In recent days, a number of
commentators have compared the year 2020 with 1968 (for my article, see here). But we have not discussed the larger cultural shift
that took place as a result of the counterculture revolution of the 60s. In
short, what was extreme and fringe in that generation became mainstream in the
next generation. Put another way, radicals like Bill Ayers of the Weathermen
(who bombed buildings in their anti-war protests) became university professors
and even mentors of a president (meaning, Barack Obama). Who saw
this coming?
Do you think that radical,
anti-family feminists in groups like W.I.T.C.H. imagined a world where
legalized abortion would snuff out 60 million lives in the womb? (W.I.T.C.H.
stood for the Women’s
International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell — I kid you not —
and was founded in 1969.)
Do you think that the 1969
Stonewall Inn rioters, hurling bricks at police and their cars and chanting
“Gay Power” and “We Want Freedom Now” envisioned the day when the Supreme
Court would change the very meaning of marriage? (Remember that these gay rioters
tended to despise marriage as an antiquated, patriarchal institution.) Do you
think that the transvestite prostitute protesters envisioned the day when
university campuses and big businesses would marginalize you if you didn’t
affirm transgender activism?
Standing on the Brink
In 2000, I wrote a mini-book
called The Jesus Manifesto. Looking back at some of the opening
lines, it sounds almost quaint today. “The last generation’s counterculture of
rebellion has become this generation’s establishment of revulsion, and what was
unthinkable thirty years ago – daytime talk shows celebrating adultery and
incest; homosexual love scenes on major network TV; eleven year-old multiple
murderers; massacres in our schools and houses of worship – is a matter of course
today. We need a revolution!”
Of course, the “revolution” of
which I spoke was a gospel-based, moral and cultural revolution, changing hearts
and lives and thereby changing the society. But if that was true in the year
2000, it is much truer in the year 2020, when we stand on the precipice of an
even more dangerous cultural shift.
I’m talking about the rise of
mobocracy where the most radical elements of society forcefully impose their
will on everyone else.
I’m talking about the “safe space” culture of the college campuses (with
enforced speech codes — even thought codes — and severe penalties for every
violation) becoming the national norm.
I’m talking about an even more
extreme shift to the left, but this time, under mob patrol.
I’m talking about the current
culture of the New York Times, where the publishing of a contrary opinion piece leads to outrage and overhaul in
the editorial department, becoming the national norm. (So much for differing
opinions!)
As expressed by Alexandra Desanctis on the National
Review, “The result is ideological servitude, a society in which a
culturally powerful, tyrannical minority owns the voice of every person willing
to go along.” And woe be to you if do you not agree to go along.
The Truth About Black Lives
Matter, Inc.
Of course, many of us have been
warning about this for years.
But now, with the tragic death
of George Floyd, the radical activists have seized their moment. You must
kneel, or else! You must embrace our agenda, or you will be trampled underfoot!
You must bow down, or we will force you to bow!
If you don’t shout “Black
Lives Matter” loudly enough or demonstrate sufficient guilt (in particular, for
having white skin), you will lose your job. Or your credibility. Or your peace.
We do stand in solidarity with
victims of injustice. We do oppose racism. But we do it our way, not the mob’s
way. And we do it based on our values, not those of the radical left.
One pastor sent me screen
shots of the death threats he has received for taking issue with “queer”
aspects of the BLM platform. Not today! The mob is coming your way. (This
pastor’s home address was revealed as well.)
Synagogues vandalized during
the riots in Los Angeles have discovered that some of the rioters are also
antisemites (why no public outcry?). As a Times of Israel headline announced on June 2, “LA Jews reeling after local
institutions looted and burned in Floyd protests. Synagogues, schools and
Jewish memorials vandalized with anti-Semitic, anti-Israel slogans,
Jewish-owned businesses battered, particularly in Fairfax district.” But this
is no surprise given that BLM also supports BDS.
And what of BLM goals
like this?
“We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by
supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively
care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers,
parents, and children are comfortable.
“We foster a queer‐affirming network. When we
gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of
heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are
heterosexual (unless s/he or they disclose otherwise).”
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As for BLM’s antisemitic
roots, Caroline Glick noted on Israel Hayom that, “BLM was formed in 2014 as a
merger of activists from the anti-Semitic Nation of Islam, the anti-Semitic
Black Panthers and Dream Catchers. In 2016, BLM published a platform that has
since been removed from its website. The platform accused Israel of committing
‘genocide’ and referred to the Jewish state as an ‘apartheid’ state. The
platform accused Israel and its supporters of pushing the US into wars in the
Middle East.
The platform also officially
joined BLM with the anti-Semitic BDS campaign to boycott, divest and sanction
Israel. BDS campaign leader Omar Barghouti acknowledged this week that the goal of the BDS campaign is to
destroy Israel. BDS campaigns on US campuses are characterized by
bigotry and discrimination directed against Jewish students.”
Only Bow Before God
As for America as a whole,
just a few days ago, the thought of defunding the police would have been viewed
as a silly joke. One week later, and presidential candidate Joe Biden is
being tested for
his allegiance to this bizarre proposal. (Police reform, where needed, is one
thing. Defunding the police is not even a bad joke.)
But shouting “Make America
Great Again” and rallying around the flag is not the solution.
Instead, everyone of us must
stand up to the mob and refuse to move an inch from our core convictions and
values. I mean in our homes. Our schools. Our neighborhoods. Our places of
business. On social media. Wherever we have a voice, we must stand and speak.
Of course, we do abhor police
brutality when it occurs. We do stand in solidarity with victims of injustice. We
do oppose racism. But we do it our way, not the mob’s way. And we do it based
on our values, not those of the radical left.
I tweeted this last night (June 8): “Rather than bowing the
knee to the mobocracy of the far left or the hyper-nationalism of the far
right, I say we bow the knee to Jesus, then get His marching orders and obey
Him at any cost.”
I appeal to you
strongly, no I warn you: this is a critical hour in our history. If we do not
push back righteously today, we will have deep regrets tomorrow. And what will
we say to our children and grandchildren?
In the famous dictum of
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world
that it leaves to its children.”
What will it be?
Dr. Michael Brown (www.askdrbrown.org) is the
host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book is When the World Stops: Words of Faith, Hope, and Wisdom in the Midst of
Crisis. Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.
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