We Can't Reason Our Way Out of This

Last week, the Governor of Oregon signed a bill into law that the state will no longer require students to be able to read, write, or do math in order to graduate from high school.

Speaking of governors: Governor Cox of Utah is facing criticism, threat of protest, and a call to change his surname, Cox. When pronounced it has the phonetic sound of a sexual slur. The complaint reads, “…thousands of other Utahns will be sitting in protest, not standing, until you change your heinous surname to something less offensive. This is a social justice issue and we will not be denied basic human decency!”

The American Medical Association (AMA) met. The preeminent association of physicians in the world is urging physicians and hospitals to no longer record a baby’s gender on its birth certificate.

The University of Wisconsin spent $50,000 to remove a two-billion-year-old rock from campus. Those who know about such things say a glacier moved the boulder from Canada 12,000 years ago and left it, along with copious detritus of similar makeup, on a hill at the campus. The reason for the move was that the rock was determined to be a symbol of racial discrimination.

Juliana Bennett, a senior and a campus representative on the Madison City Council, said removing the boulder signaled a small step toward a more inclusive campus. “Now is a moment for all of us BIPOC students to breathe a sigh of relief, to be proud of our endurance, and to begin healing.”

During the last week of July, every Democratic Representative in the US House voted to abandon the Hyde Amendment, a staple of bipartisanship since 1976. The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funding of abortions. However you want to think about abortion, let’s be crystal clear: all 220 Democratic members of the House, 100% of them, are dedicated to legal infanticide, the killing of our own children, and all 100% are dedicated to making all Americans pay for abortion! Everyone in society must embrace—and be culpable for—killing our offspring.  

In December of 2018, for the first time in seventy years, the United States exported more oil than it used, thus achieving energy independence. During his first week in office, President Biden hamstrung domestic energy production. Twenty-five weeks later, President Biden is pleading with foreign oil producers to increase their output to supply the United States’ shortages. The White House’s stranglehold on domestic energy production remains in place, gas prices are up dramatically, and energy workers are unemployed.   

After months of “defund the police,” Progressives figured out that this plan, a) is not working, and b) is alienating their base. So, beginning with the White House Press Secretary they decried the Conservative’s dedication to defund the police. Of course, this switch in messaging is the height of projection, but the mainstream largely parroted the new narrative and the truth rolled off Progressive backs like water off a duck.

Depending on who you listen to on which day, the vaccine either works or it doesn’t. Same for masks. We are told to follow the science, and are shamed for not doing as “science” says. As it turns out, science and politics are sleeping together. Unfortunately, both perform poorly when in bed together.

Still, shame is powerful.

Over the weekend, the Sturgis motorcycle rally occurred, there was a large wedding reception in Dearborn, and President Obama celebrated his 60th birthday. Dr. Fauci expressed concern that the Sturgis motorcycle rally was irresponsible for not requiring masks. South Dakota and the rally are predominantly conservative. Dr. Fauci said nothing about Squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib dancing maskless in Dearborn. It was noted that President Obama’s star-studded birthday party sported few-if-any masks. New York Times reporter, Annie Karni, justified the crowd of A-listers’ flagrant disregard of mask mandates because these are “sophisticated and vaccinated” people who “were following all the safety precautions.” Of course, photos of the bash demonstrated otherwise. But then, Ms. Karni presumes that unsophisticated folks will never notice the duplicity or her inanity.

Speaking of the government, it is utter foolishness to believe government has our best in mind when they tell us to mask up and vax, shame us when we don’t do what they say, and all the while they are importing thousands—1.11 million to date—of illegal immigrants all across America knowing that 18%-20% of them are infected with the virus.

I’ve now written 621 words recounting utter foolishness.

Participating in this ridiculousness are intelligent folks of all colors, backgrounds, positions, and political persuasions.

Why have I written to you about fools and foolishness?

Because a problem undefined is a problem unsolved.

Paul writes in the first chapter of the Book of Romans, “…they did not honor Him [God] as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools….”

Dictionary.com defines a “fool” as, “a silly or stupid person.”

The Governor of Oregon, our elected officials, the good folks at the CDC, et al—these people are not silly, or stupid, or weak-minded, or idiotic.

