"I Feel Like A Stranger In My Own Country"

A new poll released by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), a George Soros-backed organization and the secular Left "Atlantic" magazine this week, indicates that millions of Americans "feel like a stranger in their own country."

The cultural indicators vary, but the real message of the survey may in fact be missed by those who paid for and published it.


The Atlantic in their feature article about the new study conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PPRI) and the Atlantic, says, "It was cultural anxiety that drove white, working class voters to Trump."

"And," they say, it is "fear of societal change, not economic pressure" that "motivated votes for the president among non-salaried workers without college degrees."

Their study found that overall, 51% of Americans think American culture has not changed for the worse since the 1950s, while 48% believe it has.

I didn't know anyone who knows anything about the 1950s who thinks that today's culture is exactly like that of the 1950s.

Keep in mind that the PRRI / Atlantic study was funded by generous grants from the Soros' Open Society Foundation (a leading advocacy organization for open borders) and the very liberal Ford Foundation.

To compile the data, they called thousands of households asking to speak to the youngest adult male or female currently living in the household, even though they say they only spoke to adults over 18.

What they have taken from the study is the profile of a disgruntled, uneducated, fear driven white person who, because they feel disenfranchised, voted for Trump---A white person who is trying to hold on to the past because they are afraid of change.

They say:

"For many white working-class Americans, the pace of cultural change has left them wondering about whether and where they fit in American society. Nearly half (48 percent) of white working-class Americans say, “things have changed so much that I often feel like a stranger in my own country.” Slightly more than half (51 percent) of white working-class Americans disagree. In contrast, only about one-quarter (26 percent) of white college-educated Americans report they often feel like a stranger, while nearly three-quarters (74 percent) reject the notion."

"Part of the white working class's sense of alienation appears to stem from the stifling atmosphere of political correctness and the severe social and economic punishments meted out by those who don't toe the line," one woman told PRRI.

This is certainly why many could feel like "a stranger in my own country." But's there are other reasons.

The Atlantic says, "White Americans carried Donald Trump to the White House. He won college-educated white voters by a four-point margin over Hillary Clinton according to exit polls. But his real victory was among members of the white working class: Twice as many of these voters cast their ballots for the president than for Clinton."

The Atlantic gives 3 reasons why people voted as they did in the 2016 election:

1. The first was anxiety about cultural change, with 68% of white working-class voters saying the American way of life needs to be protected from foreign influence.
   
2. Immigration. The Atlantic says, based on the study, "contrary to popular narratives, only a small portion---just 27%---of white working class voters said they favor a policy of identifying and deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally."
   
3. "54% of white working class Americans said investing in college education is a risky gamble, including 61% of white working-class men."

Both PRRI and the Atlantic seem to be overly intent on bending the study data to highlight the racial divide in our country.

Example: "More than half say discrimination against whites has become just as problematic as discrimination against minorities."

No one denies there is a racial divide in our country, a divide that was deepened during the presidency of our first black president.

But the divide is deeper than race.

The Atlantic concludes, "This analysis provides only a surface look at concerns and anxieties of America's white working class." They say it "provides only a sketch of who they are. But its useful for debunking myths and narratives---particularly the ubiquitous idea that economic anxiety drove white voters to support Trump.

Nor did it drive many of the black voters who voted for Trump.

One person told the PPRI study, "I fear my country is loosing its identity." The study, of course, interpreted that remark in terms of racial or ethnic terms.

America's founding was not related to bloodlines or ancient borders.

The identity of America's birth is found in her profound commitment to a principle---a deeply held belief that Creator God has bestowed gifts upon His creation---the human race. And among them is the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Our freedom was declared on that basis, our Constitution was drafted from those values, and our institutions, according to Daniel Webster, were "infused" with those principles.

It is not complicated to understand why many would feel like "a stranger in my own country", or that my country is "loosing its identity", as we observe the assault by the secular Left on these beliefs using our institutions as a front line against those who still hold to the "old" Truths.

The deepest divide is not about race or ethnicity.

Blacks, whites and other skin colors---all of us who hold conservative biblical beliefs---remember well Hillary's comments regarding how our old biblical beliefs must be changed to accommodate social "progress."

We saw the results of President Obama's 8 years in office.

We prayed that God would forgive us, and heal our land.

Trump's election was a miracle in 2 respects.

First, many of us people of faith, black, white, brown, yellow---did not make Trump our first choice for president.

Through the course of events, he became our choice. Tens of millions of people of faith voted for him because he promised to stand with us for something that is much more important than skin color---our God given right to religious freedom.

He promised to remove the chains imposed upon biblical Christians by secular progressive leadership. He promised to appoint "Constitutionalist" justices to the Supreme Court (and other courts) rather than far left activist justices.

Here's the real myth buster.

We were not driven to the polls to vote for him by some uncontrollable "anxiety" ---economic or otherwise.

The division in America is, at its deepest, a concern for our future---our identity, by those who know and believe in our past. And in the God who has blessed this nation.

Another myth buster is that biblical Christians hold dual citizenship. From the Apostle Paul to John Bunyan to CS Lewis, we are reminded we are mere pilgrims on our way to an eternal citizenship in another land.

However, one should never underestimate the resolve with which we biblical Christians commit our selves to being salt and light in this culture while we are here.

John Bunyan, in Pilgrim's Progress, put it this way, "This hill though high I covent ascend; The difficulty will not me offend; For I perceive the way of life lies here. Come, pluck up, heart; let's neither faint nor fear."

C.S. Lewis wrote in "Mere Christianity" (1952), "Now is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It won't last forever. We must take it or leave it."

Perhaps his words better define our times, than his own times.

Be Faithful. Be Strong. Be Bold. Be Prayerful. Be Blessed.