08: A Not–So–Vast Left Wing Conspiracy and the Selling of Homosexualism

What will this year 2004 bring? Readers of Newswcipp will not expect here some kind of up–beat prediction of the return of the good times. The focus of this column is to look at contemporary events from the perspective of the rise of neo–paganism. From that perspective, 2004 will doubtless witness the inevitable “progress” of paganism, especially in the area of “sexual liberation.” The Washington Blade, a major gay newspaper celebrates 2003 as “a very gay year,” and is upbeat for 2004 since every last one of the Democratic contenders for the presidency in 2004 has adopted a pro–gay platform. In early January, 2004, New Jersey passed a gay domestic partnership law that is “gay marriage” in all but name. Not a single senator rose to speak against the measure.

Why is the rise of paganism seemingly inevitable? Is this not defeatism? Possibly, but the word I would choose is realism, and if the Church is ever to mount a significant stand, it must be done on a realistic basis of deep cultural awareness.

We speak of 1776 as the Great American Revolution, but it did not change anyone’s fundamental worldview. Our “revolutionaries” were deeply committed to the values of Western, Christian civilization. Patrick Henry believed that “…this great nation was founded…on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” James Madison stated: “We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves…according to the Ten Commandments of God.”

Since the Sixties we have witnessed the true revolution in American history, which is presently removing those Ten Commandments from the public square. This so–called “Cultural Revolution” has succeeded in cutting the connections to our Christian–inspired past. In one generation radical views of the family, education, morals, marriage, sexuality, spirituality, and God have become the new politically–correct orthodoxy.

Now that’s a revolution!

The bard of the Sixties, Bob Dylan, sang prophetically: “Come mothers and fathers throughout the land and don’t criticize what you can’t understand, your sons and your daughters are beyond your command. Your old road is rapidly agin’… for the loser now will be later to win, for the times they are a–changin’.”

The “loser” hippies have won; the times have changed, and “Christian” America has imploded before our eyes. By occupying the key places of cultural power, the influence of the present revolutionaries extends far beyond their numbers. On the campus, they train the radical leaders of the next generation. Via the media, they change the way the masses conceive of what is “normal.” A case in point is homosexualism.

I take two newspapers, a national and a local. On New Years Day, 2004, in each paper there was an article on homosexuality. A writer for the Los Angeles Times stated: “[We live] in a time when gay culture is gaining wider acceptance in American society–as reflected in television shows, movies, magazines, fashion trends and recent court decisions.” This is hardly proof of wider acceptance, but proof of the elitist use of the media to normalize gay sexuality. Later that week, the LA Times informed us that “The L Word,” a sitcom about the lives and loves of a group of young lesbians in L.A., will replace in popular culture “Sex and the City,” a sitcom about the lives and loves of young heterosexual women in New York. Too bad for New York, I guess.

Writing in the North County Times, Richard Kirk, a brilliant Christian observer of culture, wrote, also on January 1, 2004: “In one corner you have 5000 years of civilized history; in the other an eclectic cast of Hollywood types, alienated intellectuals, and the Massachusetts Supreme Court….Unfortunately, public debate on this issue has been next to nil [because]…proponents of homosexual marriage have relied overwhelmingly on vilifying, not refuting, opponents… [with] a preemptive judgment of homophobia…”

These two pieces document the same thing–the victory of the cultural elite in forcing a particular view of sexuality via the manipulation of the media–all without any serious debate. The year 2004 will doubtless contain, for Christians, one more solid dose of realism about the direction of the culture and the true nature of the kingdom of this world.

Does this mean we give up? Not at all. We are called to be salt and light. This new year gives us one more year to remember with faith and optimism that God is still on the throne; that whatever we do now in the culture, as a witness to God’s glory, counts forever; that Easter follows Christmas; and that Christ has conquered death assuring us that God’s eternal kingdom will certainly come in his good timing and by his power–maybe in 2004.

Maranatha–Happy New Year