Dispatches from the Front Lines: "Mere" Anecdotes that Point to a Cultural Revolution

It is said with some regularity (often times by me) that we are living through a “cultural revolution." Granted, I will admit that it is based on intuition, anecdotal experience, and my Twitter feed. My intuition tells me that fewer and fewer people I know are Christian, and obviously one's religious commitments are vital to building a particular culture in the first place. Anecdotally, I do outreach to college students and I hear from them directly that they reject what I would consider baseline Western Civ-type beliefs. As for my Twitter Feed, it highlights angry mobs, dissident teachers, rainbow flags at the White House, and fearless shoplifters that make America unrecognizable. And now, with the outbreak of war in Israel and Gaza, apparently a whole lot of Americans are openly celebrating terrorism.

But realizing that you are experiencing a cultural revolution, you have to have an original culture (OC) to begin with. The fact that I have to pause to even define what an American OC even is, is itself evidence that we are living through a revolution! After all, I have to self-censor when I consider saying that the American OC is rooted in, say, personal responsibility, rugged individualism, Christian virtue, and the rule of law. For, in so saying, I might quickly be accused of racism, sexism, or heteronormativity.

However, while not 100% uniform, there is this thing called “Western Civilization” and America has a unique place within it. America is, broadly speaking, a Christian nation. America values personal freedom which is secured through personal virtue and our Constitution. There is a strong element of self-reliance, but civic associations like churches, guilds, clubs, and sporting clubs are equally integral to American life. We value commercial enterprise and like to make money, but we are also extremely generous with our wealth. We have, or used to have, particular understandings of family, justice, right and wrong, jurisprudence, religion, and more. But those norms are being underwritten, changed, and ridiculed as the Revolution makes progress. Consider these examples.

What Passes for “Far Right” These Days

Let's start by looking at what is now considered “far right.” Not merely conservative mind you or standard-issue Republican, but “far right”…so far, you might even say…fascist. Maybe even…Nazi-ish? (Meanwhile, actual Nazis get standing ovations up in the great white north). So what are these “far-right” beliefs?

To believe in legal immigration and a closed border is far right.

To believe in two genders is far right.

To not want to send Ukraine any more money is far right.

Holding people to their word is far right.

Believing in traditional marriage is far right.

It makes you wonder, if these are “far right” positions, then what is “moderate?” Stalinism?

Education

Those links alone seem to suggest pretty strongly that we are in uncharted territory. Let’s look at some other sectors of the landscape, though, shall we? What’s up in the world of, say, education? You know, where the minds of small children are formed?

Well, you’re very likely to see a Rainbow flag in a classroom, but the Gadsden Flag, might get you kicked out of school.

We allow children’s faces to be covered and, for their safety, we teach them how to “walk like zombies.” That’s public education “socialization” for ya!

We have to fight to keep boys out of girl’s bathrooms and locker rooms. Because apparently boys and girls are the same thing.

Public schools are mediocrity centers at best and education hellholes at worst. And no one seems to care.

It makes you wonder…what are they learning in the Education Departments of colleges these days?

The Legal World

How are we doing on the legal front? That whole “rule of law” thing still holding? You know, where no one is above the law? Where judges follow the Constitution? Where we prosecute crime, not people, using a “blind” standard of justice? Someone should tell that to President Trump because apparently simply being Donald Trump is now a crime. Being his lawyer is apparently a crime, a standard that will absolutely flow downhill once Trump’s business empire and political aspirations have been destroyed. Meanwhile, actually being a criminal is fine. We persecute those who “wrong-think,” but we let violent rapists out of jail early for “good behavior.” Don’t believe me? Check out these links:

Mar-a-Lago is only worth $18 million while smaller, vacant lots around it are worth twice that?

Meanwhile, a 30-year sentence is meaningless in the hands of a generous parole board. Nevermind it costs people their lives. In a cultural revolution, criminals have more rights than victims.

Protecting people from insanely dangerous people is now a crime.

Calling the cops on people shoplifting from your store will get you fired. Shoplifting itself, though, is not prosecuted.

Not disrupting a legislative session is a crime worthy of 22 years in federal prison, but actually disrupting a legislative is totally fine.

It makes you wonder…what are they teaching the kiddies in law school these days?

The Culture

Don’t worry, though. You can survive all of the above by just not being Donald Trump, letting people steal your stuff, not having children, and being pro-gay. At least on Facebook, you’ll be safe. Probably. These links might make you a little more nervous that the Revolution is coming soon to your neighborhood, too.

Making delicious burritos is cultural appropriation and will cause you to lose your restaurant.

Looking, acting, and singing like the devil is baseline Hollywood these days.

Men can get pregnant and breastfeed. We’re certain the milk is “safe and effective.”

The military puts men in dresses to get new recruits. China and Russia must be terrified.

Public nudity and threatening to "come for your children” are normal, legal and celebrated in public places.

Mike McDaniel is “black.” But no Houston Astro last year was “black.”

Man, I’m so confused. Black is white, public nudity is good, celebrating diverse cultures is bad, men can get pregnant…I can’t keep up.

Well, these are just anecdotes…love letters from the Revolution. Maybe that is all they are: anecdotes. Maybe there is no overarching, systemic process by which holders of a fundamentally anti-American worldview are working through the academy, the media, the state, the courts, and even corporations to fundamentally transform America. But the evidence is building.

Where will the Revolution end? What are its goals? Well, it’s hard to say. In many ways, the revolutionaries contradict themselves. They write screeds against capitalism on a laptop made by the world’s largest corporation. They say gender is a state of mind but perform genital mutilation. They declare “my body, my choice” but militantly defend coercive vaccination programs.

Anecdotally, having hosted a show at a very left-wing radio station for four years, witnessing the community meetings and listening to the shows, I saw no organizing principle or worldview. I have never seen a more divided group of people who like to fight. There is no overarching moral framework on which they can build because there are no transcendent values.

So what do the revolutionaries want? It depends on who you ask. Outwardly, they seem to only want to destroy traditional norms: Christian values, traditional marriage, free markets, representative government, the gender binary, cultural appropriation, American sovereignty, etc. Inwardly, I suspect we are dealing with lost souls, for whom revolution is an outlet that offers purpose and meaning.

That is why describing the revolution is like nailing Jell-O to a wall. It can only be anecdotal because the persons wrapped up in these revolutionary ideas do not have a worldview that flows from the top down. Rather, to the extent they have a worldview at all, it seems to extend from the inside out. Therefore, my solution to the Revolution is the same as my solution to everything else: the full-throated, unashamed proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Soon, if not already by now, following Jesus will be the revolutionary act. That’s the revolution I am praying for.

Photo Credit- nationalreview. com