Too Smart — Too Sophisticated to Believe in God?

 

Graphic:  Slide Share . net

The following post over at American Thinker starts off discussing the suicide of Anthony Bourdain, and shares a pertinent Bible verse.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36) Bourdain was famous, and worth $16 million.

Kate Spade’s suicide happened shortly afterwards.  What would bring millionaires like this to such despair that they would take their own lives?

We found out that Robin Williams killed himself because of a disease he had and he didn’t want to be a burden to his family.

I’m no expert on why people commit suicide, but apparently there could be many reasons why people, unfortunately, follow through on it.

But this post isn’t only about that tragic state of affairs.  The next paragraph in Mr. Marcus’ post is the main reason I wanted to share it here.

Folks, we live is such an evil time that merely suggesting that people are better off with God in their lives is venomously attacked and branded fanatical religious hate speech. But I am going to go there anyway.

Have you noticed that oftentimes, evangelical Christians are being blamed on news programs for the election of Donald J. Trump?  Never mind those 30% (a diverse crowd, by the way) who had voted for Obama in the two previous presidential elections, but decided to vote for Trump over Clinton in 2016!

Below is the rest of Mr. Marcus’ essay.   His brilliant essay included many of the thoughts and conclusions that I have come to believe regarding the hatred being spewed here in America ever since the election of 2016.

 

Mr. Bourdain, and I suspect Ms. Spade, were leftists. Typically, leftists think themselves too smart -– too sophisticated to believe in God. Remember the closed-door fundraising event at which Obama demeaned fly-over-country voters for clinging to their guns and religion?

On the Christian-hating “View” TV show, Joy Behar called Vice President Pence “mentally ill” for saying he talks to Jesus. Historian David Barton documents how America was founded upon our Founders praying and receiving guidance from God.

In 1798, founding father John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.” Today, Christian politicians are branded “dangerous” by leftist-dominated mainstream media.

The Democrat party hijacked by leftists removed God from their platform. When Democrats voted God back into their platform the convention floor erupted with angry boos. Can you imagine a political party so wicked that they boo God?

Leftists laugh at Christians. Leftists erroneously believe man is the ultimate power, capable of regulating equal outcomes. They foolishly believe man can save or destroy the planet. Michael Crichton brilliantly articulates leftist folly in his novel Jurassic Park. Believing themselves to be wiser than God, leftists always fight to change God’s original intent regarding biology, marriage, and gender.

This scripture nails the leftist mindset. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” (Romans 1:22) Folks, we witness their foolishness every day. They say that if a man awakes feeling like a woman that day, he should be legally permitted to use public women restrooms. They say that teachers addressing students as boys and girls is hateful and exclusive and must not be tolerated. They say four-year-olds must be introduced to homosexuality and taught “gay love is beautiful”.

For eight years Obama forced anti-God extreme liberal foolishness down the throats of mainstream commonsense thinking Americans. Thank God Trump is rolling back Obama’s war on Christianity, restoring our constitutional religious liberty.

Obama was the left’s dream president. He aggressively stripped the God of Christianity from our government. Obama chastised Christians at the National Prayer Breakfast. He relentlessly tried to bully the one-hundred-year-old Little Sisters of the Poor into funding abortion services, an anathema against their religious convictions. Obama enthusiastically honored homosexuals, Black Lives Matter, and Muslims with celebrations at the White House while turning away the National Day of Prayer. Obama was the most biblically-hostile president in U.S. history.

Disney’s movie, A Wrinkle in Time, starring Oprah Winfrey struggled at the box office. Perhaps the reason is leftist producers stripped Bible quotes, a reference to Jesus and historical Christian figures from the movie adaptation of the beloved children’s book.

While threatening to jail anyone disrespectful of Islam, leftists boldly display disdain for Christianity. They hate Jesus for saying, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

How dare Jesus declare himself the only way to heaven. Liberal media goddess Oprah has decreed that Jesus is not the only way to God. Oprah foolishly professes herself to be wise, too enlightened to believe Jesus Christ is the only path to God.

The gangster movie Scarface has a strong biblical message. Drug lord Tony Montana had everything he thought would bring him happiness; power, a mountain of cocaine, extreme wealth, and beautiful women at his command. And yet, Tony was miserable. All Tony’s stuff could not fill that spiritual void inside which produces peace, happiness, and a fulfilled life.

Sadly, Mr. Bourdain’s and Ms. Spade’s extreme wealth, power, and fame failed to produce inner peace and happiness. Both are unfortunate casualties of leftist mindsets, too smart and too sophisticated to humbly trust in the God of Christianity.

Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American

Hat tip: The American Thinker: Bourdain: Casualty of Leftist Mindset

Hat tip also to: Truth 2 Freedom’s blog where I first found the link to the article.

*******

Personal story.

A few days ago, I got into a conversation with someone with whom I have known for a long time.  She appeared to be conservative, and has claimed that she is a Christian.  Some tough situations within her family life had caused great pain and sorrow.  During our subsequent discussions, she rarely mentioned anything about her faith anymore.

I have been trying to avoid getting into left vs. right arguments with people who dislike President Trump.  However, in this case I realized that this particular woman did not know basic facts about the last election or the vitriol that followed and has been ratcheted up over the last 20 months.

She objected to Trump winning, despite the popular vote that Hillary ended up with on election day.  I explained to her why the Founders decided to utilize the Electoral College method when electing the president.  She truly did not understand it until I had explained it.

During our conversation, she indicated that she personally dislikes Trump.  I agreed that he isn’t the typical, smooth politician and that he has said some regrettable things.  However, despite his personal failings,  I shared several of the many accomplishments of his administration and she agreed that he is doing a good job of turning this nation around.

I mention this because of the above article written by Lloyd Marcus.  People, Mr. Marcus completely NAILED IT in regards to the void of proper discussions going on today.  Instead, it’s only hatred, meanness, derision, mocking, threatening, and dangerous vitriol that is constantly being spewed by radical leftists.  Many, apparently, cannot even fathom having a decent conversation with those on the right or those who support President Trump.

Obama was their “prized” president.  He espoused most of everything on the leftist side of the political spectrum that they believe in.  But, even when he didn’t like some of the policies that came about, they forgave him (or ignored the issue) because of their love and agreement of this man’s political ideology.  They had the mentality that Obama “could do nothing wrong” and the media of mass deception kept that image alive by oftentimes not reporting the truth.

Now, because President Trump is mostly the complete opposite of Obama, the leftists have, and continue to be, losing their collective minds.  The media and celebrity negative rancor dominates 95% of the news broadcasts; oftentimes completely ignoring all of the great accomplishments that President Trump has done for our nation, economy, and people.

It’s truly sad that so many people do not allow those with opposing views a voice on news programs.  They ignore the other side in their conversations.  More distressing, is that when they report, they can’t seem to do it without being hostile, nasty or even downright hate-filled and dangerous!

Fear masked as hatred, cloaking shame.”

My blogging friend Steve over at Cry and Howl has created a post entitled, The real enemy of the American people is the major media.

So far, there are two guest comments there. Before I include my comment, here is an excerpt from Steve’s post:

On July 7, 2016 a black man who as a result of eight long years of listening to a racist black president disparage police officers and thanks to the major media sowing the seeds of racial divide shot and killed five Dallas police officers. Barack Obama gave a speech at the memorial service for the slain officers in which he said this, “If we’re honest, perhaps we’ve heard prejudice in our own heads and felt it in our own hearts. We know that. And while some suffer far more under racism’s burden, some feel to a far greater extent discrimination’s sting. Although most of us do our best to guard against it and teach our children better, none of us is entirely innocent. No institution is entirely immune. And that includes our police departments. We know this.” Seven days after the murder of those five Dallas cops Barack Obama invited the leaders of the Black Lives Matter group to the White House.

The media makes Barack Obama who hands down was the absolute worst “president” in U.S. history a god. The media have covered his lies, his scandals, his failings and neglect of his duties as a president to protect the United States and her citizens. Countless innocent Americans died as a direct result of his actions or carelessness. When Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were being slaughtered in Benghazi Obama was missing for eight hours. We still don’t know today where he was and what he was doing. The next morning he flew to Las Vegas for a fund-raiser. When Daniel Pearl was beheaded Obama gave about a one minute speech and in less than 10 minutes was on the golf course mucking it up with his butt buddies. Obama criticized and disgraced the United States every day to every nation around the world. This is why he was so popular with other world leaders. They knew he hated the U.S. and would do everything he could to humiliate America and her citizens.

Then, Steve writes the following:

Folks, the honest truth is that the major media is absolutely the enemy of America. They lie continuously to us. Donald Trump is continually attacked 24/7 by the media. The media is focused on one thing and one thing only; to make Donald Trump out to be a racist, a liar, a bigot, and a divider. President Donald Trump was never accused of being any of those things until he won the Republican nomination. Then when he actually won the election against all odds the media, the Democrats, the Republicans and the left in general couldn’t accept it. They never will accept it.

For the purposes of this post, I’m stopping there, but I suggest that you go to Steve’s site and read it all.

