In 1963 Betty Friedan published her bombshell, The Feminine Mystique, which argued, among other things, that traditional gender roles had compartmentalized women as homemakers—to their detriment. Arguably, Friedan’s book was the manifesto of the feminist revolution. Laws and cultural norms changed as equal treatment of and more professional opportunities for women increased—many changes which were welcomed and long overdue. But what has been the effect of all of this on men and women? Has it all been positive?

Sports’ betting, illegal outside Nevada for decades, is all the rage now. The sports gambling industry’s explosion is the outcome of a Supreme Court decision in 2018, Murphy v. NCAA. In that decision a 7-to-2 majority ruled that a law passed by Congress and signed by George H.W. Bush in 1992, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, violated the 10th Amendment’s anti-commandeering principle. The law barred sports gambling in states that did not already allow it.

For most of human history, the universe was considered timeless and unchanging; no longer. At the Space Telescope Science Institute, on the Johns Hopkins University campus, a constant torrent of data pours in from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Launched 13 months ago, Webb is orbiting 940,000 miles above the earth.

The Social Media phenomenon is staggering in its cultural impact. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other media forums dominate the time, the energy and the psychology of so many! For many teens, life without social media is unimaginable. When this phenomenon began, only a few years ago, no one envisioned how powerful it would become. Social media is not evil, per se, but it can be both enslaving and harmful. I am reminded of the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 6:12: “’All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful’ for me, but I will not be dominated by anything.” [ESV]

To fully understand the development of American civilization, one must come to terms with the strategic role revivals have played. Colonial America was shaped and transformed by the First Great Awakening of the 1740s and the Methodist revival that followed. America of the early national period (1815-1850) was impacted by the Second Great Awakening. You cannot understand the energy for the abolition of slavery, the passion for women’s rights, the temperance movement and other social reform movements without coming to terms with this revival. But what about what is now being called the Asbury Revival in Wilmore, Kentucky? Is this the first major spiritual revival of the 21st century?

The Bible has much to say about the careful management of money, property and about wisely preparing for the future. Scripture affirms the wisdom of a balanced budget—whether talking about an individual, a business or the government: Significant debt is unwise and foolish! A few years ago, columnist and economist Robert Samuelson poignantly observed that “It’s getting harder and harder to write these budget columns, because it must be obvious to almost everyone by now that hardly anyone in Washington (or perhaps any place) cares about the budget deficits.

The 1973 Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, was a watershed in judicial history. The 7-2 decision established the right of a woman to abort her baby up to the point of viability, usually understood to be during the first trimester of the pregnancy. The Court also permitted other situations where an abortion could occur within the 2nd and 3rd trimesters. The result was that America had one of the most liberal abortion standards in the world. Abortion therefore has been at the center of the culture war battles since 1973.

In last week’s Issues in Perspective, I quoted conservative author Rod Dreher: “. . . The conservative believes that there exists an enduring moral order. That order is made for man, and man is made for it: human nature is a constant, and moral truths are permanent. This word order signifies harmony. There are two aspects or types of order: the inner order of the soul, and the outer order of the commonwealth. . . . The problem of order has been a principal concern of conservatives ever since conservative became a term of politics.” Our 21st century world has experienced the hideous consequences of the collapse of belief in a moral order.

One historical aspect of America’s political culture is the rise and fall of political parties. The Federalist Party was the “faction” (George Washington’s term) associated with George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. By the presidency of James Monroe it was dead. The Whig Party emerged in the early 1800s, but by 1856 it was dead, replaced by the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln. Today, the Republican Party seems hopelessly divided and the infighting is potentially fatal: Witness the intense struggle over Kevin McCarthy’s effort to become Speaker of the House. That struggle gave every evidence of a Party gravely divided.

The deep-seated commitment to the pursuit of personal autonomy, the vital center of the Postmodern, Post-Christian American culture, has produced several tragic effects. The Millennials, who passionately have bought into this commitment, have no loyalty to institutions. For that reason the local church, even if they are Christians, is not that important to them. Technology has enhanced this pursuit of autonomy, enabling Millennials to create and fashion their own digital reality. Recent census data confirm that Millennials prefer cohabitation to marriage, at least until they reach age 30.