In the 1960s 1 in 6 Americans belonged to a mainline Protestant church. Today it is 1 in 20, and falling. More broadly, the number of self-described Christians in the US has continued to drop and is now below 70%. The United Methodist Church (UMC) offers a rather poignant example of the confusion and tension when a Protestant church abandons its theological and doctrinal roots.
Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is a macroeconomic theory that has won recent converts, especially presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), who argues that this is how she would finance her radical Green New Deal.
In April 1994, an aircraft bearing Rwanda’s president Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down and Rwanda’s majority ethnic group, the Hutus, blamed the Tutsis and began a systematic massacre of the Tutsis, killing over 800,000 in three months. The Tutsis then rebelled, killing many Hutus and thereby conquering most of Rwanda by mid-July 1994. This egregious slaughter on both sides is one of the great horrors of the 20th century.
Within the Democratic Party, especially within the Progressive Left, support for the B.D.S. Movement is growing. B.D.S. is the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions initiative against Israel, seeking to exert economic, moral and political pressure on Israel. Founded in 2005 with a statement of principles, the B.D.S. “call” has been signed by more than 170 Palestinian organizations around the world.
The year 2014 marked the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s “Great Society” address, delivered at the spring commencement for the University of Michigan. Johnson’s speech remains the most ambitious call to date by any president to use the power of the national government to effect a far-reaching transformation of American society. In a broad sense, the calls of today’s Democratic socialists resemble LBJ’s call.
The controversy over sex education in the public schools is a major cultural issue in America. Since the federal government has gotten involved in funding such programs, it has become even more provocative and controversial.
In mid-February 2019, The Houston Chronicle published a series of articles exposing with “painfully specific documentation,” hundreds of sexual abusers who have worked within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) over the last 20 years.
Some in the progressive left of the Democratic Party are advocating a form of “Democratic Socialism” as the solution to “the inequality in American society and to an economy rigged in the favor of vested interests.” Bernie Sanders is of course the standard bearer of this movement (and to some extent, Elizabeth Warren), but it is now being energized by more radical socialists, principally Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
One of the major political struggles of our day is whether nations are embracing a democratic order, centered in the will of the people, or an authoritarian one, characterized by a strongman who satisfies the demand for a more muscular, assertive leader. After World War II, the optimistic vision was of a more democratic, open world with free trade, open borders and empowered citizens throughout the world. That vision appears to be dead. In fact, some would argue that the world is embracing a more authoritarian order.
Years ago, I read an article written by the late Chuck Colson, who made this observation about ethical issues in Western Civilization: “What was once unthinkable, become debatable and then gradually becomes acceptable.” I do not know whether this was original with Colson or whether he borrowed it from someone else, but many times I have affirmed the accuracy of this reflection. I guess I have become hardened as I have gotten older, but I find myself rarely stunned by cultural accommodation anymore. Developments I once regarded as unthinkable are now accepted widely and enthusiastically.
