[OP-ed] Opposition Editorial to the Main-Stream Conservative/Christian Editorial
I am REALLY FRUSTRATED (Are you?) by what I see happening in the Christian and conservative communities. I do not see these as mutually exclusive, to be clear. Over the last few years, I’ve watched both of these communities dwindle to a bunch of yelling, complaining, anger-filled accusation slingers, and angry losers who are less-than-professional actions those with whom they disagree. There’s the What Would Jesus Do thing too, but for now, let me just get this idea off the ground!
Look, seriously, I really disagree with and even become incensed over what some in the left of American politics have done and about the very real socialistic agenda being pushed on the nation. But, the way we as Christians and conservatives are handling these matters is just ridiculous. What about strategy, tactics, sound thinking?
I’ve begun creating resources so that Christians can understand what is really going on in social media and so we can begin to understand the much broader world of cyber and the Internet. Sometimes I wonder if it is too late. Has the spell of an ancient dark lord or wizard overtaken the minds of those who used to know right from wrong? It seems a great spell of slumber has overtaken the mainstream and somehow the Children of Light have fallen into the belief that the enemy’s tools and weapons are useful for battle and worship. Why be surprised when we’re cut off from something we do not own or control. Yet, what about “salt and light,” as Jesus commanded us to become?
There is a dark lord and his very nature and name are clearly defined in the Bible. I wonder what would happen if we were to begin to wage war on the kingdom of darkness, rather than whine about all that has been stolen from us or our rights that have been taken? Our rights were not stolen – we gave them away.
There is a great horn sounding from the deep – from the valleys below and rallying men to battles against evil. Yet, good men and women are found in their states of slumber… reading taglines like “woke” and “cancel” and believing the rhetorical “spells” as they are cast over them, making them as if they are helpless and unable to stand.
I was just in a meeting one recent evening with a couple of prominent “leaders” who represent both Christian and conservative “values.” Yet, I was immediately appalled by the compromise I was confronted with when I realized that these leaders were crying that “free speech” had been “stolen” from them.
Now, they are on a mission to lead all Christians in a direction concerning technology that makes absolutely no sense and that smacks of biased agendas and ignorant decision-making. Oh, but wait! There’s more! If you dig a little below the surface and ask the question, “What do you mean by free speech?” you learn that free speech covers those who are involved in pornography, prostitution, human trafficking and other lewd and crude activities that neither conservatives or Christians have historically supported.
So, what then? What now? Really?
So, I dug a little deeper and learned that these folks were angry and they were going to “lead” all Christians and conservatives away from a major widely used cloud service provider. So, let’s talk about that for a minute. Does that actually make sense? Think about it. Why would you follow this pied piper? Are we really going to be exclusionary to that degree? Strategically, this is foolish. Let’s leave it at that for now and talk more in detail about it later.
Let’s talk about Social Media since this blog is about Social EDU (Education). What if I told you that there are Christians leading Christians right off the cliff…? Would you follow these leaders? Well, then back up and take a look at what they are doing! There’s a LOT more involved in the decisions that were made in removing President Trump from Twitter and other social platforms. I don’t agree with the initial reasoning that was used. But, there is a much greater danger in what this revealed than the issue of “censorship.”
Many Christian organizations have now been removed and it all started with AWS removing a platform that allegedly was a “conservative” platform dedicated to “free speech.” I think we better start paying attention to “context” Christians. The issue s not censorship – but power and control. These issues are forming at the very lowest levels of education – in the classroom.
It was David Platt who first started the Southern Baptist storm rallying the SBC mass toward the “social justice” flag pole. He confused the Kingdom by creating similarities in what the Bible defines as God’s justice and what is now becoming “cancel culture” and “race theory.” Yet, the average Christian has literally no idea what I am talking about here… As Voddie Baucham if you can’t hear the word of a white follower of Jesus. Here’s what Voddie said recently… I couldn’t wait to pre-order his coming book, titled, “Fault Lines.” (The reason I haven’t provided links here, is I want you to look it up!)
Here’s what Voddie said about some of the same ideologies I’ve been challenging here and in the links, Elusive Freedom and Race, Truth & Justice.
“The death of George Floyd at the hands of police in the summer of 2020 shocked the nation. As riots rocked American cities, Christians affirmed from the pulpit and in social media that “black lives matter” and that racial justice “is a gospel issue.”
But what if there is more to the social justice movement than those Christians understand? Even worse: What if they’ve been duped into preaching ideas that actually oppose the Kingdom of God?” (Voddie Baucham, 2021)
Oh yes, Believer, Follower of Jesus, there is a great dark lord and he is deceiving the masses – right here in the United States. So, what do you do with that if you’ve been following the rest of the sheep toward the cliffs just ahead?
Over the years, I’ve served Christian organizations at various levels, to include that of leading in Risk Management. Before I formally began working with Christian organizations, I really thought I had seen it all… then, I met God’s mafia, God’s spies, God’s tactical elite… and the list goes on. I’d like to give you a little insight from a professional point of view concerning God’s “this and that,” and ask you to consider what you are doing before you buy into any more of the rhetoric and the drama.
