WE BELIEVE
BLACK LIVES MATTER
NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL
LOVE IS LOVE
WOMEN’S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
SCIENCE IS REAL
WATER IS LIFE
INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE
America’s Dominant Religious Doctrine
I spotted the sign in this picture in the yard of a person near where I live. When I saw it, my first thought was, “What a perfect description of the beliefs that now dominate American society. But the fact that they are prominent beliefs is not what is important to know. What is important is the fact that this is actually a doctrinal statement that represents a religious point of view – not some secular statement. It seems to me that the beliefs represented here are now so omnipresent, that most people hardly even notice. But even more than that, they are presented in such a way as to seem totally secular.
Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. These doctrines describe a religious faith. We know it is a religious statement because it begins with the phrase “We Believe.” And make no mistake about it, it is a faith that is 100% anti-Christian.
But beyond that, the doctrines are described in a way that is designed to make it difficult to push back against them. After all who could disagree with any of the statements? Don’t black lives matter? Can we possibly deem a human being illegal? How can you be against love? What rational person could be against women having rights? Who could possibly argue that science is not real? What insane person would be for dirty water? How can anyone not want justice for all?
There is a problem though. These doctrines represent atheistic Naturalism, and the descriptions are half-truth deceptions. These slogans don’t say what they really mean, and they are deliberately designed to limit push-back, or even to demonize those who don’t agree with naturalistic philosophical beliefs.
It is extremely important for Christians to recognize what is going on, because it is actually an attempt by Naturalists to convert you to their naturalistic beliefs. Beyond that, if you want to be able to share a witness to them, you need to understand their beliefs. So let’s take a moment to break these doctrines down and explore what they really mean.
Black Lives Matter
Do black lives matter? Of course they do. Do black lives matter more than other lives? Of course they don’t. However, people have been denounced, and even fired from their jobs, for saying “All Lives Matter.” The reason for the denunciations is because those who are promoting the “Black Lives Matter” agenda believe that it detracts from their desire to put a focus on racism against blacks by whites in America – particularly regarding the police.
There is, though, a serious problem with that argument. The slogan is born out of worldview beliefs that are contrary to Christian beliefs. It begins with a collectivist focus that assigns relative value to various “groups,” rather than valuing all human individuals equally. From there, members of favored groups are given privileged status, while less favored groups are intentionally disadvantaged. The thought is, since the favored group was once disadvantaged, the formerly advantaged group should somehow make up for it.
The Bible, though, does not look at humanity in collectivist terms. God judges people based on individual criteria, and society should do the same. Justice should have a basis in some objective criteria, such as the law (actual justice), not some made up social construct (social justice).
A retort of “All Lives Matter” is not made for the purpose of distracting from the agenda of the Black Lives Matter movement, or any other agenda, for that matter. Rather, it is an expression of the way God evaluates human beings based on the teachings of the Bible. The Black Lives Matter movement is based on a Marxist expression of Naturalism – where collectivism trumps individualism. All Lives Matter is a way of expressing biblical beliefs as a retort against Marxist beliefs.
No Human Is Illegal
What could possibly be the meaning of the expression “No Human is Illegal.” And who ever said some humans are illegal in the first place? Humans aren’t legal or illegal, they simply exist. Now, humans can do illegal things, and can be sanctioned based on wrong actions. But the humans themselves are not illegal.
But that is not really the point of this slogan. This is actually a way of advocating for open borders between countries. People who promote this idea don’t really mean that humans are illegal, they mean that people who illegally cross the border of the country should not be considered illegal aliens.
Thinking in worldview terms, the idea of open borders is another naturalistic precept. Those who believe in the naturalistic philosophy of Secular Humanism are some of the primary advocates of this belief. This goes right along with their desire to see a one world government.
As was true with the case above, this naturalistic doctrine is based on collectivism. The opposing biblical beliefs, in this case, have to do with God’s desire for order in society, and with the corresponding concept of the rule of law. God has revealed in Scripture that he is a God of order, and that governments exist for the purpose of maintaining order in society. Having country borders is essential to the ability of a jurisdiction to maintain societal order. Beyond that, individuals have a responsibility to obey the rule of law. By entering a country illegally, individuals break the law. In this case, it is not the human that is illegal, but the act committed by the human. And any judgment that is meted out is not against the humanity of the person, but against their illegal offense.
Love Is Love
The slogan “love is love” seems, with no context, to be a rather meaningless redundancy. However, those who attempt to use it as a meaningful statement do so in order to advocate for the social acceptance of any form of sexual relationship – be it fornication, adultery, homosexuality, polyandry, polyamory, or any other.
What is being advocated here relates to people’s feelings, and is not a representation of the deepest, spiritual meaning of the word love. Love, as used here, is based on a naturalistic point of view. Naturalists consider human beings to be nothing more than natural animals with a highly evolved brain. Thus, their definition of love involves only the material interactions that natural animals might have with one another. Using this worldview perspective, it has purely a physical/temporal meaning, and refers either to affectionate feelings people have toward one another, or to the sex act itself.
Based on a biblical worldview, however, human beings are not merely natural animals – they are persons made in the image of God. With that, love is not simply a physical concept, but is spiritual to its core – looking out for the needs of the one loved above the needs of self. It is an expression that originates in God himself, and expresses the covenant love of God for humanity, as well as of human love for God that results from first experiencing His love. It is applied toward one’s fellow man as an outward expression of the love one receives from God.
Women’s Rights Are Human Rights
Who could possibly be against women having proper rights as human beings? A Christian worldview would definitely consider every person equally to be a member of the human race. However, the kind of advocacy for women’s rights being promoted in the naturalistic women’s rights movement does not reflect the true nature of the human race.
