented culture reflects our lack of unifying causes. Each cause becomes equal to the next. Here we have saving the environment equal to stopping the war equal to treating animals humanely equal to providing food for the homeless equal to preventing the murder of children equal to universal health care and on the litany goes. One's personal cause is determined by preferences, peer pressure, propaganda, personal values, and sometimes just plain misinformation. Today's world would have us rally around the serious and the frivolous -- giving equal weight and attention to both.
Men, we need to rally around a cause -- not a slogan. We need substance, not smoke. We need a unifying cause that can ultimately change the world -- one person at a time. I would suggest we take up the cause of living out our God-given roles as spiritual leaders and eliminate slogans altogether. If we do, we just might, by God's grace, change the world for the better -- one man at a time.
Is that a cause worth working for?
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I think the problem isn’t that we don’t have a good cause, but that we don’t have a unified country. Regardless of the “cause”, these days, it’s impossible to find anything that the entire country agrees on. In the 1960s, all (at least most) adults got behind the “go to the moon” idea. At the end of WWII, most adults appreciated the freedoms protected by our brave soldiers. But the late 60’s and beyond changed all that. Today we can’t even get consensus on the right of people to live, much less liberty or the pursuit of happiness, or that marriage means a man and a woman are involved in the marriage. People used to think Hitler was a bad guy. But he didn’t come close to killing as many people as our supreme court has with its abortion decision. And at least he used gas. He didn’t rip them apart into small pieces. And today, half of the supreme court and a lot of the lower court justices, believe they can interpret the constitution as they want, rather than the way it’s written. And no one stops them.
Yes there was always a faction of people who didn’t go to church, or believe in God. But everyone accepted the right of others to believe what they wanted. And there was respect, if not agreement between them. And even for those who didn’t believe in God, they still were in favor of “good” over “evil”. In fact, this country was founded on freedom of religion. Notice I didn’t say freedom “from” religion. In the last 30-40 years, the world has changed. No longer is there respect for other’s ideas or opinions. Now they are trying to rewrite history to eliminate any reference to the religious beliefs or influence of our founding fathers. Can you imagine if we built a new government building today and someone suggested we include the ten commandments or any religious symbol in the architecture (except Muslim of course)? What’s going to happen if we ever release a new paper currency? Will it have “In God We Trust” on it? Now It’s “my way or the highway”. Good is now considered stupid or even unacceptable. And evil is not even accepted as existing. If you are not politically correct, there is no place for you in this country. I don’t know what God thinks about this country. But He wept over Jerusalem. I assume He weeps over the U.S. on a regular basis.
We have to stop letting evil walk all over us. It’s time we got our country back. People often think that God doesn’t want us to fight. We are supposed to turn the other cheek. But I recall that Jesus didn’t turn the other cheek with the money changers in the temple. The good news is “God’s Word will not pass away”. The bad news is, the U.S. might. I suggest we pray for this country every day. Maybe God will pull us thru this mess we are in. He was willing to spare Sodom and Gomorra, if He could have found just a few just people.
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