How the New resistance Can Win the Culture War

Rick Pearcey writes this excellent article. Politics is a complicated affair, yet Pearcey simply articulates the basis of the choice before us. The choice is between two views of reality and how they play out politically. And the choice is, "It's a vision that declares independence under God instead of dependence under the state." Reminds me of William Penn's famed statement, "Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants." It really is that simple.

 clipped from www.pearceyreport.com

"Angry Mobs," Tea Parties, Town Halls Represent Enduring American Mainstream 
How the New Resistance Can Win the Culture War 

By J. Richard Pearcey

Despite what has been reported in the formerly mainstream media, the New Resistance in America -- the tea parties, the town halls, protests on Capitol Hill and so on -- is to be welcomed and not cast aside as "extreme." The "angry mobs" and "unruly crowds" are actually signs of health, sanity and hope.

What these uppity folk are telling us is that, despite years of miseducation and inattention, millions of ordinary people have not forgotten who they are as Americans. Even more, this resistance suggests that significant numbers of Americans may be on a path to rediscovering something rather exceptional.

By "exceptional" is meant not just who they are in their national identity, but who they are as creatures of resistance, hardwired that way by the Creator himself. And to the degree that this New Resistance succeeds, to that degree prospects are increased for victory in the cultural and political war for human freedom and human dignity.

The New Resistance is here and shows no sign of going away. The following three factors help explain why this is good for America -- and the world.

The Precipitating Factor: This first factor consists of the rise of Barack Obama and the decline of the Republican Party. One of the primary reasons Obama won the election of 2008 is that he stepped into a vacuum of power and vision created by the collapse of the Republican Party. He did this by presenting himself 1) as an alternative to any Republican, 2) as a non-threatening "no sudden moves" African-American who could heal the nation, and 3) as a man with a more coherent -- and therefore more powerful -- vision for America. Generally speaking, a man with a vision beats a man with a resume.

But after coming into office, Obama made several mistakes. For example, he has revealed himself not just as an alternative to "any Republican," but as an alternative to basic American principle. Not just to George Bush, as it were, but to George Washington. Also, he dropped the "no sudden moves" approach for a "no slow moves" approach: Crisis! Crisis! Crisis! has become his modus operandi. And finally, he has voiced an alien, grating, post-American vision of this country, in favor of a religiously secularist and centralized federal power from which he promises milk and honey, jobs and health-care, and so on.

The Republican collapse began after the Reagan administration. Reagan understood that American liberty is rooted in a particular political philosophy. It's a vision that declares independence under God instead of dependence under the state. Because Reagan understood there is a vision-for-freedom, he also understood the need to be able to explain and articulate that vision-for-freedom. Unfortunately, then-Vice President George Bush (the elder), despite eight years of seeing Reagan in action, and of seeing that kind of vision win landslide victories at the polls, never seemed to appreciate "the vision thing."

And so the Reagan vision of Americans knowing the "freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers" (from "A Time for Choosing") would be lost. In addition, the rationale and ability to articulate that vision would be lost. More than that, resources to stand up against a contrary vision would be lost -- even if that contrary vision is false.

The GOP's dilemma is that it is double-minded. On one side, some embrace a secular vision that sees the Creator of the Founders and of the Declaration as a kind of nice "religious" touch or "values" touch. But also in the GOP are those who show an appreciation of the connection between a real Creator and real freedom in the real world.

What the New Resistance senses is that neither the single-minded secularism of the Democrats nor the double-minded imbalance of the Republicans is an adequate foundation for freedom, whether we are talking about July 1776, March 2010 or 100 years from now.

The Predisposing Factor: Clearly, there is something more at work here than merely a transient response to a recent election. And that "something more" speaks to the fact that the word American actually means something. It is not a mere "value symbol" that we can redefine at will. Its meaning does not shift with polling data, election results or skin color.

What has happened increasingly, and with special impact since the '60s, is that the historic and liberating meaning of America has been under attack by real extremists. Thus, the culture war. I say "extremists" because the aggressors in the culture war occupy philosophical ground antagonistic to the mainstream of American thought and practice.

