Slouching Towards Gomorrah Part One

Radical Egalitarianism

Radical egalitarianism necessarily presses us towards collectivism because a powerful state is required to suppress the differences that freedom produces.  That raises the sinister and seemingly paradoxical possibility that radical individualism is the handmaiden of collectivist tyranny.  This individualism, it is quite apparent in our time, attacks the authority of family, church, and private association.  The family is said to be oppressive, the fount of our miseries.  It is denied that the church may legitimately insist upon what it regards as moral behavior in its members.  Private associations are routinely denied the autonomy to define their membership for themselves.

Modern Liberalism

Modern liberalism is powerful because it has enlisted our cultural elites, those who man the institutions that manufacture, manipulate, and disseminate ideas, attitudes, and symbols…universities, churches, Hollywood, the national press (print and electronic), foundation staffs, the “public interest” organizations, much of the Democratic Party and some congressional Republicans as well, and large sections of the judiciary, including, all too often, a majority of the Supreme Court.

This must be stressed, it not a conspiracy but a syndrome.  These are institutions controlled by people who view the world from a common perspective, a perspective not generally shared by the public at large.  But so persuasive is the influence of those who occupy the commanding heights of our culture that it is important to understand what modern liberalism is and what its ascendency means.

The New Left (Of the sixties after their rioting ended.)

They didn’t go just into the universities.  The radicals were not likely to go into business or the conventional practice of the professions.  They were part of the chattering class, talkers interested in policy, politics, and culture.  They went into politics, print and electronic journalism, church bureaucracies, foundation staffs, Hollywood careers, public interest organizations; anywhere attitudes and opinions could be influenced.  And they are exerting influence.

The sixties radicals are still with us, but now they do not paralyze the universities; they run the universities.  The New Left did collapse as a political movement because of internal incoherence and amorphous program, and because it’s revolutionary rhetoric and proclivity for violence repelled most Americans.  Its adherents did not go away or change their minds; the New Left shattered into a multitude of single-issue groups.  We now have, to name a few, radical feminists, black extremists, animal rights groups, radical environmentalists, activist homosexual organizations, multiculturalists, and new or freshly radicalized organizations such as People for the American Way, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), the National Organization for Women (NOW), and planned parenthood.

Each of these pursues a piece of the agenda of the cultural and political Left, but they do not announce publicly an overarching program, as the New Left did, that would enable people to see that the separate groups and causes add up to a general radical philosophy.  Yet these groups are in touch with one another and often come together in a coalition on specific issues.  The splintering of the New Left proved to be an advantage because the movement became less visible and therefore more powerful, its goals more attainable, than was the case in the sixties.

The important fact to consider is that they accomplished most of what they set out to accomplish.  Although divided by the fact that they have splintered into many groups, they remain divided in their goal of taking control of America and converting it into a Socialist society.  Their control of the three network news providers, ABC, NBC, And CBS, is without question.  These networks can no longer be called left-leaning.  It is my opinion that there are leftist through and through.  The New Left has gained control of the black and Hispanic population and frequently uses race-baiting language to manipulate their support.  They are in control of public education, of the entertainment industry, and most of the sports industry.  Presently, the religious sector including Christianity is under an insidious coup attempt.  Nearly every power sector with the exception of cable news and the Internet is under their control.  They have managed to elect presidents.  That leads to the most important factor, and it is in the political sphere.  The New Left now has a powerful grip on the federal government including the presidency.  That grip is maintained in spite of the numerous scandals and blunders that would have long ago doomed any president but a democrat. 