The women’s rights movement, as it is being expressed in this slogan, does not recognize the natural differences between male and female person’s. And while Naturalists assert that they are advocating for equal rights, what they are really advocating for is special rights.
The truth is, men and women are different biologically and emotionally. In the real world, these differences require that certain distinctions be made. Generally, males are physically stronger than women, and there are certain things men can do that most women are incapable of handling. By the same token, because of the physiology and psychology of women as it relates to child bearing, they are more suited for certain roles in society than most men. When people attempt to put gender distinctions aside, society is negatively affected in numerous ways.
But beyond that, the women’s rights movement is promoted in such a way as to advance the rights of one group while limiting the rights of another. It is but another collectivist policy based on naturalistic philosophy.
Science Is Real
In some ways, the expression “Science is Real” is rather strange. Who ever said science is not real? After all, science is nothing more than a methodology that uses experiment and observation to discover things about the natural universe. Everyone I know, Christian and non-Christian alike, believes in the scientific method. But, the use of this slogan is another deception as it attempts to equate science with naturalistic philosophy.
Because Naturalists believe that the natural universe is all that exists, they hold the corresponding belief that everything, without exception, can be evaluated using empirical science – that there is no such thing as God or any supernatural existence. With that as a starting point, they deem anything that is not subject to the evaluation of science to be “not real.”
The interesting result of this mindset, though, is that they actually end up requiring that certain things which are not even subject to scientific scrutiny, be deemed to be scientifically verified. This is actually rather strange, but in their minds, there is no other possibility. Particular issues that they consider to have the backing of science, but which actually don’t, include such things as the Theory of Evolution, abortion, global warming, the distinction between biological sex and gender, and numerous others. Indeed, science it real, but science is only science.
Water Is Life
In a metaphorical sense, water certainly is life. Virtually every life form requires water in order to survive. But this particular slogan, in the context of expressing a progressive agenda, is not suggesting this kind of metaphorical usage. What we are looking at here is an agenda that is not merely about water. It is a way of advocating for a progressive environmentalist agenda. The defining statement for this kind of environmental activism in modern times is expressed in the “Green New Deal.”
The Green New Deal focuses on certain particular issues, including:
transformation of society to a low-carbon economy (get rid of carbon based fuels),
- making clean air and clean water a “right” (get rid of carbon based fuels that pollute the air and water, and massively build new infrastructure to better purify water),
- restoration of the American landscape (limit development and restore developed land to its natural state),
- promotion of urban sustainability and resilience (invest massive amounts of money in our large cities in order to build a non-carbon based infrastructure).
The impetus behind this entire movement is found in the global warming argument. The people behind this movement believe that man is polluting the planet and causing the climate to change in a way that will ultimately destroy it. It is believed that by spending massive amounts of money to convert energy usage to non-carbon based alternatives, humanity will save the planet.
The problem we run into with this issue, however, is that there is no objective science that demonstrates man made global warming is an actual fact. The entire movement is based on computer models that purport to show that the activity of man is causing irreparable harm to the planet. The problem is, it cannot be demonstrated that these computer models accurately reflect what is happening in the world, much less show why their conclusions are believable.
The naturalistic progressive agenda is built on a Marxist philosophical base, with its attempt to create a worldwide collectivist governing system. The progressive environmental movement is merely one component of that attempt.
A biblical worldview also believes that humans should care for the environment, but uses a stewardship model rather than a collective government model. The Bible teaches that God has given man the responsibility to manage the earth and its resources. Individuals should exercise personal responsibility in this effort, and governments should be responsive to the needs of individuals in their stewardship responsibilities.
Injustice Anywhere Is a Threat to Justice Everywhere
The last slogan on the yard sign is another one that sounds good on the surface, but does not actually advocate for equal justice. Rather, it is an effort to promote “social justice.” These two concepts are not the same.
Equal justice means that every person, regardless of their status or circumstance, is judged by the very same standard. Based on equal justice, the law is that standard. This is the biblical point of view. It is based on the priority of the individual.
Social justice, on the other hand, is an approach that is based on a collectivist paradigm. Various groups, rather than individuals, are deemed to have priority, and it is those who hold political power that get to decide which groups will receive “justice” and which ones will be deemed “guilty of injustice” The end result is that some people get special treatment because they are part of a “prioritized” group. With that as a starting point, those in power pick winners and losers, and there is no “actual justice.”
The Only Solution
At this moment in American history, there is a lot of momentum on the side of those who are promoting the collectivist agenda. And in spite of the fact that those promoting it assert that this is required in order to create fairness, it actually ends up doing the exact opposite. Rather than creating justice and equality, it creates a two tiered system that promotes injustice and inequality.
The beliefs underlying Progressivism are based completely on a naturalistic worldview. It is a point of view that is atheistic and materialistic. Along with that, it is completely intolerant of anyone who has a different point of view. Ultimately, it results in a society that is devoid of a moral compass, and is governed as a totalitarian state.
So what can we do? How to we turn the tide in this naturalistic tsunami that has swept over American society? First, we must recognize that these naturalistic beliefs are a religious point of view. Those who are pushing for it do so as a matter of their faith in this naturalistic religion. We must also recognize that the only way people step away from their religious beliefs is by accepting a different religious belief. They must have a conversion of the heart.
If we, as Christians, want to make a difference in society that will right the wrongs that these slogans represent, it will be necessary to share the true biblical faith with those who hold a naturalistic faith. It will be necessary to speak into their hearts in a way that will encourage them to convert from their naturalistic religion to the objective truth of the Christian faith.
© 2020 Freddy Davis