America Today (A Reflection on Independence Day)
Helen Man
The Dreadful COVID-19
Since the onset of the pandemic, it has been spreading globally and devastated numerous economies. The accumulative headcount of those infected exceeded 167,000,000 with reported deaths over 3,520,000. This virus continues to mutate in India and 44 other countries!
By God’s grace, vaccines have been made available and many nations had initiative vaccine drives and programs, easing the spread of the pandemic. Over 65% of Americans have already received the first dose. On May 13, the CDC ended the mask mandate. We are beginning to resume our daily routines.
Four Crises in Our Society
1.Gender Ambiguity:
On the day of President Biden’s inauguration, several executive orders were signed into place. One of them was about preventing and combating discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. It also pledges to donate ten million dollars to the “Global Equality Fund”, promoting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and making all American citizens acknowledge this community’s lifestyle choices.
2. Moral Standard of Public School:
As a result of the executive order, all public schools, restrooms, changing rooms, and showers have become unisex. Anyone who claims to be of the female gender can compete with other female athletes, causing an unfair competitive edge against the female contestants.
The Biden administration supports children ages eight or above can have gender correction surgery (including the removal of reproductive organs or hormone therapy), without the consent of parents. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s spokesperson Professor Denny Burk publicly argued the absurdity of this new measure.
NYS public schools acknowledge and applaud homosexuality and transgender through animation to the point of teaching teach six-year-olds how to do masturbation.
Public libraries conduct Drag Queen Story Hour by having men who are dressed in female costumes, to engage young children with stories or games and to instill the idea of gender fluidity into the very young minds of children.
The Bible warns us in Romans 1:32 “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”
3. The rise of Critical Race Theory:
In 2020, the death of George Floyd by a white police officer’s use of excessive force caused riots and protests across the US. This gave rise to a shakedown of the US cultural figures who had been the bedrock of our society, such as the nation’s founding fathers, Civil War figures. Even President Washington and Lincoln were brought into question, causing massive renaming of public spaces or streets, or the decimation of monuments and statues honoring these historical figures.
Terms such as “systemic and structural racism” and “critical race theory” have become terms espoused by the liberal media. These ideas have begun to permeate our schools, media, and government a few decades ago. In 2011 the former President Obama promoted a federal initiative of “diversity and inclusion strategic plan”, among them is the idea of critical race theory. This was finally terminated by the former President Trump in September of 2020.
According to “critical racial theory”, America is portrayed as an evil empire that favors white privilege and supremacy. It inherently allows whites to suppress blacks, men to suppress women, heterosexuals to suppress gays, and Christians to suppress Muslims.
Those who accept “critical race theory” believe that because of white supremacy, those founding fathers are no longer viewed as heroes but as oppressors . This results in the notion of political correctness. To remove oppression is to obliterate our existing historical tradition and redistribute power and wealth. To accomplish this, the ‘WOKE’ movement demands that whites be cognizant and renounce their white privilege.
“Critical race theory” purposefully ignores the foundation in which America is founded upon. The United States was founded on the notion that the Creator of this universe, the one true God, and the proclamation of the gospel as the bedrock of our nation. The Declaration of Independence asserts that “…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This clearly states that there is one Creator, all men are created by God, and that his absolute moral authority is established. According to the BIble, the failure of policies or cultural erosion is the result of sin.
4. Obliterating the US constitutional right to the freedom of speech; the prevalence of “cancel culture”:
Not only do President Biden and the Democrats often utilize ‘cancel culture’ as a way to ostracise those that deviate from their platform, they even aligned themselves with corporations who support homosexuality, using economic suppression and protests to alienate their ideological opponents. Victims of “cancel culture” are numerous, among them are:
-In August of 2012, when Chick-fil-A’s CEO publicly denounced same-sex marriage, Obama and Mayor Deblasio called out the franchise and announced that it should be boycotted and lead to possible bankruptcy. Fortunately, many Americans rallied behind the franchise and saved it from this demise.
In 2012, Mozilla Firefox’s founder, Brendan Eich was forced to resign because eight years ago he had donated one thousand dollars in California to support Proposition #8 which bans same-sex marriage.
Recently J. K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter series) was ostracized after stating that “cancel culture” strips away people’s freedom of speech. She was threatened with a possible boycott of her written works and losing her royalties.
Democrats urged the public to boycott Goya Foods, My PillowI’s founder Mike Lindell and others.
Nowadays many college students are reluctant to publicly express their personal political opinion and religious beliefs, mainly to avoid being blacklisted in “cancel culture”, affecting one’s career prospects.
5. Falling out of faith:
The pandemic had resulted in many Christians attending online worship services, diminishing the frequency of exchanges and interactions among believers. This causes the decline of faith and spiritual steadfastness, conforming to the world’s standards and churches compromising with the cultural norms. According to Presbyterian Church USA’s May 2021 report, from the year 2019 to 2020, membership has declined by 57,000, and 116 churches have closed. Rev. J. Herbert Newlson II analyzed that Presbyterian Church’s abandonment of biblical truth, conforming to the cultural tides, and the acceptance of gay clergy members, same-sex marriage, and abortion rights led its members to withdraw support.
You might wonder, in such confusing times, what do Christians ought to do?
1. We believe that God is still in charge. We lift our eyes to God who is our salvation, because only an omnipotent and all-loving God can redeem our nation, turn its people toward God again.
2. Know our enemy: our enemies are not the LGBTQ community. We ought to share the gospel and pray for them. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) The Bible clearly states that “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)
3. Share the good news and testify for God: Draw near to God through prayer and Bible reading. Sow the seeds of the gospel because only the Good News can truly transform lives.
4. Pray unceasingly: Pray for ourselves, our family, our country’s political leaders, our citizens’ return to God. God is eternal and powerful, he will listen to our prayers.
5. Getting involved in politics and be firm in your stance: As parents, we need to understand the school’s curriculum, unite with like-minded parents, and advocate for children’s needs in school district meetings, because there is strength in many. Contact your local district representative, express your stance and point of view, utilize your voice in the voting booth, elect leaders that represent and align with the biblical truth. May we lead our lives according to Philippians 2:15-16: “…so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.”
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