OPINION:
The Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University took a look at faith in America, post-COVID-19, and found: Fewer now believe they have a God-given purpose for life, and fewer now hold human life to be sacred.
This bodes darkly for the future of American liberty.
Without a God-given purpose — without an ingrained sense of reverence for human life — Americans as individuals cannot thrive in freedom and America as a country cannot last for long in any sort of exceptional way.
Why not?
If the notion of God-given rights is the bedrock of American Exceptionalism — and it is — and if the principle of a God-given mission for each and every one of His creations is the natural accompaniment to this foundational truth — which it is — then the disbelief of citizens in a seed of purpose that is planted at birth by the Creator is a direct assault on this nation’s liberties. Why would citizens who see themselves only as secular beings — as tools of the state, for example, devoid of higher calling — work to preserve individual freedom? The answer is: They wouldn’t, of course.
And once citizens cede the notion of a God-planted mission, then the highest calling in the life of an individual becomes something of the secular, not of the spirit. Such a secular, materialistic, flesh-obsessed society quickly becomes one based on selfish pursuits, self-centered ambitions and devil-may-care attitudes, all of which feed into the circle of selfishness and create a generational cycle of selfishness. Goodbye, higher callings. Hello, animalistic quests.
Hello, government overlords.
The resulting chaos from this selfish, materialistic society would open wide the door for bureaucrats to swoop in and pretend to be the savior that calms. Founding Fathers warned that the limited form of government they provided could only last so long as the people remained moral and virtuous; it’s only the moral and virtuous who are capable of self-rule. The more criminals and thugs — the more rules, regulations, laws, punishments and crackdowns on liberties that are required to keep some semblance of order.
God is inextricably linked to individualism — to the belief that it’s the individual that matters more than the state — and therefore, to America.
“The biggest statistical change noted between 2020 and 2023 among U.S. adults overall was a staggering 20-percentage point decline in those who believe they have a unique, God-given calling or purpose for their life,” the Cultural Research Center wrote in a written release.
Prior to the pandemic, 66% said they believed God gave purpose to each life. After, only 46% said similarly.
“Another double-digit decline was in the number of adults who believe human life is sacred,” the center wrote. “A minority of Americans (39%) held that view in 2020, but that number has plummeted to just 29% in 2023.”
Out of this comes abortion.
From this comes physician-assisted suicide.
Out of that and from that come increasing violent crime statistics.
COVID-19 clampdowns didn’t just cause losses of liberties. Coronavirus shutdowns caused a change in human behavior, namely in human interactions, that has led to a societal shift in faith.
Beware. This is the time leftists and globalists have been anticipating with glee.
If Americans lose their identities in God and instead draw their purposes from the material world, then God-given individualism dies, God-given liberty dies and God Himself soon enough ‘dies’ in the hearts and minds of the people.
That is the time for total government takeover.
That is the time America loses its spirit and becomes just another plot of land, ripe for seizing.
If America is to stay America, Americans must — must! — keep God at the helm.
• 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.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
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