Kings Of Nihilism and Their Followers
Nihilism is defined as the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless.
"..Our coziness with the surrounding culture has made us so blind to many of its evils that instead of calling them into question, we offer our own versions of them - in God's name and with good conscience." Miroslav Volf's Exclusion and Embrace
As we focus and rally around, cancel, and finger-point specific individuals as the cause of our nation's decline we have failed to look at ourselves in the mirror.
Our sinful nature will always reexert itself on this side of heaven.
Each of us falls into our daily patterns of sin.
We pray, we confess, and we repent for this is the pattern our Lord has established for us.
Our counselor The Person of the Holy Spirit gives us the strength to be one with Christ.
In turn our relationship with each other and how we function as citizens allows society to flourish.
The Fear of Man
Our culture like many before it has by and large chosen to reject God.
As that ratio of believers continues to diminish, God in His sovereign justice judges our nation. Like all nations before us, we reap what we sow.
In America, we fear man more than God.
We look to men and their words and their promises over a relationship with Christ.
Many people claim Christ but do not know Him. Jesus is just one more slogan among many.
Politicizing all of life is our desperate attempt to control what only God can control.
Many Christians today want influence in our culture.
But will working harder within the wheels of government give us that influence when we are weak and nominal in our faith?
If we do not even open our Bibles, if we do not pray and fear God what good is our witness to the world?
Will endorsing men of little or no faith lead us to repentance as a people and as individuals?
We as followers of Christ must take the Good News into all areas of society.
Our calling is to fear God more than men.
Kings of Nihilism
Joe Biden and Donald Trump have clearly demonstrated their contempt for the electorate.
Neither man has any high ground left to claim.
Many evangelicals have rallied behind Donald Trump as their "Obi-Wan Kenobi."
A vision has developed within the Heritage Foundation Project 2025 for an ideological framework for the Trump Administration.
Go to the website and read through the documents.
It all sounds amazing and puts Christian ideology into government. Many of the changes proposed no doubt are needed.
Here is a blurb from the Project 2025 website: It is not enough for conservatives to win elections. If we are going to rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left, we need both a governing agenda and the right people in place, ready to carry this agenda out on Day One of the next conservative Administration.
This is the goal of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project. The project will build on four pillars that will, collectively, pave the way for an effective conservative Administration.
Is Project 2025 a political power play?
Are there Godly men within its ranks seeking the best for our nation?
How can this project be spearheaded by a man who abuses the rule of law and uses Christianity as a fundraiser to be effective for Christ if they "impose" their beliefs on the people?
The frontmen for Trump and Project 2025 do not present a way (in my opinion) that they can lead America back to God.
Does being conservative equate with faith and trust in God?
Are we replacing the evils of the Left with the evils of the Right?
Only Winning Matters
As nihilism is now the main function of our politics and for much of the culture winning at all costs and by all means has become the goal.
Our pride and selfish ambitions lead the charge.
We no longer love our neighbor or the stranger, the other.
Money and material wealth are the elusive goals of many Americans.
Miroslav Volf noted in "Exclusion and Embrace": "..Our coziness with the surrounding culture has made us so blind to many of its evils that instead of calling them into question, we offer our own versions of them - in God's name and with good conscience."
Have American churches become accomplices to the strife we see today?
Volf goes on to say: " Christian communities, which should be "the salt" of the culture, are too often as insipid as everything around them."
At least we do not forget there are still many faithful congregations and individual Christians in America. But as that faithful remnant shrinks...
What to Do?
Men and women of high moral standards do not go into government in our time.
People keep coming up with reasons and excuses to vote for both presidential candidates. Pastor Doug Wilson said to consider it chemo for our nation if Trump is re-elected.
Others have said that it is only the issues that matter and if Trump transactionally does what we want whatever else he does is ok.
But the reality is that Trump may lead us down an even darker road than the one we are on now.
We must now pick our poison and pray for God's mercy!
Read this excellent article by Carl Trueman.
Trump-ite evangelicalism or Biden-ist Catholicism?
"Cultural times are hard for traditional Christians. American evangelicalism has proved a fruitful target for those both outside and inside the Church who want to stir up popular panic about Christian Nationalism, racism, homophobia, and all the other ill-defined but nonetheless mortal sins of our day. Evangelicalism is presented as the root of all contemporary evils. Donald Trump’s recent hawking of a Bible bound together with America’s founding documents simply adds fuel to this fire. But in a week where it seemed that Trump’s would be the most blasphemous action of a leading politician, President Biden outdid him at the last minute, declaring that this year Easter Sunday would be an official day of trans visibility, and predictably characterizing any who disagreed with him as motivated by hate.
As conservatives decried the declaration, the president’s supporters pointed out that the trans day of visibility has been held on March 31 since 2009. Its coincidence with Easter this year is just that: a coincidence. But this scarcely exculpates the president. There was no need for a formal White House statement on the day. More importantly, the underlying theology of trans ideology that problematizes the human body and legitimates hormonal and genital mutilation assumes an anthropology at odds with Christian teaching, which requires respect for the human body and the distinction between male and female. So the president was still celebrating the desecration of the image of God, even as his opponent desecrated the Word of God.
The White House statement was very disturbing yet revealing in its rhetoric. Here is a representative passage:.." from the article: Trump-ite evangelicalism or Biden-ist Catholicism? (currently in The Christian Post, first appeared on First Things)
Visit their website: project2025.org
Nihilism Has Taken Over American Politics
The success of the New Right is the latest evidence of how America is turning away from liberal democracy and toward nihilism. How did we get here?
Now that classical liberalism is most needed, the spirit of our time seems to forbid it. The dreams of making America great again, or returning to normalcy, have been supplanted by the realities of inflation, an energy crisis, and a dehumanizing culture. But while our current material reality may resemble the 1970s, our politics increasingly resemble the 1930s: Our discourse has turned toward nihilism, where nothing really matters except winning. How can we turn the tide toward problem-solving, with the goal of building a brighter future together?.." from the article: Nihilism Has Taken Over American Politics