HE DARED TO SAY WHAT?

Recently, a high-ranking cabinet official of the government gave a speech at Notre Dame University. If I may paraphrase, he said:

1. Promiscuous sexual behavior is not a good thing.
2. Drug addiction is not advisable.
3. The breakdown of the family is not healthy for society.
4. Single motherhood is not the best environment in which to raise children.
5. Education should involve a search for the truth.
6. The truth exists.
7. Moral relativism brings do-your-own-thing-chaos.

He spoke on those seven topics much more eloquently than they appear in my paraphrase above, but I'm sure you get the idea.

THE "SHOULD BE" IN THIS SITUATION

Those seven truths should be accepted by one and all as bedrock, foundational, and simple statements. We should expect people to tell the speaker afterward, "That's all so simple. Your talk was like listening to a book review of Dick and Jane Go to the Farm; don't waste our time going over them because everybody knows that." But, whereas people would have said that just a few years ago, they don't think that way now. Things aren't as they once were.

HE DARED TO SAY WHAT?

That speech and that speaker have come under attack, an attack centering on outraged cries of "He wants to establish a theocracy!" And "Whatever happened to the separation of church and state!" The problem is that "theocracy" is a word they don't define and it hangs in the air as a threat of gloom and doom to come.

Does anybody ever say, "Hold on, Sparky. What's a theocracy?" No. They don't. So let's do that. What's a theocracy? A theocracy is a form of government in which priests rule the roost. Or to say it with more balanced precision: "A theocracy is a form of government in which God or a deity is recognized as the supreme civil ruler, God's or a deity's laws being interpreted by the ecclesiastical authorities are the laws of society."

In a theocracy, a person would be punished for not attending church or for blasphemy. In a theocracy, a person might be fined or executed for working on the Sabbath. So, one must ask, "Is that what the speaker at Notre Dame was advocating?" Of course not. Any common-sense reading or listening to his speech tells you that.

On the other hand, was Mr. Speaker advocating the establishment of a government church and thereby destroying the separation of church and state? Was he advocating mandating that the Southern Baptist church as the only church that would be legal in America? Of course not. But since people don't understand what a theocracy is, those who hurled the word like a dagger against the speaker get away with it and the speaker is labeled as evil. (One critic wrote that he deserved to go to hell for the speech.)

NOW TO SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT

But it would seem more important to look at their outrage at its foundation: it's a revolt against and a loss of common sense. We're seeing this on many different fronts. For example, a large contingent of parents turns out for a school board meeting to debate the issue of who can use which bathroom. These are adults arguing the topic. Where's common sense in all of this?

Then there are those people who demand the right to choose which pronoun in the English language refers to them and a teacher can be fired for not using whatever pronoun each person chooses. Where's common sense? Does not birth reveal the proper pronoun? But, no, there's further nonsense. Did you know that as of last year, the third Wednesday in October is International Pronouns Day?

Then there's the furor over how many genders are there. For uncountable thousands of years, everyone has known there are two. According to one source,  there are a total of 112 as of this year, 2019. (Genesis 1:27 ends the debate. There are a mere two.) But these are seeming educated adults sho are seriously discussing the pronoun and gender issues.

Then if you were to ask for a listing in alphabetical order of all these 112 genders here's the first one: "Abimegender: a gender that is profound, deep, and infinite; meant to resemble when one mirror is reflecting into another mirror creating an infinite paradox." (I have no idea what that means.)

The point of all this is Proverbs 1:7: "The fear of the Lord (that is, a positive response to God and His Word) is the beginning of wisdom." A society bereft of the fear of the Lord will spend its time fighting over the correct number of genders, who can use which bathroom, and a host of other topics which no man can number. The destabilization of our society continues at record speed.