OPINION:
The younger generations are being taught a batch of lies: namely, that life is about making a buck, that the path to success should be easy, and that some are born with unfair advantages and therefore, their subsequent successes are unearned.
These are all ingredients in the recipe called socialism.
And this is the perilous path upon which America now walks.
“Can There Be a Less Materialist American Dream?” The Atlantic questioned in a headline in 2015.
Yes — but only if the counterbalance to this secular way of living comes back into sharp focus. In a word: God.
God and faith and belief in a higher power and concern for the soul — concern for the spiritual aspect of life — are the solutions for runaway lust for material goods. So it’s no coincidence that as America grows more and more secular; as Americans turn more and more toward material pursuits; as the church pews empty in favor of the shopping malls and football stadiums; as the search for holy becomes replaced with the frivolities of vacation holidays; as even biblical teachings and Bible readings become condensed to bullet point paper bulletins passed around the bored masses that make up some uninspired churches — as these things take place with growing frequency in America, the spirit of the nation becomes depressed. The battle for the soul of the nation, as even President Joe Biden recognizes is ongoing, shifts in favor of the enemy.
And runaway materialism — the quest for stuff and more stuff, without higher purpose, as an end in itself — becomes the goal of life. Socialists love this atmosphere because it gives them a terrific opportunity to breed. After all, if Citizen A is born with less wealth than Citizen B, then it’s oh so easy to pit Citizen A against Citizen B. It’s oh so easy to drive wedges and fuel anger and ratchet envy and then, by logical extension, call for solutions to these unfair living situations — with government, of course, being called on as the solution. The world is filled with Citizens A and Citizens B; the possibilities to exploit for political powers are endless.
At the same time, the younger generations are being fed lines of rot in public schooling that go like this, “How to Promote Equity in High School Education,” from XQ Institute, or this, “From Self-Esteem to Equity,” from National Association of Scholars, or this, “‘1619’ Pulitzer Will Boost Socialist Teaching in Schools,” as the Heritage Institute wrote. The basic thrust of such ideas is that life is unfair and it’s government’s role to create fair situations so that all have chances at success — at materialistic wealth. The basic thrust of all is to reinforce an attitude of victimhood in those who have less. The basic thrust of each is to teach Citizen A to hate Citizen B, and to create as many Citizen A’s as possible — so as to turn them into angry marching trolls for the far left to exploit.
The Bible gives a different view.
Judeo-Christian principles present a different outlook.
The framers, who based their imaginations of government in large part on biblical teachings, forged a nation that granted the right of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” to the individual, while leaving it up to the individual to decide best how to fulfill those pursuits. God, meanwhile, infuses each and every one of His creations at birth with certain talents and skills and gifts; some have more, some have fewer, but all have missions and purposes and important tasks to complete while on earth. Not all were created to be billionaires. All were told, however, life would be a struggle.
“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return,” God told Adam in Genesis 3:19.
Work and toil and struggle are all part and parcel of the human experience, and from the earliest days of humanity. Teaching that life is unfair is truthful; teaching that life should be fairer and it’s the role of those who have much to help those who have little is also truthful — from a spiritual perspective. But from secular eyes? From the secular viewpoint? Teaching that it’s government’s job to make all fair is an aberration of America’s Constitution. It’s the pathway to socialism.
It’s why minimum wage jobs turned into high-paying positions; why illegals get entitlements; why flash mobs and retail looters have become so commonplace; why Section 8 and housing subsidies exist; why Obamacare finally passed; why some prosecutors fail to prosecute — and in general, why our nation is so divided and rancorous. The battle isn’t between Citizen A and Citizen B. Not really. Politicians want it believed to be so; socialists and leftists and Marxists and those who favor collectivism over individualism want it so badly to be believed to be so. But the real battle in America is one of faith.
The real battle is belief in God versus belief in nothing — which is to say belief in the material world. The latter breeds socialism because there is never enough to satisfy.
Once again, as always, the solution for what ails America is for Americans to get back to church, get back to biblical truths, get back to Judeo-Christian principles. All else, from misplaced materialism to greedy gain to outright and unbridled socialism, will then naturally subside.
Heal the soul, take care of the spirit, and the rest will fall into proper place.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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