Killing a Culture By Killing Its History
I have just returned from a very nice but brief visit to my homeland. It was great to be back in the US for a few short weeks. And as always, time and distance can really help put things into perspective. We can see things more clearly with the advantage of time, and often with the help of being away from things.
While much remains the same in America, much has changed. And the older you get, the more pronounced are the changes. It goes without saying that the West during the past half century has gone through massive changes – many of them not for the better.
One needs some historical and geographical perspective to be able to see these changes for what they really are. Getting a bit older and living in some other countries hopefully makes us a bit wiser and able to see more carefully the bigger picture. It helps us to live real, independent and authentic lives – not just to be another sheep led by the dictates of culture – or the State.
I recall many years ago walking in a nice suburb of St. Louis with a gal. I mentioned how fancy it all was, and she asked with all sincerity: ‘But doesn’t everyone live this way?” I had to assure her that most folks certainly do not. Not only are there plenty of poor Americans, but in so much of the world people do not have their own houses, complete with driveways and fancy cars. Many struggle just to find food and shelter.
This gal had a very limited view of things, and also a rather poor view of history. But she was simply part of the Western education system which has so greatly contributed to the death of history in the West. We do not teach history anymore – at least not real history.
Our schools are more interested in pushing agendas than in teaching young people how to think. They are instead teaching young people WHAT to think. They are promoting radical social engineering, resulting in a generation of amoral, ahistorical and groundless and clueless sheeple.
As a result, sadly most people today – including most Christians – have very little awareness of history. The world they live in is to them the only world there is. They think it has always been this way – we have always had this wealth and opulence and affluence and mass of material goods and gadgets. They have never known want and deprivation and hardship.
They think we have always had an emphasis on self and the me-first culture; we have always had readily available pornography and drugs; homosexuality is simply part of the way things are. Religion is viewed as being something that went with the dinosaurs. So too morality, and heroism, and self-sacrifice, and self-control, and virtue.
A striking example of this
There would be many things we can point to in this war on history and morality, the promotion of the short-term over the long-term, and how we are dumbing down our young people by not giving them the bigger picture. As but one example of the moral and spiritual decay that has only relatively recently swept over the West, consider this brand-new and utterly shocking news item:
A western Sydney high school has come under fire for a rainbow mufti day where children who did not wear multi-coloured clothing were expected to pay more. Greystanes High School became ground zero in the culture wars for hosting a casual clothes day for ‘International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT)’.
One Nation MP Mark Latham lashed the school for inflicting ‘political punishment’ on its students after a note was sent to parents explaining the donation system. The letter said pupils who wore an item of rainbow clothing were ‘expected’ to donate $1, while those who wore mufti without rainbow ‘will be expected to donate $2.’ Mr Latham told 2GB’s Alan Jones rainbow colours have ‘become a political symbol for the identity politics of the Left’.
‘This is sort of an extraction system, a punishment for people who don’t participate in what clearly is a left wing movement,’ he said. Mr Latham said people could wear rainbow all weekend and children should be expected to wear uniforms at school. But, he said, ‘if they’re going to have a mufti day, treat everyone equally and don’t put a political punishment on those who would feel uncomfortable wearing the left wing colours of rainbow’.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7056981/Greystanes-High-School-lashed-Mark-Latham-rainbow-mufti-day-punishment.html?fbclid=IwAR3y68nPgt6SEney9E0CzzxTMAUQ8si823CrczPn40hfyHzdAyXLHbT7bBQ
Now, if you are like me – someone originally from America – you may not be familiar with the term “mufti day”. I only associate the first word with a Muslim legal expert. I just looked it up, and for Aussies and Brits it means: “Mufti, or civies/civvies (slang for “civilian attire”), refers to plain or ordinary clothes, especially when worn by one who normally wears, or has long worn, a military or other uniform.”
Hmm, this makes it even worse. These activist school leaders are saying, ‘You do not have to wear your normal school uniform, but you WILL be forced to wear a homosexual uniform – you WILL be forced to comply and bend the knee to the radical and harmful homosexual agenda’. This really is reprehensible indeed.
And as my wise and astute wife just told me, ‘the homosexuals are always trying to tell us they are just like us and we should not marginalise them or stigmatise them, or treat them any differently. But now we are being told they are different – at least in terms of how they dress! Just what is homosexual clothing and how does it differ from heterosexual clothing?’
But for most young people today, this sort of stuff is all they have ever known. They have been force-fed all things homosexual all their lives. They have been brainwashed by all this propaganda – in the schools, the media, in pop culture and everywhere. So they only know of the homosexual world.
