Many years ago, a disguised Mafia “hitman” was interviewed on national TV. He was asked a variety of questions but the one that stood out in my mind was how he dealt with his conscience. His laconic response was, “What’s a conscience?”
I suppose that if your job involves murder, a conscience might get in the way!
Whether that gentleman really had no conscience, or just managed to silence it, I do not know; but anyone without a conscience is a dangerous person.
A nation without a conscience is infinitely worse!
There was a time when Christianity and churches were America’s conscience. From slavery, to the abuse of Native Americans, to poverty, and to racism it has been, with some exceptions of course, Christians and churches that awakened the minds and hearts of Americans to necessary change. Note this: Without Christianity no one would care about these things. Slavery was generally a non-issue worldwide until Christians made it one.
It has only been in the wake of Christianity that such things have become unacceptable!
Alexis De Tocqueville wrote in his “Democracy in America,” (1835-1840)
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there. . . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests—and it was not there. . . . .in her rich mines and her vast world commerce—and it was not there. . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”
Don’t miss the obvious implications of Tocqueville’s comment: Americans, just as all other people, are not naturally good. It was the fiery preaching that emanated from the pulpits across the land that drew the people to a higher standard, a standard of righteousness that eluded the world and was only found in the Word of God.
It was a call to do better than we knew! Of course, the nation fell short of the standard, but at least we knew there was a standard and sought to meet it!
We are all burdened by our sin natures. We do wrong and are tempted to do wrong often, so it is not surprising that political and business leaders are willing to deviate from moral and ethical conduct for their own personal, political, or economic gain; but the Christian community has historically been an obstacle to evil and a catalyst for correction when it was needed.
Things have changed, however.
Many churches and denominations have been overtaken by leaders with ungodly agendas and are no longer the moral compasses they ought to be. It is not debatable: Christians and churches that espouse righteous, biblical, and moral standards of excellence are harassed and, when possible, driven from social and political forums.
Good pastors and churches have historically exposed the wickedness of slavery, drunkenness, immorality, gambling, drugs and other moral ills. Their voices fearlessly protested the corruption of politicians and businessmen. That was then…
When was the last time you heard anyone protest the political class joining the wolves in fleecing the sheep? Whereas investment companies must warn the public of the risks involved in investing, and pharmaceuticals must make nauseatingly tedious disclaimers and warnings regarding the dangers of their products, the government, on the other hand, actively encourages citizens to buy lottery tickets or visit their local casino with the invitation to “win big!”
Fat chance! If I understand the odds, you are more likely to be struck by lightning than to win the lottery! Politicians gleefully spend the revenues generated by gambling and the sale of drugs (which, for good reason, used to be illegal), indifferent to the death and destruction they bring into the lives of millions.
The voices which should be warning and protecting the public against such predation and exploitation are now themselves preying upon Americans, and the few still sounding the alarm are scorned by the abusers and ignored by the abused.
And make no mistake about this: The intense pressure from the government and other cultural leaders to inculcate little children with abnormal sexual activities has nothing to do with helping them, but rather in grooming them to be the victims of adults‘ aberrant behavior!
America is largely without a public conscience.
When considering countries noted for their inhumanity, such as Nazi Germany, people generally assume one of two things: the citizens were either under the thumb of a psychopath and were intimidated into compliance, or they were somehow different from the rest of us.
Of course, we would NEVER do what THEY did! Neither of these options are convincing.
Certainly, Hitler and his associates were intimidating, but millions of Germans apparently needed little convincing to go along with the antisemitism. Why? Without the moral compass that the Bible and a conscience provide, people can be led to participate in anything, even utter barbarity.
The worst thing that happens when people abandon Truth, as G.K. Chesterton noted, is not that they believe nothing, but that they will believe anything.
The connection between Truth and conscience needs little elaboration. A functioning conscience is dependent upon Truth, but the American Left has done a yeoman’s job at eliminating Truth from our public forums leaving the country in a state of moral confusion.
Even the anemic conscience evidenced in Bill Clinton’s “keep abortion safe, legal and rare,” has gone the way of the pay phone.
The ”rare” argument is now a relic of the Ghost of Conscience Past. Contemporary pro-choicers cheer enthusiastically for dead babies up to and past the day of normal delivery!
Most likely all of us at some time in our lives, even if only for a moment, wished we could silence the voice in our heads that was telling us not to do something that was wrong and hurtful, but that we really wanted to do. Hopefully we have gained wisdom and are now thankful that we did not do whatever it was.
But my point is this: we all understand that if conscience were embodied in a person, he would be the most unpopular person around. It is not a fluke that police officers, English teachers, and God are not everyone’s best friends! (Though all contribute significantly to the betterment of society).
We glance at our speedometer when we see a police car.
We hate being corrected, we get irritated when someone gets better grades than we do, or draws better, or makes more money than we do. And yes, we probably speak less in the presence of our high school English teacher! As Mark Twain said,
“there is nothing more irritating than a good example.”
If we are fools, our conscience, which should be our best friend, grates on our nerves, so, we seek ways to silence it. You disagree?
Then explain the rampant use of drugs, alcohol, and loud music! They exist for virtually no reason other than to silence the incessant nagging voice in our thoughts which refuses to leave us alone!
Overlay this reality on society as a whole and you have a culture unable and unwilling to find fault with anything or anyone… except for the few who still have consciences. The only evil is to call evil, “evil!”
The depth of depravity to which such a society will stoop is the stuff of history books, and ought to inform our collective minds; but too many have been stupefied by the Left, the compliant Media, and academia; and too many depend on the giveaways created to keep them silent.
In every instance of 20th Century totalitarianism, whether it be Russia, China, Korea, or Cuba, with all their attendant atrocities, among the first casualties were the voices of Christians and the churches.
Having largely silenced the national conscience the tyrants were then, and only then, able to institute their genocidal agendas.
American Christians and churches are under pressure from within and without to go along with the evil and be silent. The Apostle Paul, on the other hand, commanded Christians to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them,” (Ephesians 5:11, KJV).
A question that Americans would do well to ask is “what kind of people would seek to create a nation that has no conscience?” In other words, what is the real agenda of those who would silence Christians and close churches?
And even more compelling, if Christians and churches are not to be America’s conscience, who will be?
Don’t be part of the death and destruction.
Stand with God.
Stand with Christians and the churches who have put their shoulders to the door to resist and defeat the insurgency.
If your pastor and church are silent in the face of the current moral malaise, you might want to consider a change!
Now is the time to pray and to act!