The new Left has fought very long and hard over two generations to capture the level and degree of power they now hold.  In my opinion, they will not easily or voluntarily give it up even if they lose the midterm or the next presidential election.  With their power base invading Christianity, they are strengthening their grip in preparation for an expansion of power.  The problem is that there can be no further expansion of power without an outright overthrow of democracy.  I expect to see this occur in my lifetime.  It may be years down the road, or it may happen before the end of this presidents term in office.  As fantastic as it seems, America is not that far away from the state that Germany was in when Adolph Hitler took complete control.  I’m not expecting another Adolph Hitler, but someone much more ominous and evil.  When a nation drifts as far away from God as America has, and does so in a period of great deception and apostasy, it must be ripe for an antichrist.  The world is prepared for the Antichrist.  Everything that would need to occur to set an Antichrist kingdom in full power could occur in a matter of hours. 

If professing Christians are waiting until they are frightened into drawing nearer to God, and storing a supply of “oil” for their lamps, they are gambling with a stacked deck.  The time to awaken, begin praying and reading God’s word, is long past.  Anyone not ready by now is playing a desperate game of catch up.  That does not mean that it is impossible to still come into God’s perfect will and be prepared.  It means that there is absolutely no time to waste.  The little time that there is left should not be squandered on the care of this world and deceitfulness of riches.  I advise everyone that intends to make heaven their eternal home to get busy preparing to take the journey.  All the information and warnings will do no one any good until he or she decides to take them seriously and begin living in God’s perfect will.  Why do anything less and expect to be ready?

“And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.” (Luke 12:47)

Slouching towards Gomorrah part one

The problem today is not that people do not know what is going on, but that they do not care.  However, I see another equally disturbing problem.  It appears that people do not want to acquire knowledge if it takes time, thought, and the use of reason and logic.  They have been spoiled to television and the internet.  Unless they can get information in sound bytes or Internet snippets, they will shut down their senses, click the mouse or remote, and quickly move on.

Here is the danger of that paradigm.  If one does not acquire knowledge that is deep and sustaining, he or she will never recognize the approaching danger.  Instead of recognizing and dealing with it in the early stages of development, they will ignore it until they can no longer tolerate it.  The problem with that is when evil becomes intolerable, it is beyond critical mass and unstoppable.

I encourage people to read.  Reading increases ones brain activity better than anything else.  If you want a strong mind, get a book.  If you want to know what and who has besieged America, I recommend reading “Slouching towards Gomorrah” by Robert Bork.  For the next several days I am going to post excerpts from the book.  I hope that people will read at least the introduction and first 4 chapters.

Excerpts from Slouching towards Gomorrah:

“If society should reach a chaotic condition of warring groups and individual alienation, a condition in which even personal security is problematic for a majority of its people, authoritarian government may be accepted.”

The Durkheim Constant:

Emile Durkheim, a founder of sociology, posited that there is a limit to the amount of deviant behavior any community can “afford to recognize.”  As behavior worsens, the community adjusts its standards so that conduct once thought reprehensible is no longer deemed so.  As behavior improves, the deviancy boundary moves up to encompass conduct previously thought normal.  Thus, a community of saints and felons would display very different behavior but about the same amount of recognized deviancy.

Defining Decency Down:

“So unrelenting is the assault on our sensibilities that many of us grow numb finding resignation to be the rational, adaptive response to an environment that is increasingly polluted and apparently beyond our control.”

Defining Deviancy Up:

While defining deviancy down with respect to crime, illegitimacy, drug use, and the like, our cultural elites are growing intensely moralistic and disapproving about what had always been thought normal behavior, thus accomplishing what Charles Krauthammer terms, “defining deviancy up.”  It is at least and apparent paradox that we are accomplishing both forms of refining, both down and up, simultaneously.  One would suppose that as once normal behavior became viewed as deviant, that would mean that there was less really bad conduct in the society.  But that is hardly our case.  Instead, we have redefined what we mean by such things as child abuse, rape, and racial or sexual discrimination so that behavior until recently thought quite normal, unremarkable, even benign, is now identified as blameworthy or even criminal.  Middle-class life is portrayed as oppressive and shot through with pathologies.  “As part of the vast social project of moral leveling,” Krauthammer wrote, “it is not enough for the deviant to be normalized.  The normal must be found to be deviant.”  This situation is thoroughly perverse.  Underclass values become increasingly acceptable to the middle class, especially their young, and middle-class values become increasingly contemptible to the cultural elites.

