Evangelical Reformation

One of the great qualities of liberals is their openness to everyone and everything—that is everyone and everything that agrees with and supports their position.

Those who dare to disagree they diagnose with phobias. Those who disagree with their position on homosexuality are homophobic. Those who disagree with multiculturalism and oppose illegal immigration are xenophobic. If only we would take our medication, we would agree with them.

This liberal device constitutes an ad hominem attack, assigning unworthy motives to those who disagree. “You fear them because their skin is a different shade, because they speak a different language. If you had more education, well, like us, and if you only had traveled more and had exposure to different cultures, well, like us, you could mature into an accepting person who could rise above prejudice and see that these people are human beings just like you.”
In addition to its snobbery, this position is problematic because it asserts that thousands of illegal immigrants crossing our borders daily pose no real threat. Whatever problems you have with that are all in your head.
In fact, just the opposite is true. Speaking for myself, and I believe for most people concerned with illegal immigration, I am not put off by people with different color skin and who have an accent. I enjoy diversity of that nature.
I have lived in other countries for extended periods. I have worked on a crew on which all of the others, including my boss, were Mexicans. I enjoyed, respected, and had a good relationship with all of them.
I, and many of you, have a problem with illegal immigration not because of skin color or accent, but because there are substantive reasons to believe that it represents a threat to our nation.
It is evident that President Bush has no intention of closing the border. Therefore, we can expect the deluge of illegal immigration to continue, accompanied by drugs and gangs, and leaving us unprotected from enemies that would seek to enter.
Even more significant, this continuous flood of foreigners poses the threat that the Chicano population in the Southwest will not assimilate but is becoming large enough to maintain its own subculture in our midst, supported by its proximity to Mexico, Mexican and American Spanish radio and television, and bilingual education.
In addition, their leadership and organizations encourage them to resist assimilation and loyalty to the United States, but instead to maintain their Mexican identity and loyalty for the sake of advancing a political agenda that is hostile to our nation. Liberal multiculturalists aid and abet in their pursuit of that objective through our educational system and other means.
All of this makes the prospect that the Southwest will become another Quebec not an idle fear of xenophobics, but a highly probable outcome if the situation continues as it is.
And there is every reason to believe that it will continue because no one in power seems interested in turning that tide. As already stated, it is evident that the President has no intention of doing so. For the most part, no one Congress is so inclined except those seeking reelection.
Therefore, with no prospect for change on the horizon, our fear is not a phobia, but a genuine and well-reasoned concern.
It seems that the liberal sociological therapists in their campaign to detect phobias in our society might diagnose those who have banned the Bible and prayer from school, are purging the landscape of crosses, are scrubbing the Ten Commandments off our buildings, and are sanitizing the Pledge by omitting “under God.” 
Those folks seem to have a really bad case of theophobia and Christophobia. Oh, that’s right. It would be erstwhile therapists that are doing those things. Maybe, then, they are not the best qualified to determine if we are xenophobic.

Recently, while visiting a government agency, I overheard an illegal immigrant, seeking to get papers that would enable him to work in this country. As it turned out, he was lacking documentation that he needed. My heart went out to the man. I found myself wanting to see his needs cared for and desiring for him all of the blessings that I enjoy as a citizen of this country.

My emotional response to this situation made me reflect on my concerns about illegal immigration and my sense that it must be stopped. Was I not campaigning to prevent millions of people such as this man from enjoying the blessings of America?

The answer is that yes, that would be the end result. How then could I reconcile my desire for the welfare of this man with my opposition to illegal immigration?

The reconciliation resides in the cost of those millions of immigrants enjoying the blessings of America. I am not referring to the financial cost, though that is a valid concern. A greater price tag hangs on the cultural cost and the implications that flow out of that.

That cultural cost stems from the tendency for the Chicano community not to assimilate into our society. Numerous forces inhibit assimilation. Maria Hsia Chang, Professor of Political Science, University of Nevada Reno, in her article “Multiculturalism, Immigration and Aztlan” lists many of them.

