"Going"
ON OUR WAY OUT
Here you are free to have gay pride.
If you don't like it, then please hide.
Free to be anything you choose.
Free to smoke pot and to swill booze.
It's a fun time in America,
Illegals are fine in America,
Transgender's no crime in America;
"Normal" is dyin' in America.
Okay. Those verses don't actually appear in the song, "America," from West Side Story. But in today's society they are accurate. We see daily numerous evidence that, as a nation, we are on our way out, if the last election is any indication. No, we're not speaking of candidates in particular, but decisions made by the voters.
According to an article in the Orlando Sentinel published on November 8, 2018, several significant decisions were made (A3). First of all, Michigan became the first state in the Midwest—but the 10th state overall—to legalize marijuana for recreational use (A3). Missouri became the 31st state to legalize "medical" marijuana. South Dakota (less than one-tenth the size of Michigan) did reject recreational use. But with each election more and more states join the Mary Jane Bandwagon. How many years will it take until the majority of states make it available?
Does anyone think the legalization of marijuana makes society better? Has the use of alcohol improved home and community life? Before answering, it might be helpful to consider a news item from October 25, 2018. The Orlando Sentinel published an interesting picture of the "Happy Place Sports Bar" (B2). The front door has been shot out. Just a few days earlier, a young man was killed there.
This was the most recent of three shootings. Back on July 20, 2018, a 20-year-old was killed during a fight in which three other men and a security guard were shot. Later, on September 10th, a bystander was shot outside the bar, but he survived. What is ironic is that all of these shootings occurred at an establishment designated as "Happy Place." Who knows what would have happened if the tavern were called "Belligerent Ruffians"? Happy's has closed down, but here's a wild thought: Has anyone ever wondered if the product being sold, alcohol, had anything to do with these shootings (Pr. 20:1; 23:29-35)?
So, alcohol continues to plague society, and now marijuana is fast escaping Pandora's Box, also. But the title of the election news article was, "Massachusetts Upholds Law on Transgender Rights." Can anyone explain how it is that Transgenders have rights? Are they mentioned in our Constitution? Our founding fathers could not have imagined such a being.
Transgenderism
On the ballot in Massachusetts was a provision that would have repealed a law passed in 2016. David Crary of AP wrote:
The outcome in Massachusetts was a huge relief to LGBT-rights activists, who feared that a vote to repeal the 2016 law would prompt a wave of similar efforts to roll back protections in other states. Already, some protections at the federal level are under threat from President Donald Trump's administration (A3).
Perhaps many have grown accustomed to Homosexual Pride weeks that are observed annually around the country and June being the month for homosexuals swarming to Disney. Having achieved homosexual marriage (a grotesque misnomer), they have little more to shoot for except punishment for anyone who opposes the practice. Under the Massachusetts law, Transgenders are protected to use any restroom they want, which means the infringements of rights to people who have always known if they are male or female.
Who Was Elected?
A different article appearing in the November 8, 2018 Orlando Sentinel certainly was intriguing: "Dead Brothel Owner Wins Assembly Seat in Nevada" (A4). In Nevada prostitution is legal (another mark of moral decay); so it may not be all that strange that the owner of a brothel was running for public office. That people would vote for such a person is disturbing. He died in October—too late to be removed from the ballot. Being dead did not keep 63% of the vote from going his way. Neither his winning of the election nor his elaborate burial site, replete with bunnies that mark his gravesite, will not make his current residence any cooler.
He ran as a Republican, and it is shameful that they accepted him. Why would any party want such a candidate? Would they also accept a Mafia don? The article actually had the effrontery to say: "The sprawling district is reliably conservative…." Conservative? Conservative what? Not morally conservative! No one can read the Scriptures and possibly come to the conclusion that God accepts prostitution or fornication. Whatever might be said of voters in Nevada, they are not morally conservative. Gambling is legal. Recreational marijuana is legal. Prostitution is legal. How long will it be before hit men can get a license? If "conservatives" elect people like this, what are the liberals like?
What will America be like when the day arrives and there is no moral choice to make? What if both candidates are pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality, pro-prostitution, pro-gambling? What then?
Illegals?
