In America, indeed in all of Western Civilization, we are experiencing what has been called “The Great Unraveling.” Evangelical author and educator, Duane Litfin, writes: “We live in a time of shifting sand. The avalanche of social, political and legal changes we’ve experienced has left many believers reeling.”
Economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton recently developed the phrase “deaths of despair” to describe the sudden rise in deaths from suicide, alcohol and drug abuse. Ross Douthat summarizes the details of a recent Senate Joint Economic Committee that charts the scale of this tragedy: “A doubling from 22.7 deaths of despair per 100,000 Americans in 2000 to 45.8 per 100,000 in 2017.” Such self-destroying trends in America are brutal facts we must all face.
Ten years ago a protest movement began in America called the Tea Party. The various tea parties that dotted the nation insisted on a set of demands: Stop President Obama’s health care law; tame the national debt; and restore responsible government. Several Republicans were elected under the Tea Party banner. But, the Tea Party movement is dead, no longer a factor in the Republican Party’s ideology.
The practice of personal faith is based on one’s knowledge about God, His revelation and His redemptive plan centered in Jesus Christ. But in this Postmodern, Post-Christian era, religion has deteriorated into a matter of experiential, autonomous choice, not revelation. Compared to Western European countries, America remains a highly religious country. But religiosity does not equal sound doctrinal convictions. One of my favorite authors today is sociologist Christian Smith, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. Smith has authored a series of books that superbly analyze the culture of American teens and emerging adults (18-30 years of age).
Historian Jon Meacham recently posted a story intentionally seeking to humanize, sanitize and legitimize euthanasia. He writes: “Tuesday [6 August 2019] was to be the day — in the morning, because everything was taken care of. The goodbyes had been said, the tears shed, the coffin handmade. In the spring of 2018, Dick Shannon, a former Silicon Valley engineer with untreatable cancer, took advantage of California’s ‘death with dignity’ law to end his own life once all other medical possibilities had been exhausted.
Despite everything that has occurred over the last five years, the United States remains the only major world power. The events leading up to World War I and World War II proved that isolationism is not a viable foreign policy. After World War II, the US put together a series of alliances and economic entities to move the world towards relative peace and economic prosperity. Through the decades of the Cold War, those systems have worked. But today, the US position is being challenged by China and, to a lesser extent, Russia. China’s growing military and economic power pose a genuine threat to the national security of the US. Time will tell whether the trade strategies President Trump is pursuing will work. But there are two areas where the US can learn from both history and common sense—Russia under Vladimir Putin and Afghanistan.
In Disney’s classic cartoon feature, Bambi, “Thumper” the rabbit offers a wise piece of advice: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” God’s Word has much to say about the words we use and how hurtful and damaging they can be (see the Proverbs and James 1:19-27; 3:1-12). Most of us forget physical hurts we may have incurred growing up, but we remember vividly the cruel words from a bully or a childhood enemy—or even a merciless parent. Such words are often the root cause of bitterness, which is poisonous and destructive.
In last week’s Issues in Perspective, I explored the topic of thinking biblically about space exploration. Human beings are the only creatures created in God’s image. Among other things, that means humans represent God. We are God’s dominion stewards over His world (see Genesis 1:26ff). We have been given the authority to rule over it, to explore it, and use it as good stewards. But, given this dominion authority, human sin remains the essential challenge.
This summer we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon (20 July 1969). Those of us who are older can remember what we were doing that day in July fifty years ago. It was a monumental achievement of American technology, drive and perseverance. The Apollo space program harnessed nearly everything that was unique about American civilization to realize one of humanity’s greatest achievements. But it was also wrapped around the realities of the Cold War.
That anti-Semitism is in resurgence is a well-documented fact. The cause of this resurgence is not as clear. In this Perspective I seek to document the rather frightening evidence of growing anti-Semitism and then speculate on its causes and why this is an important issue for us as Christians.