But these are not the only words describing what it means to be a fool.

The dictionary also notes that a fool is someone who lacks judgment or sense—like forcing onerous restrictions on our school children while distributing thousands of illegal immigrants sick with COVID-19 throughout the United States.

The dictionary also points out that fools are those kept for the amusement of others, like a court jester. Dear, dear AOC and her farting cows; the Progressives who defund the police and wonder why crime soars; governmental lords who pay people not to work but can’t understand why inflation occurs; throttling energy production and wondering why prices increase and shortages occur.

Perhaps the most sobering definition of fool identified by the dictionary is, “a person who has been tricked or deceived into appearing or acting silly or stupid.”

Let everyone out of prison. Trust the Iranian government. The Taliban will play nice. China is an honest broker. The media is telling us the truth. The rich have enough money to pay for unlimited government spending (and will let the feds take their money).

The people espousing these foolish ideas, and the folks going along, are not stupid. Nor are they idiots. Rather, these folks have bought into a deception, and thinking themselves wise, became fools.

I am NOT saying Democrats are fools and Republicans are not. Yes, the Progressives are currently in the limelight, showcasing their best thinking, but the Conservatives are just as foolish thinking that by arguing facts the Progressives will come to their senses. Both are nonsensical.

The musings, mandates, and meandering of America society are indicative of people who’ve bought into the deception that they are wise apart from God. Believing themselves capable of being their own god, the true God turned them over to their best thinking. The result of this deception is foolishness.

You can’t reason with a fool. Facts, figures, stats, precedent, history. None of that matters if you believe history is contrived, invented to favor Christian, white males.

You can’t reason with a fool. Since America is fundamentally flawed, it is immoral to protect her borders. Never mind millions sacrificing all to come to the land of the free and home of the brave.

You can’t reason with a fool. If it is advantageous to rewrite history, and tolerance is the supreme goal that must underlie all endeavor, then who are you to insist that history is a viable record that must be respected?

If today’s fools were imbeciles, there would be no point in considering a course of action. But they are not. They are simply deceived into believing the same lie the first humans believed: You can be like God.

You can’t fix this foolishness with rationale or reason—and dedicating yourself to more logical, refined argument, believing this will resolve the conflict, is delusional. The cause of this condition is spiritual—wanting to be like God.

You can’t fix a spiritual problem with intellectual discourse or by winning the mid-terms. You fix a spiritual problem with a spiritual solution.

Foolishness in Romans is caused by believing you are capable of being a god like God is and doing what only God can do. This deception is the definition of excessive pride—hubris. Why pride is one of the seven deadly sins is obvious: It sets man up against God, the same sin Satan committed, and the original sin committed by our progenitors in the Garden of Eden.  

Remediating a deception begins with renouncing it. But my, oh my. It is monstrously difficult for human beings to jettison their hubris and adopt humility, to bow their knee to God, and declare Him King.

But this is society’s only hope.

Who then possesses the solution? Who then can make a difference in a society spiritually stricken?

The church.

Only the people of God are endowed with the remedy for what ails us, separates us, and afflicts us. Only we in whom Christ resides are equipped to be salt in a world that has lost its savor and light in a society adrift in the darkness of humanism, relativism, and nihilism.

Only we who are transformed spiritually, endowed with a new identity, and in whom the Spirit of God dwells are prepared—internally and externally—to “go into the world.”

That you are prepared to go, and that you are charged to go, and that you are secured in advance for your going, is all a given. God would not say “Go!” if He had not equipped you to do so.

What remains then?

For you, for me, for us to adopt our heavenly Father’s charge and gather ourselves together to pray, to plan, and to encourage each other in our going, our living, and our representing of the Life who resides in us.

Light pierces darkness. Salt flavors everything it touches. Love wins. Confidence is compelling. These are not things we must pray to receive. They are ours.

They are ours to deploy—or to waste.

My last article I hoped to integrate faith and action. This article I hope to enlighten such that you have clarity about your objectivity and the rationale behind God calling you a light.

Next up: More about your equipping and how to maintain yourself as a Believer. The practices for doing this are called, the spiritual disciplines.

Until then, keep your wits about you.