In school, students were once taught about the greatness of the Greek and Roman Empires. Probably many will remember Alexander the Great lamenting that he had no more worlds to conquer. Then along came Rome with its awesome armies, its system of roads, and the Roman Senate. But Rome fell, too. Students always want to know why.
If we know the Bible, we know why—because Rome made war against the saints. Christianity eventually won without fighting a single battle. Yes, God was behind Rome's fall, but what was the means of her demise? In a word—foreigners. Many entered the Roman Empire from without but they did not assimilate into the culture, and it led to her downfall. Isn't that what is happening in America?
We have always been a nation of immigrants, but they were people who wanted to come here and be Americans. Now we have thousands, yes, millions of immigrants, but they are illegal and have a different outlook than those who came legally. Many want to speak their own language and stay in their own communities. As with the legalization of drugs and various other immoral practices, so have society's attitudes changed toward illegals. For example, who made the following statement?
"There's something a little strange about saying, 'Let's bring in 500,000 more people' when we can't take care of the one million [Californians] out of work" (Carlson, Ship of Fools (64).
It was Jerry Brown when he was governor of California the first time (1975-1983). Who said in 1995: "All Americans…are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country. … The public services they use impose burdens on our taxpayers"? Would you believe Bill Clinton (Carlson 64-65)? Society has shifted on this issue—for the worse.
Who wrote the following words?
Are preachers aware of what is involved in illegal immigration? Do they not know that every illegal immigrant is a criminal? That is what the word "illegal" means. Do preachers, priests, and rabbis care that many of the illegal and destructive drugs come into the United States from Mexico? Do preachers have any interest in reducing the violent crime many of the illegal immigrants are committing? Does it matter to preachers that illegal immigration is bankrupting states along our southern border and elsewhere?
No, it was not a radical xenophobe but the esteemed and late Winford Claiborne (Silence Can Be Sinful: Volume 3). This was part of a radio broadcast for the International Gospel Hour; the sermon was published in 2012 (21). Before anyone accuses him of racism, he is clearly opposed to that concept, having written previous chapters against it.
The Future?
What does America's future hold? While this country once stood against prostitution, gambling, fornication, homosexuality, and abortion, it no longer does. Despite the unquestionable damage that alcohol does, we made it legal once it was outlawed, and now marijuana is headed that same direction. Political candidates are becoming more and more socialistic. We have lost much of our respect for human life; we have welcomed various forms of immorality, and we have moved away from the principles this nation was founded upon.
As bad as society is now, things could get worse. Human rights could deteriorate. We are not yet at the point of people cheering the deaths of Christians in the Roman Coliseum, but how far are we? With pornography both in magazines and on the Internet, how far are we from having every imagination of the thoughts of our heart being only evil continually (Gen. 6:5)?
Also, people are apparently not being taught how to reason or use logic any more—or they are taught that how they feel about something counts more than the facts. Unfortunately, this is not only true regarding daily issues; it is also true with respect to the Bible. A Christian might encourage a friend to read a passage of Scripture. He takes it to his "pastor," who then puts a certain spin on it. One might be incredulous, and ask, "What do these words mean?" but he can get nowhere because the mind has already been given an entirely different framework in which to operate.
The same is true in society. A professor teaches students how to interpret events, omitting facts known to him but not supporting his position. The news media does the same. One might say to a friend, "But I heard the person admit it." Oh, but it doesn't count because he didn't hear it and refuses to consider that it might be true. Sigh. Both in society and in religion, people do not possess a love of the truth (2 Thess. 2:10).
So, what are we saying—that America is on its way out? Yes. This fact is not deduced on the basis of some faulty interpretation of a prophecy from Revelation (that actually applies to Rome); it is based on observable evidence. This nation's only hope of survival is a resurgence of evangelism. Failing that, we still have confidence in the Heaven. No culture successfully rebels against God for long, but Christians ultimately triumph.
There's a place for us,
A Post-Judgment place for us.
Where Salvation the saints shall share,
No corruption there.
There's all time for us,
Rewards sublime for us.
Obey Christ, and He'll take you there
Love the Lord, He'll be sure you're there
In that
City
Foursquare.