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PDFIn one of the president's last gasp efforts to "fundamentally re-make America," he has once again taken executive action because he knows he will never get Congress to agree with him.
There is a profound difference between the "feel good" ideas of the secular progressive left and the "results" ideas of the conservative right.
And it's rooted in one's worldview---secular or biblical.
Cal Thomas, a Christian and the most syndicated columnist in America, in his column yesterday titled, "Out of (Gun) Control," notes the different between the "feel good" orientation of the progressive left and the "results" orientation of the conservative right.
He uses President Obama's executive action against guns to make his point.
I have interviewed Cal a number of times over the years on both television and radio and do not always agree with him---however, on this, he nails it.
This one single issue---a president's attempt at gun control---is a microcosm of what ails America.
In monthly polling last year, Gallup found on average only 1% of Americans mentioned guns/gun control as a concern, even though there were mass killings during the year.
While all Americans are deeply concerned about the killing of innocent people, they clearly do not believe gun control is the solution.
Lets look at some of Thomas' observations regarding guns and the law, then look at how in a cultural sense, laws have limits.
Thomas writes:
Stiffer background checks are supposed to achieve his goal of reducing "gun violence," but 2015 saw a record number of background checks -- and a large upsurge in gun sales -- and yet people intent on breaking the law were undeterred. The two terrorists who murdered fourteen people in San Bernardino did not have criminal backgrounds until they started shooting. The massacre at a school in Newtown, Connecticut was committed by a man whose mother had legally obtained the guns.
Bloomberg reports, "A study by the Department of Justice found that just 0.7 percent of state prison inmates in 1997 had purchased their weapons at a gun show."
"By contrast," notes the study, "nearly 40 percent of inmates said they obtained the firearm used in their crime from family or friends, and 39 percent said they got the weapon from an illegal street source."
Thomas, nor am I, suggesting we should not have laws. I believe strongly in laws and that we should enforce the laws we have.
My point is this: Laws have limits.
Thomas concludes that this is another display of what is at the heart of Liberalism or secular progressivism and that "intent" trumps "results."
He points out, "Liberals are never held accountable for their failed policies, but are praised for having a right attitude, or worthy goals."
They had good intentions.
"As the saying goes," he says, "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. For the Left, they have built a multi-lane highway and the rest of us have to pay the tolls."
That's true.
Unfortunately, the progressive secular Left has not only built a political policy highway to Hell, but have also constructed one paved with "feelings and good intentions" regarding moral and social issues, rather than the eternal biblical moral values and principles upon which this nation was founded.
Secular progressivism has created a moral environment in which truth is relative and evolving---proclaiming there are no absolutes---which has now created cultural and personal chaos.
This is why there is such an obsessive effort to strip every vestige of Christianity and Christian expression from public discourse. Religion, especially Christianity, is seen as an impediment to progress.
This defines our times and it defines this president.
Conservatism, particularly Christian, biblical conservatism, holds to the belief that there is enduring universal Truth.
Our Founding Fathers' belief in these eternal, universal biblical values and principles gave birth to the greatest, most free, most prosperous nation in the history of the world.
One worldview is led by so-called "good intentions," the other by "results" and promises based on God's absolute truth.
The Bible is clear in pointing out, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Proverbs 14:12).
Jesus (Matt.7:13) even described the gate to this destructive highway as "wide, popular and inviting" with many entering through the "wide gate."
Secular progressivism has been popularized as public education has indoctrinated an entire generation to believe that as long as you mean well, you can create your own "truths." Talk and entertainment show hosts, such as lesbian financial advisor Suze Orman and others, regularly encourage this generation to "stand in your own truth."
And they have.
And it isn't working.
Even far Left progressive Psychology Today recognizes that "most problems in the world are caused by good intentions," pointing to Leon Felsinger's theory of Cognitive Dissonance in which we "feel psychic distress when we do things that consciously violate our own values, so we create justifications for what we do, allowing us to comfortably live with ourselves."
Rather than change your ways, progressivism says change your values.
Christianity says allow God to change your values by changing you. It's called Redemption. It's much better than feel good relativism.
In the case of Obama, he weeps as he attempts to rid America of the violence by attacking the rights of law abiding citizens and the Second Amendment.
The progressive Left praise him for his courage.
Then both he and his colleagues feel good, regardless of results.
In the broader case of the culture, we also praise those who stand in opposition to Nature and biblical teaching regarding human sexuality, family and the sanctity of life---because it "feels right"---it feels fair to allow people to marry the person they love and abort the unwanted child under the guise of choice.
And the church has, in the case of most mainline denominations, joined the "wide gate--feels right" group regarding these eternal biblical values.
The justification is that being "inclusive" feels good.
And in the case of too many so-called evangelical churches we have merely chosen "silence" as a safe retreat, justifying our silence with the notion we must affirm and "relate" in order to reach a lost world.
Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, Paul wrote.
As we rush through the wide gate Jesus describes, it most often "makes sense" and "feels good."
It is well documented that young Adolf was a good boy. He loved his mother, confessed to be Christian and served his country. Most agreed that his intentions were good as he began his rise to power through the Christian Youth movement and his series of patriotic speeches.
However, Adolf Hitler would become the modern symbol of political evil.
Laws have limits.
The last 5 chapters of Judges define a time in which evil and cultural confusion was prevalent in the nation of Israel. Those chapters tell the horrific stories of the idolatry of Micah and the Danites, the base usage of the Levite's concubine, the extreme severity with which the Israelites treated their brothers the Benjaminites, the slaughter of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead and the rape of the daughters of Shiloh.
Judges 21:25 tells us why. "In those days...every one did what was right in his own eyes."
Until America can return to our founding values and principles that were based on biblical Truth, the insanity will continue.
Spiritual renewal must precede political renewal. And it all begins with you.
And me.
Be Blessed.