They think it is fully normal. ‘This is just the way things are’ they would be thinking. But a bit of historical perspective would quickly dispel that notion. For most of human history homosexuality was NOT the norm. It was NOT OK. It was NOT how everyone lived.
But now with full-time indoctrination and proselytising for the radical sexual agenda found everywhere in the West, and the war on the teaching of real history – except for only the PC-approved teaching of history – we now have an entire generation of young people who know nothing different.
We are busy rewriting history so that we can more easily mould and shape young people to become brainless sheep to do the bidding of the activist State. This is bad news for freedom and democracy. And it is bad news if you adhere to the Judeo-Christian worldview.
The spiritual takeout
There were actually several things that spurred me on to write this piece. The most immediate thing was what I just found in my morning reading. I was reading in the book of Ezra in the Old Testament and some things certainly stood out as I read.
The story found there is this: Israel had sinned far too long and had been judged by God – taken into captivity by the Babylonians 70 years earlier. Their beloved Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, and most Jews were taken prisoner in a strange land. But now, by an incredible move of God in the heart of the king of Persia, the people were allowed to go and rebuild their temple. As Ezra 1:1-3 says:
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem.”
And in Ezra 3:10-13 we find these words:
When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:
“He is good;
his love toward Israel endures forever.”
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.
It is verse 12 that especially hit me. Most of the folks who returned were younger – many would have been born there. Only the older ones remembered what the former temple was like. So for them this was an especially moving moment. Sure, as good Jews, the older ones in captivity would have shared all that had gone before with the younger ones.
So the memory of God and his works was always being kept alive from generation to generation anyway, but certainly the older Israelites could really feel the power of this moment as the new temple was being rebuilt. Thus memory and history are vitally important to God and his people.
Which is why our spiritual enemy, working through the radical secular left, are doing all they can to take away our memories, rewrite our history, and make us brainless and soulless clones of the state. This is scary stuff indeed. This is how you destroy a people.
To sum up, it was Solzhenitsyn who knew the value of history, and the need to not forget God. In his famous 1983 Templeton Address he reflected on the spiritual and moral wasteland of godless communism as found in the Soviet Union and said this:
“More than half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: ‘Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened’.”
[1777 words]
Greetings Bill, As always you have written the heart of so many believers on all you discuss in this article. If it wasn’t for my faith I would want to just throw in the towel. But I do believe the Lord is working mightily through His remnant of followers like yourself and others that are working and praying diligently to hold on to our religious freedom and bring His Laws and Love back into our two nations. Believing we are going to see a turn around back to Him. Also glad you were able to come back to America for a while. We sure need more like you here.
Gods Speed & Protection to you and yours.
Louise
“God’s Not Silent” prayer partner
Thanks Louise.
The green goblin demigod totem pole of the progressive left demands total subservience..It will inadvertently bring death to all that worship at its footstool ..Time for the righteous of the nation to awake from their slumber..If the indoctrination of young minds continues on such a scale then not only will history be completely dead, so will the country’s future..we have been given a slight reprieve with this “miracle” election.Let us hope that this opportunity is not squandered!
Many thanks Bill ! Will be sharing this excellent article far & wide….praying for you & your loved ones !
Bill,
Thanks for this excellent article. Yesterday, my 13 year old daughter came home from school crying and distressed because she was told that 2 of her friends have declared that they’re now “lesbians.” My daughter told me that she and her other friends now feel uncomfortable because these lesbians have described a year 9 girl as “hot.” I discussed with my daughter about creating safe friendship boundaries and ensuring her privacy for changing into and out of her swimmers. I reassured my daughter that it was normal to feel upset about this situation because she cares about her relationship with them.
Extortion money. Or is it protection money wherein you pay to keep from being roughed up, be it physically, emotionally, or horrors, socially. What next: show up at school dressed as your favorite “furry?”
M.C. Beaton, originally from Scotland, the author of both the “Hamish Macbeth” and “Agatha Raisin” mystery series has noted in her works that she is shocked that PC nonsense, global warming and other liberal and irrational agendas would actually originate or be pushed so forcefully by many in the USA. She considered this the guiding, leading beacon and bastion of freedom of thought and speech in this rapidly changing world.
You’ve made another positive contribution to the truth, Bill. Thank you. Good men and women please take Bill’s words to heart and act! You too can do something that will make a difference!!
Soon they will burn the books AGAIN, remember?
There is nothing new under the sun.
Dear Bill, interesting article. We have a baptism this weekend end. Our extended family who live in other states are here and my wife and I have lived in three states ( NSW, SA & Vic ) also. We ( all of us ) have never heard of ‘ mufti’ other than in the context you mention to do with Muslim legal/religious leader. Stange how it appears in an Australian dictionary?
