Invasion From Within
By
Keith L. Anderson, Ph.D
In my desk I have a collection of things that I think are stupid. Here are a couple examples. In 2005 I overpaid Qwest Communications on a phone bill and they sent me a check for $.01. Yes, they spent $.37 to send me one cent. I didn’t cash it. I had to keep it. I have a letter from the Idaho Statesman telling religion column writers that we were mentioning Jesus and God too much in our religion articles. What were we thinking, mentioning Jesus and God in religion articles? I just had to keep the letter.
Our society is changing and sometimes how we’re changing makes me wonder how we got this far in the first place. Aside from the fact that this country was stolen from those who lived here first, we today consider America our home. This morning I read that President Elect Obama choice as the person who will speak the prayer during his inauguration, is under criticism because the evangelical pastor may mention Jesus. People are worried that mentioning Jesus in prayer would offend people who don’t believe in Him. Are you kidding me? Even with all the things we’ve done wrong in this country, I don’t think anyone in the world would deny that in this country we basically trust in God. It’s even on our currency. So, why have we allowed foreign and domestic thinking and political correctness to cause us to no longer understand what we stand for?
This past Christmas season was mentally a bust for me. I asked myself why? Then I realized, in this country, we have accommodated every group of people, foreign and domestic, regardless of their ideologies or beliefs. That’s why Christmas doesn’t feel the same anymore. I’m talking more than just the commercialism. School children no longer do Christmas shows in schools. They are now called winter celebrations. The City of Boise, at least in my section of town didn’t even bother to put up decorations. Its obvious Jesus is no longer invited to His birthday party. A couple sayings come to mind. If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. I house divided will not stand.
My wife and I went to dinner recently. A couple of California friends of mine, I knew from my junior high and high school days, were visiting people in Boise. So, we were invited to these people’s house for dinner. We didn’t know the people. The husband of the host couple cussed to the point where I was uncomfortable. That’s saying a lot. He was the only one cussing. My friends are Christians and I could tell they were used to the guy, but still uncomfortable. This guy threw around the “F” word like he was being paid for using it. My wife at one point went to the bathroom and someone at the table asked me if the cussing bothering her. Before I could say anything the guy doing the cussing said, “Hey it’s my house. I can “F” talk anyway I want.” As much as I didn’t like it I had to hold my tongue, because he was right. It was his house. If we were in my house, I would have told him to shut up or leave. Because I was in his house, my options were to leave or endure so I could visit with my friends, who I hadn’t seen in years.
Years ago, when I was in college a reporter called me. He asked me what I was going to do about the hate group coming to town to march. I told him nothing. Then I asked him what would happen if no one showed up? They had a right to march and I had a right to not attend. I knew what I was saying was impossible for him to understand. He was the media. He wanted a story. He couldn’t care less about the social ramifications of the media giving the hate group free publicity. That’s exactly what the media chose to do. Guess what, it’s a free country. The hate march wasn’t socially responsible to the citizens of this country, but it wasn’t illegal, neither was the media covering it.
Shouldn’t the rule in this country be, I can celebrate the way I want and you can celebrate the way you want? We can even attend each other’s celebrations to learn more about each other’s cultures. If you would rather not join in my celebration, then don’t attend. Isn’t that fair to all concerned? That’s not what I’m seeing. It seems to me, the rule has become, I don’t believe in your celebration, so you shouldn’t be able to celebrate at all. That’s not America. That’s just stupid.
I wouldn’t allow someone to disrespect me in my house. That doesn’t mean I would force my vegetarian friend to eat meat or leave. What it does mean is if we say a prayer before we eat. He’ll have to respect the moment. His prayer to himself can be a Beatle’s song, for all I care; just as long as he didn’t disrespect the moment.
So, will we stand up for God? Or, will we continue to allow foreign and domestic thinking and political correctness to put Him further and further on the back burner?
Will God have to prove to us, that we aren’t a country of little gods? Do we really believe because we have made advancements in a lot of areas that we rule the universe? Perhaps we should review history. Most great dynasties and nations fell from within before someone else came along and conquered them. Are we running our course priming ourselves for invasion?