The political policies that currently hold sway in American society are not leading to positive outcomes. While those who support the current course would probably disagree, the end result of those policies are things such as:
Lawlessness
Open borders
Rampant crime
The destruction of American institutions
Hate on the streets
Economic ruin
A chaotic world
Sympathy with evil (terrorists)
Christian persecution
Lying
Cheating
Vile language
Rampant sexual immorality
A culture of death
Hatred of opponents
Hatred and dismissal of authority (police, government, …)
Promotion of ignorance
Human trafficking
Drug addictions and fentanyl overdose deaths
While blaming these things on political policies might seem to some a little extreme, there is, indeed, a correlation. Looking at what is actually going on in society makes it clear that the bad things that are happening are actually real. We see all these things in the headlines virtually every day. But can these be blamed on political policy?
Well, yes they can. But the truth is, it goes much deeper than that. You see, even political policy has an underlying philosophy. So you start out with wrong thinking, which leads to bad policy, which, in turn, leads to bad outcomes. So to understand the outcomes, you must understand the political policy that caused them. But in order to understand the political policy, you must understand the worldview foundation it is based upon. At that point, the connections become very clear.
Where Does the Conflict Come From?
As it turns out, there are two competing worldview belief systems that are vying for supremacy in modern American society – Naturalism and Christian Theism. There are, of course, other worldview categories present in America as well, but the battle in modern America is mostly between these two. Each has its own view of the nature of the world, the nature of man, and the ultimate purpose of human life. And each results in very different goals for governing.
But before we dig deeper into that, we need to have a description of the big picture. Based on the two competing worldviews, what, exactly, is the government responsible for? Answering that question requires a basic understanding of the core worldview beliefs.
Naturalism
Naturalism is the belief that the natural universe, operating by natural laws, is all that exists. With that as a basic premise, there is no God and no transcendent reality. That means there is no possibility for any objective moral values, and no afterlife. Thus, this life is all that exists, and people have to make up their own morality for themselves.
Christian Theism
Christian Theism is the belief that the God of the Bible exists, and has revealed to mankind who He is, as well as His ways and desires. Based on this worldview belief, objective moral values do exist that have been revealed by God, and there is an afterlife.
So What Does That Have to Do with Politics?
Suppose, as an example, you want to create a political policy that has to do with abortion. How would the two different worldview systems approach that?
Naturalism, for its part, sees …:
- human beings as just one species of natural animal among many. There is nothing special about humanity.
- sexual relations as purely a natural act. There is nothing spiritual about it.
- no moral reason why sexual relations just for personal pleasure should be considered wrong. There is no objective moral law giver to deem it so.
- morality as a man-made construct, so there are no necessary restrictions on who an individual can have sex with. That is determined by the individual and society, and can change as society’s values change.
- terminating a pregnancy as no different from terminating the life of any other animal.
- no moral reason why abortion should be considered wrong. There is no objective moral law giver to deem it so.
- that if a pregnancy interferes with a person’s personal desires in life, there is nothing wrong with terminating it.
With this as a starting point, there is absolutely no reason abortion should be banned for any reason, or at any time.
The same type of reasoning can be done to support open borders, recreational drug use, prostitution, gay marriage, and virtually any other activity an individual might want to support. With no such thing as objective morality, people can make it up as they go, and the winning morality is determined by who is able to impose their personal desires on society. Political policies based on human personal desires are the root of all kinds of evil as they damage individuals, families, and society in general.
Christian Theism, for its part, sees …:
- human beings as persons created in the image of God. Human life is of ultimate value.
- sexual relations as having a spiritual element. In the act, a man and woman become “one flesh.”
- sexual relations as an act limited only to the marriage of one man and one woman. This is reality as God created it to be.
- right morality as an objectively real expression of the very character of God. It is right for human beings to model their life after God, and wrong to act otherwise.
- terminating a pregnancy as the murder of an innocent life. A preborn baby is a person made in the image of God and valued by Him.
- that abortion is wrong because God has revealed that killing innocent human life is wrong.
- human life as more valuable than the personal desires of individuals. Personal desires should never trump life – particularly innocent human life.
With this as a starting point, abortion is recognized to be an act of ultimate evil, and should not be permitted.
The same type of reasoning can be made for policies related to a countries borders, drug use, sexual morality, marriage, and virtually any other activity an individual might want to support. Objective morality does exist, and not living by it causes the destruction of the individual, the family, and society in general. Following the reasoning of Christian Theism, order is maintained in society, and actual justice is accomplished.
So What Can Actually Be Accomplished in Modern Society?
Those who disagree with me, generally tend to attribute my comments to political advocacy. While there is definitely a political element involved when dealing with these issues, my interest is not in the arena of politics. Political policy is not something that exists in and of itself. It is simply one way values are expressed based on a particular worldview foundation. Each worldview category has its own way of thinking about and expressing political ideas, and the policies that emerge out of each one naturally flow from that foundation. Political policies are not the root of worldview beliefs, they are an expression of them.
People who have no objective moral foundation can justify virtually any value and behavior and call them moral – since they are the ones who make up the definition of what is moral and what is not. By the same token, they can even deem Christian beliefs immoral if that is what they personally decide. And if there is a disagreement between people as to what should be deemed moral, the winner is decided by who can exert the most influence – literally the law of the jungle.
When an objective moral foundation exists, on the other hand, arbitrary personal preferences are not in play. There is a determined right and wrong that applies to everyone.
But there is also another dynamic at play. Every approach to dealing with morality starts with what is in the heart of individuals.
When the group dominating society are of a naturalistic mindset, the law of the jungle automatically comes into play. That is what we see going on in society right now – different groups are fighting to implement their own personal preferences.
On the other side, when the group dominating society holds a Christian mindset, they all agree that the moral values of the Bible are right, and they follow it willingly. John Adams, our second president famously said, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
In the days when the government of the United States was being formed, the people who formed it were Christian Theists. As a result, the Constitution, along with all of the governing values and structures, was created based on the worldview beliefs of Christian Theism. And as long as the majority in society believe those values are true and right, it is possible for order and justice to prevail in the country. That is because the political policies of those making them correspond to biblical values, and the citizens of the country follow them voluntarily.
These days, though, a shift has occurred in which naturalistic worldview beliefs have come to dominate all of the major institutions of society. The result is massive conflict as the relativistic values of Naturalism gradually erode the biblical values that the nation was founded upon. Increasingly we see political policies being implemented that result in the outcomes listed at the beginning of this article.
So where is this headed? What will be the future of American society?
In an ultimate sense, it will not be determined by political policy. Political policy is only the outward expression of something deeper. In an ultimate sense, it will be determined by worldview beliefs. If Americans continue walking down the road of atheistic Naturalism, the political policies, along with the societal outcomes, will continue to lead to chaos and injustice.
Before America can become what it once was, a spiritual renewal must take place. And for that to happen, Christians are going to have to become more serious about two things: faithfully living out their lives based on biblical truths, and becoming more knowledgeable about what that entails. Since the ultimate bottom line is based on beliefs, the solution is in the hearts of the people. Nothing changes until hearts are changed.
© 2024 Freddy Davis