The Road to Cultural Disaster:

The fact that resistance to modern liberalism is weakening suggests that we are on the road to cultural disaster because, in their final stages, radical egalitarianism becomes tyranny and radical individualism descends into hedonism.  Those translate into a modern version of bread and circuses.  Government grows larger and more intrusive in order to direct the distributions of goods and services in an ever more equal fashion while people are coarsened and diverted, led to believe that their freedoms are increasing, by great variety of entertainments featuring violence and sex.

Destroying America

As one of the apostles of violence put it, “The idea was not to create a perfect state operating by the clockwork principles of Marxist law, but to promote a chaos that would cripple America, and ultimately cast it into a receivership that would be administered by the morally superior third world…[P]eople shouldn’t expect the revolution to achieve a Kingdom of Freedom; more likely, it would produce a Dark Ages.”

Slouching towards Gomorrah (part two)

In this final period before the apocalypse, we must recognize insidious schemes at work in the religious and secular realms.  If we do not recognize these very clever schemes and wiles of Satan during this great deception, we could be lured into apostasy.  It will be difficult to discern them because they mimic a work of God and appeal to our common sense.  One of those diabolical schemes, ecumenism, is being promoted by influential leaders in Christianity.  We need to know exactly why they are involved in it and what they hope to achieve.

Notorious pastor of Saddleback Church, Rick Warren, has been pushing for ecumenism with Islam, Roman Catholicism, and Mormonism.  Although he will deny it with doublespeak, ecumenism is the correct description of his efforts and goal.  It appears that many leaders in Christianity have taken seriously the title “America’s Pastor” that the secular world has ascribed to him.  Dr. George Wood, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, appears to be working closely with Warren on his Ecumenical efforts.  There are reports that the AoG leadership is intimidating pastors and entire churches within their denomination that oppose Warren’s heresy and ecumenism.  Wood recently spoke at a Mormon event.  Other leading evangelicals speaking at Mormon events include, R. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Richard Land, president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary, and Ravi Zacharias.

What’s wrong with ecumenism?  Primarily, it is an attempt to establish friendship or partnership with the unfruitful works of darkness.  We are told by the Apostle Paul to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather to expose them (Ephesians 5:11)  Rick Warren declares that he is just doing what Jesus would do, and that it is all about loving people.  Maybe the question is not to ask “what Jesus would do”, but to ask, “Would Jesus do what I am doing?”  No one had more love than Christ Jesus, and He did not do what Rick Warren is doing.  Christ was called a “friend of sinners”, but it was a pejorative statement that the Pharisees made about Him.

“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” (Matthew 11:19 NKJV)

It is obvious that He did not consider Himself to be a friend of sinners, but instead their Savior.

“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John 15:14 NKJV)

Were the sinners to whom Christ preached obedient to God or Christ?  The truth is that Christ Jesus called the disciples who followed Him, friends.

“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15 NKJV)

Further, Christ never established friendly relations with the Pharisees in order to “engender world peace and preserve religious freedom.”  Additionally, He did not fraternize with any of the pagan cults within Romanism, go about the land eating at their religious feasts, or playing games with them.  Rick Warren has done these deeds and wishes to use the example of Christ as his excuse.  There is no such example in the Scriptures.  Throughout His ministry on earth Christ Jesus remained Master, Lord, miracle worker, teacher, preacher of righteousness and repentance, dispenser of truth, and the Savior.  We should also remember that those very sinners (that Christ was declared to be a friend to) cried, “Crucify Him!”  They did not appear to be His friends. They and the religious leaders made certain that He was humiliated, tortured, and nailed to the cross.  History will repeat itself when persecution of true Christianity comes to America.  The world hates true Christians because they have what no other religion has, and that is light.

