Recently, Bill Dembski noted the Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience, aimed at Christians who take their faith seriously. It points out that the direction of public policy (= what Top People want) in the United States is in stark contrast to the beliefs of most of the people. It has been signed by many key leaders.
In my view, too many Christians in North America spend too much time stomping for Jesus and not enough asking themselves – what should I do about the general direction of public policy, given that I have a vote in my own country and – so far – also the right to learn the truth and to appeal to government?
American citizen: In many places in the world, you would never be so lucky as to have a real chance.
So is Manhattan relevant to ID? Well, like “climategate”, Manhattan helps us see the huge struggle we all face, once we allow facts to matter.
Many people today routinely make a living misrepresenting facts and – in Canada where I live – a surprising number also make a living chipping away at their neighbours’ civil rights in the name of “human rights.” Often, these cases target religious values, so “hate” becomes whatever lifestyle codes or opinions Top People or their proteges don’t like.
Many Americans, apparently anxious to compete, want into the shakedown. Shakedown can be very lucrative on the government tab. In Canada, for example, the “human rights” defendant must pay his own costs, but the plaintiff is funded by government. Also, some legislation is constructed in such a way that it is very, very difficult to be found innocent. One can in fact be a complainant for a living.
None of this current culture is good for honest appraisal of evidence, which is what ID represents. However, the current culture is very good for suppressing evidence, and for demanding that others suppress it too, and thus violate their consciences. Unless, of course, those others are self-righteous authoritarians who actually feel good about all this. In which case, they will feel even better about themselves and indulge their vice even more.
(Recent Canadian cases: Peterborough bishop charged over refusing to have a gay guy living with another gay guy as an altar server; gay bed-and-breakfast owner had to pay shakedown for not wanting a dog in his home because he is allergic to dogs; late nite comic whose jokes were deemed not funny charged under the BC “human rights” Tribunal. Once fulltime busybodies get their nose into government, professing to fight “hate,” there is nothing with which they will not interfere. And then, no surprise, the system is rapidly overtaken by political interests who suppress free speech about topics of vital public interest.)
This much else I know is true:
– There is little chance that legacy mainstream media will give the Manhattan Declaration much attention, because they are too far out of touch with what most traditional Christians (or Mormons, observant Jews, or good Muslim citizens – the majority) believe. They have no idea how seriously we must take what is happening. Their reaction, if any, will be stupid snarks and ill-advised attacks.
That is one contributing factor to their steady loss of circulation and audience. They hope to remedy that by inventing doctrines like localism, reviving old ones like “fairness”, and finding some way to suppress the blogosphere or the Internet in general. Getting rid of the right to know what is really happening is key to their quest for a socially engineered “near utopia” of their own imagination.
These legacy media should break up or go out of business. Their business model is not working, and confidence in their take on the news is eroding rapidly.
– Driving any reference to religion from the public schools (ACLU-style) has this consequence, among others: Children grow up in families which hold no beliefs other than those sponsored on popular TV sitcoms, reality shows, and advertisements. As a result, they may believe vicious parodies of religious people. They don’t know any religious people; they just know the parodies. Thus, they are not outraged by the violation of the civil rights of their fellow citizens, in the name of fighting “hate”. And, of course, the mentality spreads into society at large. No one knows who will be targeted next. It could be McDonald’s because of its “discriminatory” policy requiring employees to wash their hands.
So fighting “hate” is far more important than fighting disease? Did anyone vote on these priorities, in the age of the H1N1 swine flu virus?
– Journalists who are observant Christians, Jews, Mormons, Muslims, Bahais and others have warned for many years against the tolerated ignoramus-ism in media about religion in North America. It is certainly a contributing factor.
One of my favourite examples is this: Years ago, a very prominent Canadian magazine editor announced in our key news magazine that he knew that the religious denomination to which one of our current cabinet ministers belongs is off the beaten track because it teaches that every member has a personal relationship with Jesus.
Hello? Hello? Do we have a connection? All orthodox Christian denominations teach this as a fact. That is what it means to be a Christian.
If that editor had displayed such complete ignorance about any other subject (Automotive industry? Spring bear hunt? Trade relations with China?), he would be expected to just bone up or shut up. But I wouldn’t be surprised if that guy rabbited on for years, and was feted and celebrated for his ignorance. I don’t know, because I stopped reading the magazine until someone else took over the helm – the current chief, Ken Whyte, is a far more worthy successor in my view. He stood up to the Islamists in recent years and won. Most Canadian Muslims are probably thanking Allah. They don’t go to all the trouble of relocating in Canada in order to duplicate the conditions they left behind.
Unfortunately, in the typical legacy journalism culture, everyone “knows” about the gap tooth creationist moron, but no one “knows” about the climategate scientists – who have a far worse and more powerful influence on society. But legacy journalists, in my experience, are proud of their ignorance and stupidity. It is a badge of merit that proves they are on the right side. And they will avoid covering anything like climategate that exposes where their bias has led.
– Lastly, Bill O’Reilly asks, “Why now? Why are some Christian leaders coming out of the sacristy at this point in time?” He offers several suggestions, of which I will say only this: If the clergy and Christian leadership class don’t come out of their sacristies soon, the government will be going after them. It’s that simple, really, and the Canadian experience shows it clearly.
If you are an American, read Shakedown, Lights Out, and Tyranny of Nice, to see what happened in Canada, and prepare yourself. If you are a European, join us Canadians as happy warriors, fighting back. If you live in a generally unfree society, please hold a revolution now. You have nothing to lose except that piece of duct tape over your mouth, which does not flatter you.