Changes since WWII

Most of the material in this post is from an e-mail sent to me by Mr. Terry Brown of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary: September 1st we marked the 70th anniversary of the commencement of World War II in Europe. Think of how the world has changed because of and since that great mid-century conflict. Imperialism, at least the overt, old style, fell out of fashion, as did premeditated, loose-tongued racism. The British, for example, lost much of thier empire in the two decades following (and had been losing it somewhat even before), and people changed in their outlook regarding colonies and "inferiors." \ Today, the descendants of former colonies are about to overrun the old British Isles, transforming them into solid outposts of Third World reverse-colonization and an Islamic redoubt. Many changes have taken place in the U.S.A. since the beginning of that war, some of it a result, at least indirectly, of the conflict. Those who died before or during WWII, would not recognize, nor readily accept, the post-WWII America of the burgeoning Civil Rights movement, integration, a Catholic President (Kennedy), or the modern scale of massive handouts and wasteful mismanagement of government, local, state, and federal. Many of us may recall hearing our grandparents lamenting the passing of the old order, never believing for a second in the equality of the races, except, possibly, a heavenly leveling. And mere mention of the sexual revolution or the homosexual agenda would have left them agape that such things could happen "right here in America!" Much, if not all, of the aforementioned, I am confident, would not have transpired, or, at best, would have suffered long delay, had it not been for the convulsions of World War II. Besides the cultural convulsions, consider the alterations and advancements in technology. Many people who lived through the early 20th Century and into the fifties/sixties loathed air conditioning and central heating, finding these aberrations in nature to be repulsive and undesirable, believing they caused colds and sinusitis. Also, we today have nuclear power, due to the war, and far, far better automobiles, aircraft, and innumerable other changes. We, in fact today take the tide of change and development as firm and established not novel or experimental. As for information, we have lived to witness a shattering event—the arrival of the Internet—akin to the dawn of printing and moveable type or the advent of engine-driven transport. Yes, as I realize, a substantial portion of the world’s changes and acquisitions would have come, regardless of the carnage and upheaval of World War II. However, it accelerated these, and created a culture in which research and technological inovation were much better funded, and carried out on a bigger scale than the pre-war world ever imagined. Before the war, "technological research" was Thomas Edison tinkering in his laboratory. After the War, it was corporate research labs, some created by the need to produce war related technologies, but afterwards dedicated to "new consumer products." But, we must not forget that WWII did precipitate momentous disturbances, and I am not in the least sure that we in the West could mount such a crusade again. Very, very sadly another causality of the second war was a loss of morality and courage. Having been sapped of the energy such things produce, we probably will not muster the effort to repel the next dark storm, whether it be radical Islam or some internal foe. Our foundations, despite the bright victory of the WWII Allies, crumbles and ebbs by the day, and I, for one, fear that to reverse our course lies beyond our ability, grasp, or even desire. Perhaps this last consequence of the postwar years, the loss of nerve and pluck, rests as the greatest change of all.

Presidential Politics 2008

• Let's face it: none of the remaining candidates are particularly appealing this year. Hillary is perhaps the worst of the lot, but the others do not fare greatly. There is not a statesman in the lot. Nor is there someone who will put principle above politics or who really deeply understands what government is for and how it ought to work. However, a nation in decline will produce poor leaders,. We should not be surprised that America, in its decline, cannot come up with a great presidential candidate. Poor leadership happens in every field—business, politics, religion, families, and everywhere else. Look at the current situation:
• Business—Ken Lay, Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch, et al.
• Politics—Hillary, Patrick Leahy, Barbara Boxer, et al.
• Religion—Joel Osteen, T D Jakes, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Rick Warren.
• Families—most families are fragmented due to divorce, or because there never was much of a family there at all. All of these things are bound up together in a web. If the nation were healthy in one area, it would be healthy in all of these areas. The nation is spiritually, morally, emotionally, and economically sick. It is the whole body, not just one part, that has problems. As such, we cannot fix one area without fixing others. We need to start at the root causes to do this.

Electing the right president This is part of why I don’t share the Christian Right’s faith that electing “the right president” can really fix anything. We had “the right president” in Ronald Reagan, and his party behind him, and the country continued to deteriorate—in fact the deterioration accelerated during those years, not due to Reagan, certainly, but accelerate it did.

What is needed We need to start at the family/religion level if we are ever to fix the nation. We too easily accept dysfunctional families as “OK.” We too easily accept dysfunctional religion as “what ought to be.” Someone needs to stand up to both and say “enough!” Someone needs to take action to end the cycle of abuse, neglect, and divorce in our families. Those behaviors ought not to be normal! They ought not to be commended or accepted in our churches! We need to admit, OUT LOUD, that dysfunctional families are not acceptable and take steps to ensure, at lest in our churches, that every family is healthy and fucntioning properly. The same is true with religion. We all smile and nod our heads when people in church talk about how much they “just love to hear Joel Osteen" or "T. D. Jakes.” Some smile and nod because they agree! We need to do a better job of teaching these people the truth. Others just don’t want to make waves. (When you don’t make waves, you get stagnant water!) People who know what is morally right, and what is spiritually true, all too often stand by while spiritual sickness infests the churches. We want to be nice, we want to be peacemakers, we want to acknowledge that different people see things differently. We become practical relativists, while saying we believe in absolute truth. A sick religion and dysfunctional families can do little to turn around declining morals, declining leadership, and declining civilization.

Conclusion Before we get too upset over who is being elected President, perhaps we need to look at our churches and families, and get busy fixing the problems there.