This list draws from some of the reasons for resistance to assimilation from her article and also includes some of my own:

• Hispanics are numerous enough in this country to maintain their own culture and language, i.e. to enable them to live in that environment
• Spanish television and radio support their culture
• Biblical-lingual education encourages ongoing use of Spanish
• The current emphasis in our country on multiculturalism encourages and makes it beneficial for them not to assimilate
• Their proximity to Mexico encourages and aids in the maintenance of their culture
• There are numerous, large organizations with strong leadership advocating that the West and Southwest rightfully belongs to Chicanos, and that they will ultimately take it over, eliminating the border between Mexico and the United States. This includes territory to include California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, and other areas.
• The high birthrate of Hispanics coupled with low white birthrate gives them reason to believe they will take over these territories and beyond
• Various textbooks, widely used in many public schools in the West and Southwest, support and encourage this thesis
• Mexico is doing all it can to encourage this trend
• It has become too costly politically to oppose this movement, so neither party will take the necessary definitive action to stop it

This culture is rapidly gaining strength in our Southwest and West. At present there is no force in view that will prevent it from taking over that part of the country and ultimately even the nation as a whole.

If the result would merely be the switch from English to Spanish, I might consider the cost not that great. However, the implications go far deeper.

In a previous post, I made the point that democracy can only function effectively within a Christian culture. Though the Catholic Church is strong in Mexico, it has not done well at Christianizing the culture. One result has been a corrupt and struggling democracy. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg of cultural problems.

The ultimate cost is the loss of the Christian orientation of our culture. Though Christianity is no longer as dominant in our culture as it once was, our nation still has a strong orientation in that direction. That would be lost and with it many of the blessings that it promotes.

If you wonder how much difference that would make, try living in Mexico for a year.

At present, it seems that the best hope for preventing this fate is to pray and work for leadership that will stop illegal immigration and to initiate a powerful evangelistic work within our Hispanic community. The vitality to do so successfully could only come from an evangelical reformation.

I don’t think kids play follow the leader anymore. It used to be a fun game for little kids that simply entailed everyone doing what the leader did. If he did a summersault, everyone followed his lead.

However, this has now become a major game for adults. We tend to establish our lifestyle based on what others do.

In our neighborhood, one of the trends that many are following is to put flowerbeds in a big mound, often in the middle of their front yards. Maybe there is some scientific or artistic reason for this. All I know is that it is a popular trend here, and that I think it looks really dumb. But if everybody’s doing it….

It makes one wonder at times if there is really a leader at all and how these things get started.

Maybe someone had a stump in the middle of his yard, and thought that instead of grinding it down, it would be easier to just cover it over with a big mound of dirt. His neighbor thought he was making a fashion statement and, not wanting to get left behind, did the same thing.

These mounds make me think that we need a leader to move us out of this aesthetically offensive trend. Come to think of it, we could use a leader on a good many fronts in our society.

Jesus indicated that people were sheep, i.e. that on their own they do not have much by way of leadership skills. Instead of playing follow the leader, we are really playing follow the follower.

This is bad enough when it comes to unsightly mounds in the middle of our lawns, but it gets really bad when it involves moral issues.

Half a century ago, looking at pictures of nude women was a bad habit of dirty old men and profligate young ones. Today nudity is common in movies attended by mainstream America, including children and Christians.

When no one is the leader, the flock wanders downhill. When left to its own devices, what flock wanders uphill?

The saddest aspect of this trend of following the follower is that Christians have been caught up in it. They have a leader, Jesus, and He leads ultimately through His Word. However, rather than reading and applying the Word, we tend to follow secular society and each other.

In 2Corinthians 10:12, Paul noted this: “We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.” Following each other is not smart and will lead us into temptation.

It is amazing how, left to our own devices, what evangelicals have bought into. I have heard some, with a straight face, condone fornication and adultery. Many, if not most, believe that it is just fine to pay for entertainment that uses Jesus’ name as a curse word. Then there is the nudity issue again. Or, on a seemingly more benign front, if other Christians have their kids in a soccer league that plays on Sunday mornings, why should we worry about the priorities we are teaching our kids. One is hard pressed to find support for these practices in the Word.

Ultimately, if we are not following the Word, we are following each other, and it is all downhill from there. Starting back up the hill will require an evangelical reformation.