Two observations about "the mainstream." First, there is a "mainstream of today." This is a socio-political mainstream, and it can vary with time and place. It may be something to embrace -- or not. 

Second, there is, as it were, a "mainstream forever." This mainstream is normative across cultures and history. And so, for example, as the Declaration and Constitution show, unalienable rights and limited government under God is the mainstream American position. This enduring American mainstream is alive to freedom, across time and place, precisely because its meaning does not change like the weather.

To the degree that a president or party advocates a vision or policy (such as health care) outside the abiding American mainstream, to that degree a president or party has moved away from the genius of the American experiment. At present, the liberal Democrat Party is outside of -- and even against -- the enduring American mainstream. Thus its extremism and increasing embrace of tyranny -- in the womb, in the marketplace, against speech and so on. The GOP is in a little better shape and may be able to recover. But it faces significant challenge in its divided and fragmented vision. As you may have heard, a "house divided cannot stand."

The hope of America is that the "mainstream of today" embraces the "mainstream that endures." This is what the New Resistance wants: to reconnect with the liberating identity of who we are as Americans.

The Philosophic Factor: It is crucial that we are not estranged from our identity as Americans. That itself is a national crisis. But there is a factor even more basic to understanding the New Resistance.

This people's rebellion is opening a door, and to walk through that door is to begin rediscovering something exceptional about human beings -- namely, that resistance is an essential part of who we are. That we are great and noble creatures of resistance, "hardwired" that way as "living souls" by the Creator himself. This is the "Philosophic Factor," and we will examine it in the following areas:  

The Creator. First, a philosophy of freedom respects the Creator who is the center of gravity of freedom. "All men are created equal . . . they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." Neither atheism, nature, class, nor group is at the center. Nor is "diversity" at the center. We have a Declaration of Independence under God, not a Declaration of Independence under diversity.

The Creature. Second in a philosophy of freedom, there is a great and noble creature called Man. So grand is this creature that by his own choice he can become a sinner and yet not become a zero. There is a difference between moral brokenness and ontological oblivion. Human beings would be zeros if they were merely chance products of a meaningless universe that itself popped into existence out of nothingness. In that kind of universe, instead of the "Heavens [declaring] the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1), the impersonal particles declare the meaninglessness of man.

But in a philosophy of freedom, the individual is great. The "lowliest" person on the social or economic totem poll is magnificent. "There are no little people," as the great thinker Francis Schaeffer put it. Why? Because of where we came from. Because human beings have their ultimate origin in a final reality that is of infinite worth -- the Creator himself. 

Unalienable Rights. Third is that human beings, by virtue of having been created in the image of God, as human beings are bearers of "unalienable rights." What makes these rights "unalienable"? They have their origin in the Creator. They are not "endowed" by the state, 51 percent of the vote, by 100 percent of the vote, or even by the agitations of activists claiming victimhood. "Unalienable rights" concern that which the Creator has joined together in the essence of the human being. And what the Creator has joined together, let no man separate. Not even government.

Objectivity of Truth. Fourth is the objectivity of truth, as opposed to mere "value." "We hold these truths to be self-evident," says the Declaration. Unfortunately, "values," "religion" and "faith" today are regarded as private expressions of "whatever makes me happy" or helps me cope. Freedom, however, is objectively there as an ethically desirable fact of life, even if no one in the power structure "values" it. Real "freedom" is no mere "value"; it is an objective ethical fact.

Creatures of Resistance. Fifth in a philosophy of freedom is that human beings are creatures of resistance. There is a sense in which we are hardwired to rebel -- not against good, but against evil. Not against life in community with our Creator and our neighbor, but against that which, if not resisted, alienates us from the good, the true and the beautiful -- including freedom. So of course a creature destined for freedom is a creature of resistance against tyranny. And so the founders in the Declaration affirm the "right" and "duty" to "throw off" a government that has as its "direct object ... the establishment of an absolute Tyranny."