“For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” (John 3:20 NJKV)

There are some factors that we should consider before accepting this last days ecumenism.  First, we have to recognize some of the main organizers and promoters of ecumenism are also promoting contemplative spirituality and other dangerous heresies.  If this ecumenism were of God, then He would send upright and godly people to bring it about.  He would not send people who have been actively involved in polluting Christianity with pagan mysticism and other harmful practices and false doctrines.  Some of the ones drawn into the Mormon controversy appear to be upright, but then why are they involved in a diabolical scheme?  I have read their reasons for involvement and they are woefully lacking in discernment.  For example, Mohler stated, “The conflict of liberties we’re now experiencing is unprecedented and it’s ominous,” he said. “Forced to choose between erotic liberty and religious liberty, ‘many’ Americans would clearly sacrifice freedom of religion. How long before the ‘many’ becomes ‘most?’”

Mohler does not appear to realize that when he focused on the battle between erotic and religious liberty, he has ignored the battle between satanic bondage and spiritual liberty.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  (Ephesians 6:12 NKJV)

Uniting with the works of darkness to oppose the works of darkness is like jumping in the ocean to stop a tsunami.  The church has never needed satanic groups to help them win any battle.

“If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?”  (Matthew 12:26 NKJV)

Second, we have to consider the true purpose of ecumenism.  Warren and his associates declare that it is about world peace and preservation of religious freedom.  Obviously, there can be no communion of light with darkness unless the light is turned down low enough not to significantly affect the darkness.  It is impossible to “brighten” the darkness.  Light always overcomes darkness and it is never the opposite.  Warren’s ecumenism attempts to blend light with darkness will result in a compromise that will destroy the faith of many nominal Christians.  Someone recently informed me that the reason nominal Christians fall into apostasy is not the fault of the deceiver, but their own fault for being weak.  All I will say about that remark is I am glad that he is not my shepherd.

Third, we must realize that just as all the nations will merge into a global government, all religions (including apostate Christianity) will merge into a global religion.  The Antichrist will become the head of the global government and the False Prophet will lead the global religion.  We are witnessing the world racing toward a global union at the present.  If we are in the last days, then we must consider that ecumenism is a major step in forming a global religion.  An apathetic attitude toward end time’s events will result in many professing Christians being captured under the spell of the False Prophet and Antichrist.  Some of these apathetic ones have declared that it doesn’t matter; that they are going to heaven no matter what.  My response is that eternity is final, and there are no second chances.  It is a dangerous gamble to leave this earth as a subject of Satan and expect God to overlook the fact that your earthly king murdered and tortured millions of Christians.

“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16 NKJV)

We must also consider eschatology (the doctrine of last things) in God’s word. One of the most troubling patterns I see developing in modern Christianity is ignoring or outright rejecting eschatology.  In my opinion, this diminishing of eschatology is preventing people from recognizing the work of Satan involved in this final deception and apostasy.  It cannot be a decree from God since we are warned to pay close attention to the signs of the end.  In Matthew 24:33-34, Christ said, “So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”  I have read and heard misinterpretations of this passage.  The correct interpretation is that the generation that witnesses all the things that Christ taught in Matthew 24 will be the last generation.  When we see the things that Christ taught occurring, we must consider that we are that last generation.

All the end times prophesies have either been fulfilled, or are being fulfilled, or have the potential to be fulfilled very quickly.  In the secular realm, a gregarious and charismatic individual has ascended to the presidency and is leading our nation toward the global government.  In the religious realm, a gregarious and charismatic individual has ascended to the head of Christianity and is leading Christianity into a global religion.  Avoid ecumenism at all costs, even if it means separating from a denomination that supports it.  I am a witness of what it might cost one to separate from a denomination heading the wrong direction, but one priceless benefit is the preservation of one’s spiritual liberty, the liberty by which Christ has made us free (Galatians 5:1).  These are not normal times.  It is an extremely deceptive period.  Nominal Christians may not survive it.  Heed the warnings, guard your hearts and minds, pray, and focus on eternity.

“If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” (Proverbs 24:10 NKJV)