Last night, John Stonestreet delivered an awesome message at Life Network’s 40th Anniversary Gala. His message resonated with me, but;
As a Christ follower and historian…
Living in the age of Daniel 12: 4…
In the Times of the Gentiles framed by Nebuchadnezzar’s statue in Daniel 2…
Two thoughts spoken by John make very clear sense:
Times will get much worse before they might get better.
Our nation has not been this divided over an issue of morality and life since 1861 when a bunch of drunk Citadel cadets fired cannons at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, starting the Civil War. Back then, the core morality issue dividing our nation was slavery. Today it’s abortion. The massive similarity is that slaves and aborted babies had no voice in their demise. Today, add the highway of human slavery, porn books in school libraries that parents cannot read to the school boards that put them in the libraries, trans gender mutilation of children… a current government shrilly, illogically, and incoherently supporting these death agendas…
The bottom line is that like 1860, we are so deeply divided that our nation is no longer ‘We the people.’ There are those who passionately support life vs. those who support death. Our own State, Colorado, is a death state. Not only does Colorado legalize abortion all the way up to the day of birth (worse than North Korea), but it is the only state that makes treatment of the abortion pill with progesterone illegal, taking away a woman’s choice to step back from abortion and keep her baby.
In between Life and Death, the vast majority of our citizens and voters reside in the Unaffiliated column. Currently, the percentages of registered Republican and Democratic party voters is dropping as voters move into the Unaffiliated column.
It is very similar to the political position of most Americans in 1860 on the eve of Civil War. While researching my master’s Thesis on US Grant, I read a New York Times editorial from 1859. The writer noted that following the Dread Scott decision that effectively made slavery legal in the United States, they could not even figure out through surveys and Sears Catalog efforts what color of women’s dresses were the most popular. In other words, polls, pundits, and politicians could not figure out the core values of voters. In turn, citizens were deeply fragmented between life and death on the slavery, and most Americans were trying to ignore the issues, move along to get along, and be Unaffiliated.
Does 1859 sound like today? In my opinion, 165 years later, here we are. Again.
By 1865, EVERY American had been impacted by the war and the decisions of life and death on the issue of slavery. But the issue rested on Lincoln’s probably illegal executive order that was the Emancipation Proclamation. Because he used an executive order to take away property. The book, ‘Team of Rivals,’ by Doris Goodwin, made into the Daniel Day Lewis and Sally Field 2012 film, ‘Lincoln,’ reveals how our nation finally and decisively resolved Life and Death issues with law. Not perfectly and it would be a century before Civil Rights arrived in every American’s home, but slavery was dead as LIFE prevailed. The key is that getting to that point in the Civil War struggle over life and death, approximately 620,000 men lost their lives in the line of duty, which is nearly as many as the total number of U.S. military deaths during the Vietnam War. This figure accounts for roughly 2% of the population at that time. If we consider today’s population, the toll would have risen as high as 10 million souls. Paying that price tag put in front of Congress the opportunity to finally resolve the slavery issue legally for LIFE.
John Stonestreet did not say it directly (he was being careful, and I appreciate that), but I believe we are headed toward catastrophe. In 1861, most southerners did not go to war to protect the right of their top 5% elites to keep slaves. For them, it was about rights and the indignity of 2/3ds of Federal taxes being collected in the south and 2/3ds of Federal revenue being spent in the North on Railroads, Canals, and roads. Slavery was not THE issue until after the Battle of Antietam when Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation. Today, most Americans won’t go to war over abortion, but similar issues to 1860 loom greatly on our horizon… Taxes, education, parental rights, border… with the potential of taking us to war. I find it fascinating that it’s all the things that Republicans mostly did not even discuss or get questioned about in the “Incompetent travesty called a debate,” several nights ago, as noted by Eric Metaxas.
Bottom Line - Things WILL get worse, but we MUST consider the cost. Throughout history, every weapon of war and tactic used against an enemy is brought home and used against citizens. Except Nukes, at this point. As we consider costs and effects, in our day when the prophecy about Knowledge in Daniel 12: 4 is coming true, who’s going to dictate the eventual Peace? Life or Death?
Interesting Aside from Foreign Affairs magazine that captures the impact of our deep national divisions: The Dysfunctional Superpower: Can a divided America deter China and Russia?
This brings me to John Stonestreet’s most important point that resonated in my heart:
Christ is risen… He is risen indeed
John eloquently walked the audience through a statement and response exercise as he detailed multiple aspects of evil in our nation. At the end of each one, he said, “BUT…” and the audience would roar, “Christ is Risen!” then John would say, “AND…” the audience would roar, “He is risen indeed!”
THAT is the most important thing to keep in mind.
Thank-you, John Stonestreet, for eloquently and clearly keeping us anchored to TRUTH.
Trivia Note… One of the fascinating ironies of history is that Union Captain Abner Doubleday commanded Fort Sumter and surrendered the Fort to the Confederates. After returning to the North in 1861, he made it to Major General in the Union Army, commanded I Corps at Gettysburg, and invented Baseball.
Jay
Enjoying Coffee on a beautiful blue sky Colorado day… Praying the Lord makes Colorado a LIFE state.
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