Our focus through this section is on where in the world have we arrived, given the lies that got US here. I've also made explicit the need to ask questions. That is the point of my writing, more than to convince anyone who disagrees with me on particulars.
I think it's obvious that we got here because Americans have not been asking questions. We've been pretty lazy about the bad ideas being spread in our churches and society. Clearly, I'm writing from a Christian perspective, and I'm not going into depth about all the lies in American culture as a whole. The point is to stimulate us all to unpack how we got here, deal with those lies by refuting them with the truth or a better understanding of life, at least, and from that firm base, go out and help others see things in new ways.
My target audience with this book is clearly not Trump supporting Christians, though I'm sure some may read this to refute me, and that is abundantly ok. My goal is to encourage those of us Americans who grew up in the evangelical world and are just appalled at where we've been led as a result of bad ideas floating around in that subculture, and now impacting our form of government in a way far beyond narcissism to borderline fascism.
I have posed some questions that I think are worth taking time to reflect upon, and they are open to discussion.
I think the problem I've seen in American evangelicalism is the inability to question authority figures, the total lack of true Biblical literacy and personal study or even basic understanding of right and wrong. American evangelical Christians seem to spend a lot of time listening to famous leaders rather than studying the Word of God for themselves. And they assume expertise from those leaders far more than said leaders often deserve. They often depend more on their pastors than is healthy. They routinely have a very shallow faith and value cheap grace rather than any depth of holy love. There is also a total lack of thinking for oneself, and it has made American evangelicals very vulnerable to sectarian cults and conspiracy theories.
We've discussed a few of the lies that have resulted from this: for example, the ugliness, of evangelicals towards immigrants and refugees, who are dignified as very precious to God in Scripture, is based in a far right lie of supremacy. Or perhaps a lie that has roots in Neo-Calvinism. Or maybe a bit of both.
So my argument in this chapter is we need to keep asking ourselves, not only, what outrageous and troubling behaviors are we seeing in American culture that are the direct result of lies accepted and believed, but also why were Americans, particularly those influenced by Christian subcultures, vulnerable to lies in the first place?
Education seems to be a common concern among my friends who think about these things. They argue that American education is not conducive to deep thought. That is certainly an angle to explore. If true, add to that the homeschooling and Christian education communities I grew up in, and you have a real recipe for disaster. When your goal is not to educate and stimulate children to think deeply for themselves, when you believe women are meant to be home-makers and not scholars, when you think university study is not important, when fanaticism rather than critical thought is the goal, that certainly is a set-up for stupidity and naivety.
I'm going to leave this as a short piece with room for thought. My questions for deeper, independent and personal consideration are:
How did these lies begin to pervade American culture?
Why did these lies pervade the American church?
What does it mean to have a pro life ethic?
What is the importance of liberty?
Why do some Christians seem to be opposed to the pursuit of happiness?
How should Christians live in a free country?
Is the United States a free country?
What is the Christian's responsibility to their country?
Do words have meaning?
What thought-stoppers have I accepted?
Is there objective truth?
Do facts matter?
Should opinions be based on evidence?
How do you define critical thinking?
What is the importance of character in leaders?
How do I discern good or bad character?
And my biggest concern to discuss next:
Can this evangelicalized America be redeemed?
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