I’m reminded of the story of Israel in Exodus 14, when Israel whined and cried to Moses and Aaron… They blamed them for all that was bad and all that made them uncomfortable. Sound familiar? Wow, what a time we live in today! Funny thing is, just like Israel, today, we follow poor leaders and we cry out to God for the many things He has already provided. Moses and Aaron were following God, but Israel also followed their tribal and local leaders who were leading them very much – astray.
When we as Christians encounter this story, we focus primarily on the Red Sea and the Egyptians bearing down on the Israelite people as they were cornered against the sea and Pharaoh’s armies in pursuit. But, what we seem to fail to recognize is that just before this deliverance from the Lord, the people were accusing and screaming for their rights. They literally were saying that they should have stayed in Egypt and that they had it better there than where they were now.
Go back and read the 14th chapter of Exodus. As a professional that moved gradually over the years from the tactical end of a kinetic profession to the technical (cyber) end, I am interested greatly by the similarities today with Christians and social media. I am also greatly amused at the “experts” and leaders that have risen and the willingness of the masses to just follow along while the experts and leaders lead us off the proverbial cliffs. Unfortunately, the “proverbial” cliffs were real traps and real social ambushes that cost elections, resulted in socially distorted changes in what we know to be “norms,” good people being decimated by social terrorism and worse.
What made you think that swimming in an ocean of sharks would leave you unscathed? Why did you feel that you could launch your church or community programs in a social cesspool and everything would be ok? Why did you think you could allow your kids to “play” games and lounge around at night on-line, when no one was watching… only to be “surprised” when they did that thing that blew your hair back? – or much worse.. I really do not understand why we as Conservatives and Christians think we have a right to complain.
We have created this situation we now find ourselves in and there is very little way out of this ambush – other than to fight through it. We’ve got a former president claiming he’s going to start a new social platform – a pillow-maker now doing the same and we’ve got “free speech” Christians “defending” the Constitution while at the same time supporting the vilest of people in the name of “free speech.” Just wow… Is this really where we have come to in 2021?
Don’t you think we can do better than this? What would happen if we would put the support behind the best and brightest within our Christian and conservative communities? What if we invested in those who know what they are doing and stop trying to make a political grand stand out of every social issue? Who told you that it was a good thing to put your ministry on a social platform that began as a dating service? Who told you that you should trust the social elites that developed the social trap that now controls your life and the lives of your children? It’s time to THINK with our minds.
I’ve had the experience of working with business and government leaders over the years. Some of them were Christians, some of them were conservatives, and some of them were something more toward the left. You know what’s interesting to me, is that as I look back over a long career working in both security and cyber, I really couldn’t tell you that I recognize a handful of difference between any of them. That’s why we’re where we are today. I touched on some of these issues in the “Cyrus” articles. But, what really bothers me most here is where money has been involved, in the end-game, there really is no difference between the world and God’s Kingdom elite. The wealthy are needed, and don’t think for a minute that Jesus didn’t have wealthy people around him. Remember Joseph, the wealthy man that provided the tomb for Jesus’ burial (and resurrection!) was a wealthy man. Wealth is not the focal point here – but the heart.
You wonder why socialism is on the rise? It’s because many well-meaning believers have pushed away all of those people who were seeking the actual Son of God. Now, Satan uses these opportunities to grow the rising tide of racial and cultural fractures in our society.
I’ve already put my stake in the ground on racism… you can read about that in Elusive Freedom. But that’s not really the issue. When you wouldn’t listen and kept sowing your seeds into rotten soil, you created a place that would eventually take the lives of our children and that would infect the lives of countless good people with the toxins and vices of worldly humanity. I say “you,” as I know some that will read this will qualify. It’s time we stop pretending to be something we are not and begin living fully in the Truth of the Gospel message.
I’ve been to the mountain and seen the dragon up close. I’ve felt the seething breath of evil and smelled the stench of the social underbelly. I was there when the dark lords of our time were planning this uprising and with a few tried to sound the alarms. But, they wouldn’t listen. Tolkien and Lewis both knew and understood what was ahead of them. Neither of them are here to see their predictions having come into truth.
What we need today is new leadership in the Christian and Conservative communities. We need to get rid of the philanderers who run our Christian schools and replace them with men and women of integrity. We need Christian investors who are willing to invest in solid technology initiatives and stop backing “shiny lights” projects that lead nowhere. We need Christian leaders and teachers who are educated and who have not given in to becoming power and influence peddlers.
But, you know what we need most of all? We need parents to wake up and love their children more than their own lives. We need parents who will stop relying on the school to babysit their kids while they “live their own lives.” We need parents who are willing to care about their children’s futures and who will take a stand against social media and what it represents in the Kingdom of evil. We need parents who will commit to raising children who are educated and engaged. If not, we are only a few generations from the death of a nation.
As I grapple with these issues of our time, I am planning to write more and dig down into more specific areas of interest and issue. I’m not really sure at this point what my role may become, but I do know this… we are at war and if we continue to sit around talking and pontificating, and pretending we are doing something about it… then it will not be long – and then the enemy will be inside the wire. He is even now at the gate.
Let’s stop talking – and begin doing.
©2021 davidHENDERMAN
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