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prophet. .. the captain of fifty and the
manofrank ... "(lsaiah3:2-3).
Our heroes and men of true wis–
dom and understanding are gone;
their examples and sage advice of
yesteryear forgotten and despised.
Worse yet, our "Me generation" is
not producing any giants to replace
them. Instead, in comparison to the
greats of the past, "boys" are our
"princes," mere "babes' ' are our rul–
ers (verse 4).
In our educational system, the
function of American historians to–
day, it seems, is to
rewrite
history.
"Generals are out, sociology is in,"
noted one observer. T he deeds of the
great are whitewashed, their newly
discovered "warts" fully exposed.
H istory texts, said one, are now
"loath to proclaim any values as self
evident."
There are actually not a few in
government who are so divorced from
their own national past· that the slo–
gans and rhetoric of Marxist-style
revolutions sound appealing. They are
enamoured with the ideals of collec–
tive "socialism": their emphasis on
reason, science, education, "prog–
ress," deemphasis of religion; with an
overriding giant
bure~ucracy
to con–
trol all aspects of the lives of the
citizens.
Marxist revolutionaries now
"speak our language," says one
author.
What a rema r kable turn of
events!
In the 1940s and '50s America
stood in the breach of the spreading
cancer of totalitarianism. Now many
of America 's leaders find common
ground with it. No wonder the
United States can no longer recog–
nize its chief adversary!
ldentity Repudiated
Such a 180-degree transformation
can only be explained by the rapid
expansion of socialism and govern–
ment cont rol within America itself
during the past two decades.
Former Secretary of the Treasury
William Simon, in his outstanding
book
A Time for Truth,
puts it
succinctly: ' T here is a reason for our
special degreef of incoherence and
confusion. T he United States, in
changing with relative speed into a
January
1980
social democracy, has undergone an
alteration that is more fundamental
than any other nation's. It has actually
repudiated its own identity."
Born a basically God-fearing,
morally sound nation, emphasizing
biblically based virtues such as hon–
est work, thrift, self-reliance, expec–
tation of rewards for diligence, with
mínima! supervision by government,
it has been changed by "social
manipulation" and vote-getting poli–
ticians into a radically different
society. Old values have been tossed
out the window. One example: "The
redistribution of wealth from the
productive citizen to the nonproduc–
tive citizen," says Simon, has "be–
come the principal governmental
activity."
Sorne government theorists are
even speculating why all jobs within
a certain industry, for example,
should not be paid the same wage.
lsn't a secretary's job "of comparable
worth" they ask, to that of, say, a
chief engineer?
Sorne would stop at nothing short
of total equalization, every person
receiving the same wages, working or
not working. Such reasoning flies in
the face of every bíblica! law and
principie of economics. Even Com–
ml,lnist societies, rea lizing the neces–
sity for incentives, have moved away
from such folly.
Wrong Kinds of Freedom
Americans still think they are a free
people. But this is Jargely illusionary.
. Writes Mr. Simon:
" It
is often said
by people who receive warnings aboút
declining freedom in America that
such a charge is preposterous, that
there is no freer society on earth. That
is true in one sense, but it is immense–
ly deceptive. There has never been
such freedom before in America to
speak freely, indeed, to wag one's
tongue in the hearing of an entire
nation; to publish anything and every–
thing, including the most scurri lous
gossip; to take drugs and to prate to
children about their alleged pleasures;
to propagandize for bizarre sexual
practices; to watch bloody and ob–
scene entertainment.
"Conversely, compulsion rules the
world of work. T here has never been
so little freedom before in America to ·
plan, to save, to invest, to build, to
produce, to invent, to hire, to fire, to
resist coercive unionization, to ex–
change goods and services, to risk, to
profit, to grow.
"The strange fact is that Ameri–
cans are constitutionally free today
to do almost everything that our
cultural tradition has previously held
to be immoral and obscene, while the
police powers of the state are being
invoked against almost every aspect
of the productive process...."
(A
Time for Truth,
p. 234).
And now in an increasingly god–
less society, the massive powers of
government are turning relentlessly
against the free exercise of religion!
" Lovers" Will Not Help
The United States has totally lost its
moorings. At home, government bu–
reaucracy is running amok. Abroad,
the United States doesn't even know
what its policies should be. Instead,
it's just blincily jumping on the band–
wagon of "progressive change."
America wants to be "loved" by
every other nation.
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nstead, it is
respected by none. "T he U.S. has
never tried so hard and fa iled so
utter ly to make and keep friends in
the Third World," says Kirkpatrick.
The United States is acting today
just like its forefathers of old. "You
have played the harlot with many
lovers; and would you return to me?
says the Lord" (J eremiah 3:1 ) .
America has long since forgotten the
God in whom she officially claim" to
trust.
Worsc yet, the U.S. has taken the
wealth God gave her (Deuteronomy
8:7-18) and literally thrown billions
of dollars at envious adversaries in
attempts to buy their support! As
Britain's noted philosopher Malcolm
Muggeridge said recently: "America
is a disengaging giant- it's washed
up. . .. America had no heart for its
role [as world leader]. It could only
think of giving away money, and for
doing this it was, of course, de–
spised."
"Your hurt is incurable," says
God, "and your wound is grievous.
There is none to upho ld your
ca.use.... All your · Jovers have for–
gotten you; they care nothing for you;
for
1
[God] have dealt you the blow
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