And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” -- Matthew 22:37-39 English Standard Version 2016 (ESV)
Those who’ve spent appreciable time in church are familiar with Jesus’s commandments and can recite them at a simple prompt, though, as always, the carrying through with the meaning of the directives is much more difficult, especially these days. True believers don’t find it at all challenging to adhere to the first commandment, but the second one is proving elusive for even the most dedicated of parishioners and faithful, the ones who must live in the political neighborhoods with abhorrent people who reject any sort of teachings.
Halfway through “Pride Month” it’s evident, on so many levels, that Americans aren’t loving their neighbors, unless, of course, their neighbors happen to be members of the same political party. Old friends and family members become estranged just at the utterance of a word or slogan or the mention of a politician’s name – or even the recitation of facts. The left side of the political spectrum preaches “tolerance” for differing beliefs – and increasingly, actions – yet liberals aren’t prepared to extend a similar lenient attitude towards anyone who disagrees with them.
The simple act of intellectual defiance is enough to send liberals into an uncontrollable fit of rage. Forget loving thy neighbor – they’d prefer to cast the non-woke neighbor into a dungeon and set the FBI on the trail to dig up evidence for a prosecutor to convict the perceived perpetrator of a thought crime.
This cultural illness has spread to virtually every institution in American society. The Los Angeles Dodgers (my lifelong favorite baseball team… until about a month ago?) recently ripped open a poorly bandaged wound by haggling over an invitation to the Catholic bashing gay and transgender group “The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence”, which the team rescinded after public outcry and then reversed course by re-inviting the drag weirdos to receive a “community award” at “Pride Night” – which is tomorrow night.
Mercifully for the purveyors of decency, a number of prominent players spoke out against the Dodgers’ actions, but it only went so far.
And the team did toss a bone to Christians by agreeing to restart an old pre-COVID tradition called “Christian Faith and Family Day”, which will take place on July 30. Here’s thinking the eternally indulgent left will horde all the tickets they can for that game and flood the stadium with “non-traditional” families complete with same-sex couples, their adopted or surrogate mother’d offspring and be accompanied by a healthy smattering of colorfully clad rainbow warriors.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg often touts his Christianity and faith. Pete Butt’s married to a man and the pair adopted twins last year. Does this meet the Dodgers’ definition of a “Christian family”?
It's no secret that Democrats have become the party of the “woke” culture destroyers and the Republicans, more or less, defenders of the way it’s always been (because it was right to begin with) and would like to return to. This partisan divide is rearing its head in congressional debates, on social media, TV talk shows and on the streets, at school lunch tables and family holiday gatherings, where leaders of many a related group now impose a subjective gag order on meal participants to avoid everything political.
Opinion surveys reveal how bad the problem has become. In an article titled “Acid partisanship drives fear America is being destroyed”, the always insightful Paul Bedard reported at the Washington Examiner recently:
“Political partisanship, once primarily the driver in voter attitudes about presidents, is now ripping the country apart, with each side believing that if the other side wins, America will be destroyed. A ‘deep dive’ into 34 years of polling by NBC and the Wall Street Journal has revealed that partisans are tremendously split on key national issues and that extremes have hardened over time.
“’We hear a lot about growing voter polarization and the increasing difference between the Republican and Democratic Party and its candidates on public policy issues,’ said pollster Bill McInturff. ‘What we do not see, read, or hear enough about is the data to demonstrate the truth in the statement behind the increasing gap between the supporters of the two parties on a host of public policy issues,’ added McInturff, the GOP half of the team that conducts the polls…
“’Just how bad is our political polarization?’ he asked. ‘Roughly eight out of 10 partisans believe the agenda of the other party poses a threat that if not stopped will destroy America as we know it,’ he said.”
Even the most skeptical of Americans should be troubled by the results of this survey. It used to be – at least I think I remember – that one could harbor political or patriotic beliefs and express them in mixed company without worrying about metal objects being thrown at your head or your personal business being disseminated to the world via one of the multitude of “sharing” apps that most people seem to use these days.
It's far too simple to blame social media alone for the nastiness. There are people behind each one of those posts, after all, but human nature also suggests that possessors of information will employ any means possible to try and reach someone else, regardless of who they’re influencing. It’s astonishing to me, for instance, how biased users broadcast their “Pride Month” posts irrespective of who might not share their heightened enthusiasm for homosexuality and gender deviancy.
To see rainbows and “Pride Month” tributes in local email advertisements is nothing short of nauseating. Boycotting these establishments is probably the only thing that can be done, but it also seems the list of non-compliant (to the left) businesses dwindles every year. Can’t we just shut it off? Or go back to the way it was? Love thy non-partisan neighbor?
So what happens when the newly minted holiday “Juneteenth” clashes with “Pride Month”? Will the Democrats attempt to combine the two into “Pride in freedom for LGBTQIA+++ former slaves month”? Is it any surprise that people are so divided when conservatives and traditionalists are being browbeaten by wokeism everywhere they turn? And is it any less astounding that good folks feel the country will end if the filth spreading Democrats keep the White House (and make inroads in Congress) next year?
It's hard to trace the origin of today’s partisan rancor, but I can’t help but think it started in the 1960s with the sexual revolution and the breakdown of the traditional nuclear family, along with no-fault divorce. Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” replaced the need for intact, two-parent homes, but even the 60s and 70s era Democrats – including Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden – probably could’ve never fathomed that their party would devolve into the champions of crossdressing and juvenile genital mutilation.
The word “extreme” loses its meaning when you’ve got one half of the political spectrum defending naked freaks’ right to congregate, gyrate and sell their wares to children and minors. Anyone recall when “Drag Queens” were considered strange and pitied as being mentally ill? This wasn’t really all that long ago on the time spectrum.
The further that American culture erodes, the greater will be the partisan divide. Abortion, for example, formerly was promoted by Democrats as needing to be “safe and legal but rare.” Now liberals are losing it over legislative measures to keep the practice legal (in certain limited circumstances), safe and rare until a specified date of gestation. There’s no middle ground here. Just as there are token few “pro-life” Democrats, there aren’t many “pro-abort” Republicans.
And no, I don’t consider Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski to be a real Republican.
Both sides can’t be partially right on fundamental issues, yet there’s very little give in Congress or legislatures on most matters. Both sides are guilty to some extent, yet it’s the Democrats who’ve gone over the edge far too often, forcing their voters to defend the defenseless. When President senile Joe Biden went down to Georgia to depict Republicans as desiring to bring back Jim Crow laws, would that work to ensure partisan harmony?
Liberals frequently label conservatives and traditionalists as “intolerant” or “racist” simply for expressing their opinions. Liberals are the ones trying to stifle speech. Liberals are the ones accusing budget-minded limited government adherents of hating the poor whenever the spending debate resurfaces. Liberals are the ones picketing Supreme Court justices’ homes for decisions they don’t like. Liberals are the ones excusing failure (to police the border) and savaging those who merely desire to enforce the law.
The establishment media fans the flames of partisanship by reporting only half the story – or not reporting it at all. The “fact checkers” slant the numbers to advocate for a point-of-view. Entities like Newsmax are booted off of cable systems. Tucker Carlson is fired because he doesn’t tout the establishment line. Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis and Tim Scott are said to be “intolerant” because of political beliefs and their defense of traditional Christianity and Americanism.
It's no wonder surveys show a deepening partisan divide in our country and no revelation that Americans aren’t following Jesus’s commandment to love thy neighbor as thyself. There’s so much hurt and anger being leveled at proponents of tradition that it would be unnatural for there to be warm feelings between the political parties. Democrats are pushing evil; why tolerate it?
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