is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke
I need to start talking to people more, and so do you.
Not the kind of “how’re you doing?” kind of talk, but real talk about real issues. And not the kind of sanctimonious lecture about heaven and hell, but real talk.
It may seem strange to say all this, but it feels like we have all bought into the cultural rules that have been foisted upon us by the thought police and their allies. We aren’t “allowed” to have a real conversation about any of a number of issues from gun control to gay marriage, from abortion to the death penalty without those conversations devolving into a personal debate.
But there’s nothing personal about it.
I can’t tell you how many times I have been accused of being racist because I disagree with President Obama’s policies when, in fact, my opinion of his policies has nothing to do with his race. I just think he’s a dope that has no business in the White House.
It also has nothing to do with his political affiliation. I mean, this guy is spending us into oblivion, his economic policies have made the recovery from the recession one of the slowest and most painful in the entire history of the United States, and he appears to care more about dispensing free contraceptives or using our tax dollars to pay for abortions than he does fixing our roads. His foreign policy is even more questionable.
But, if I say any of that in front of an Obama supporter, I am suddenly branded a racist or a right-wing religious nut job, or something. The conversation becomes very personal, when there’s no call for it to be personal.
So, what do I do? I bite my tongue. Don’t make waves, I’m told. Members of my own family shun me for holding the opinion that abortion is actually wrong.
There are issues about which conversation is not permitted in our culture.
Well, I’ve had enough.
The real issue is not so much the lack of the conversation about certain topics, it’s the ramifications of that lack of conversation. Our lack of courage in standing up for what is right in the face of a hysterical popular culture has brought woes to our culture that we will spend generations undoing.
When did it become a charitable act to allow our friends or family to sin? And when did it become a sin to speak up for righteousness?
We’re upside down.
Jesus said that He didn’t come to bring peace, but to bring the sword. He said that following Him would set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, etc. One’s enemies will be those of his household.
So…
I’m going to start speaking up. With my family, with my friends, with acquaintances. I’ll do so as softly as I can, with charity as my goal, but firmly nonetheless. If there are some family members or others who feel like we can no longer associate with each other as a result, so be it.
Because it’s our fear that will be our undoing. It’s our silence that will condemn us. We’ve sat by quietly while people told us about a woman’s right to choose. We’ve sat by quietly while people lectured us on the separation of church and state. We’ve sat by quietly while people promulgated right to die initiatives. And now we have millions of children dead by abortion, no prayer in schools, and states passing laws that allow doctors to actively participate in the killing of a patient.
We can’t sit by quietly anymore.
This might mean we lose friends. It might mean a distancing of family members. We might become ostracized at work. But we will have done our duty. We will have loved others as Christ would love us.
We will have been truthful and honest.
Will you join me?
Your faith demands it; your family deserves it.
Talk to people.