Isn’t it weird, as Steve pointed out in his post, that ‘President Donald Trump was never accused of being a racist, a liar, a bigot or a divider UNTIL he won the election?’

Why is that?

We have to ask ourselves what is truly at work in the media and political arena to cause such hatred, division, lies, corruption, terrorizing protests, false accusations, bitterness, and cruelty?

My comment there may not answer such a question in its entirety, but the conversation that I share and the quote from C.S. Lewis may very well touch upon the underlying reasons for such vitriol, hatred, sins, lies, and yes…the shame that is being covered through such actions.

My comment:

Hi again Steve!

I truly believe now that once leftists are assimilated into the “Borg” of leftist lunacy, “resistance is futile” and they cannot (or, just absolutely refuse to) break away from it! If you saw my post on the NFL debacle, I had a link to a blog that describes what the “Borg” (from the fictional Star Trek series) is. Yet, we have seen it come to life (um…more like a death spiral) in the media of mass deception and those who have fallen for the lies…hook, line, and sinker… absolutely refuse to see how badly they have been duped!

This comment will be long and I hope you don’t mind. On another blog, I shared the recent story of an encounter with a young man in his 30’s who calls himself a “progressive.” He absolutely hates President Trump. Here’s the story:

I recently had a conversation with a young man in his 30’s who asked me to look at videos of both Obama and Trump. He asked me to compare Trump’s squinty eyes with those of Obama’s being “wide open” when he speaks. This is a guy who really hates Trump and thinks he could be “the Antichrist.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him that Obama’s eyes were so dilated that he appeared high on something. I did say that I could never have voted for Obama because he believes it’s OK to kill babies in the womb. The young man was becoming frustrated with me… and said, “but look at the eyes! The eyes are the window to the soul.” He was angry that so many evangelicals voted for Trump. I said, “what about the lies of Hillary?” He said, “she’s old news and don’t change the subject.” I said, “maybe Trumps older and lighter eye color causes him to squint more?”

We went back and forth about the “fake news” against Trump and the adoration news coverage of Obama. The PR and propaganda lies are guilty of ratcheting up more and more hatred against our current President. As a PR agent, The young man had to realize this but didn’t want to admit it!

Near the end of our back-and-forth conversation, I told him that the Bible tells us that there are “many antichrists who have come into the world.” However, there will be only one antichrist that will one day sit in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and declare himself to be God. He said to me, “I could see Trump doing that.” Sigh… I replied that it would take years to rebuild the temple and there have been many dictators throughout history who were thought of as the antichrist, but they were just evil people.

I brought up many of the good things Trump has already done for our country. He was not well informed about any of it.

The way I see it, God got us through eight terrible years of the Obama presidency. Clinton would have been four more years of the same. I’m grateful that she lost and isn’t able to do more damage to our beloved nation.

The rest of the family hid out in the kitchen, not wanting any part of our somewhat bizarre conversation! This young man is searching. He has delved into Buddhism, New Age (likes Eckhart Tolle), Kabbalah…to name just a few. I want him to continue to want to have these discussions with me. I have been tempted to give him a book or two to read, but I don’t think he’s quite ready to accept them.

One interesting thing was his 5 minute description of what Public Relations is all about (e.g. it’s not always about what is necessarily true, but rather it’s about what sells) and how news organizations and newspapers are about that, too. It was then that I made the case that we cannot always rely on the media to tell us the truth! He quickly changed the subject!

I did a post the other day about Ben Shapiro’s speech at Berkeley. He discusses that very thing… “People are all kinds of crazy,” and “really nutty.” The snowflakes at the leftist universities are so used to getting the views of one side of the political spectrum that they don’t even know why they shouldn’t hear both? Really sad…

This young man has been assimilated into the progressive-minded “Borg”! Some people are just too far gone and resistant to discussion about the truth of what is going on in the current political atmosphere.

Have you ever read books from C.S. Lewis? He was a genius and exceptional Christian literature writer. Here’s a quote from “The Screwtape Letters”:

“…..But hatred is best combined with Fear. Cowardice, alone of all the vices, is purely painful – horrible to anticipate, horrible to feel, horrible to remember; Hatred has its pleasures. It is therefore often the compensation by which a frightened man reimburses himself for the miseries of Fear. The more he fears, the more he will hate. And Hatred is also a great anodyne for shame….. “

-CS Lewis, the Screwtape Letters

[Hat tip to IB of “See there is this thing called biology…” blog.]

That is what it’s all about! “Fear masked as hatred, cloaking shame.”

It’s been over two decades since I read that book so I am reading it again. I think that it will equip me with what I need to share when confronted with those who “combine hatred with fear”…when all along such hatred is being used as an antidote for their deepest fears.