Mark Bryant
Resist as much as possible:
https://www.binary.org.au/radical_indoctrination
…and of course the end result of the killing culture, that we see epitomized in Australia in the the state of Victoria, is what we see in China where, if you have the money, you only apparently have to wait around two weeks or less to have a tissue mapped, organ replacement surgery. Compare this to places like Australia where you can easily wait a year or two for a suitable organ and you know there is something seriously wrong. Yes China has vastly more people to supply organs but by the same token the demand should be equally high and so, logically, the waiting time should be similar. See https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/the-victim-is-still-alive-and-breathing-expert-exposes-chinas-horrific-organ-harvesting-program
If you needed any more proof that the end result of the covetous, immoral, left wing policies is despotism and the death of innocent people then there it is. This is what the shutting down of free speech, that our children are being conditioned and extorted into accepting, will lead to unless we wake up and act now. Pol Pot may have been more overt in Cambodia’s promotion of death but it is still there in China, just better hidden and very clearly, the earlier stages of this are now in Australia.
You always “speak my mind”, Bill. Unfortunately the ones who really need to read and pay attention have unfriended me, but I still share it so those that may be on the fence, wavering or losing hope may still be strengthened.
Thanks. We are one in the Spirit. The only thing that is bigger than the hole in my stomach that is dug by the lies of the left is the strength and resilience of the Word and of the faithful.
If a people no longer know where they came from, or how they got to where they are now, they could quite easily deceive themselves into believing they are heading in the right direction, when, in fact, they they are merrily setting about creating a national Hell-on-earth in the name of “moving forward”!
I feel that we are in a similar situation to The Roman Empire. They were decadent. Homosexuality was accepted. Then the barbarians came and invaded. I am not an expert in history but there seems to be a similar situation now. Pop music videos show women dancing around almost naked. Most of our artistic culture seems to be very low. Some singers can not even sing properly. Divorce rates are high. Abortion is accepted by many people. There does not even have to be a reason such as poverty. Abortion is accepted because a child is not “wanted”. What a reason to abort a child! There are statistics that state a teenager is more likely to have a TV in their bedroom than their father still living with their mother! Crime rates are high. We need to look at our culture and society.
Thanks guys. And an update here on the Sydney school:
https://www.christian.org.uk/news/oz-school-apologises-over-lgbt-non-uniform-day/?fbclid=IwAR1gIGwocHOttAZchWeO-SH062v6SehDjGvwT5pvfzY5kSsBCE3XNC4jnRg
Kenya held a line:
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/24/health/kenya-lgbtqi-ruling-intl/index.html
Bill/all,
Local government can be little better with political correctness. Once or twice a year, a local council office (near where the company I work) has a ‘rainbow flag’ flying.
I’ve just sent the following email off to a local councillor to quiz them about this (so it will be interesting to see what reply I get 😉
—
Hello ****,
During the week, I noted that the Shire’s **** office had the ‘rainbow flag’ flying again (instead of the Council’s flag), presumably promoting the homosexual lobby.
As a ‘conservative Christian’, it seems that the Council is happy to promote socialist causes, but I can’t remember a flag flying to promote Christianity around Christmas or Easter for example. It seems that the Council is so politically correct that such a thing would be ‘off the radar’.
Why is this so, given that if it wasn’t for Christianity and Judeo-Christian values, we wouldn’t even have Western liberal democracy to begin with?
Regards,
John
—
John
Mufti money is the LGBIQ equivalent of Jizyah money.
Interestingly I had the opposite response to mufti. The Islamic association never crossed my mind. A great example of the old adage about 2 countries divided by a common language perhaps? Then again Mark Bryant’s post suggest it’s even more complicated.
A dictionary definition of mufti that I have is: “civilian dress, especially worn by a person who normally wears a military uniform”.
I was discussing this only last night with my son at his 39th Birthday Tea. Praise God he is fully aware of what is happening in our culture and often preaches in his church, with mixed response. His 4 girls go to a Christian School and even there the Teachers have come through the Govt training, and have to teach the Govt curriculum, so the emphasis is set by the Govt. I am thankful for that school and the scriptural teaching they do give but we still have a lot of work to do there, even so. I share this thought I came across last week from Martin Luther:
“I am much afraid the school will prove to be the greatest gate of hell unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures engraving them in the hearts of our youth. I advise no-one to place his child where the scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the Word of God, must become corrupt.”
Isaiah 54:13 “All thy children will be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of them.”
Yes quite right Lesley.