How can the New Resistance win the culture war? First, do not allow a demonizing name-calling to slow you down. Second, stand up, proudly, as citizens of resistance. And third, stand up, magnificently, as human beings --as creatures of resistance "blessed" that way by the Creator to say "no!" to tyranny and "yes!" to freedom. 

One final thought. Authoritarians at home and abroad, elected or otherwise, may not be pleased, but future generations and the nations of this world -- even now, across the globe -- have reason to rejoice. Why? Because the same Creator of the founders, and the same liberating information he has given, is available to them as well. They, too, are created in his image. And so the door is open. People all across the world can be exceptional in resistance and freedom.

Or you can put it like this: What's most exceptional about American exceptionalism is that it's not exceptional to America.

__________
J. Richard Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report, and he blogs at Pro-Existence. He is formerly managing editor of Human Events and associate editor of the Evans-Novak Political Report. As a book editor, his projects include Persecution (by David Limbaugh), Story Craft (by John Erickson) and Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity (by Nancy Pearcey). This article is based on a presentation Pearcey gave near Charleston, S.C., at Awakening 2010 in January of this year, edited for publication. "How the New Resistance Can Win the Culture War" was first published at WorldNetDaily.

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The Ghost of Thanksgiving Yet to Come

By Arnold Ahlert, from "Canada Free Press . . . Because without America there is no Free World".

 clipped from canadafreepress.com

A lesson in the making

The Ghost of Thanksgiving Yet to Come

 By Arnold Ahlert  Wednesday, November 24, 2010

"Winston, come into the dining room, it's time to eat," Julia yelled to her husband. "In a minute, honey, it's a tie score," he answered.  Actually Winston wasn't very interested in the traditional holiday football game between Detroit and Washington.  Ever since the government passed the Civility in Sports Statute of 2017, outlawing tackle football for its "unseemly violence" and the "bad example it sets for the rest of the world," Winston was far less of a football fan than he used to be.  Two-hand touch wasn't nearly as exciting.

Yet wasn't the game that Winston was uninterested in.  It was more the thought of eating another TofuTurkey.  Even though it was the best type of VeggieMeat available after the government revised the American Anti-Obesity Act of 2018, adding fowl to the list of federally-forbidden foods, (which already included potatoes, cranberry sauce and mince-meat pie), it wasn't anything like real turkey.  And ever since the government officially changed the name of "Thanksgiving Day" to "A National Day of Atonement" in 2020 to officially acknowledge the Pilgrims' historically brutal treatment of Native Americans, the holiday had lost a lot of its luster.

Eating in the dining room was also a bit daunting.  The unearthly gleam of government-mandated fluorescent light bulbs made the TofuTurkey look even weirder than it actually was, and the room was always cold.  Ever since Congress passed the Power Conservation Act of 2016, mandating all thermostats—which were monitored and controlled by the electric company—be kept at 68 degrees, every room on the north side of the house was barely tolerable throughout the entire winter.

Still, it was good getting together with family.  Or at least most of the family.  Winston missed his mother, who passed on in October, when she had used up her legal allotment of live-saving medical treatment.  He had had many heated conversations with the Regional Health Consortium, spawned when the private insurance market finally went bankrupt, and everyone was forced into the government health care program.  And though he demanded she be kept on her treatment, it was a futile effort.  "The RHC's resources are limited," explained the government bureaucrat Winston spoke with on the phone. "Your mother received all the benefits to which she was entitled.  I'm sorry for your loss."

Ed couldn't make it either.  He had forgotten to plug in his electric car last night, the only kind available after the Anti-Fossil Fuel Bill of 2021 outlawed the use of the combustion engines—for everyone but government officials.  The fifty mile round trip was about ten miles too far, and Ed didn't want to spend a frosty night on the road somewhere between here and there.

Thankfully, Winston's brother, John, and his wife were flying in.  Winston made sure that the dining room chairs had extra cushions for the occasion.  No one complained more than John about the pain of sitting down so soon after the government-mandated cavity searches at airports, which severely aggravated his hemorrhoids. Ever since a terrorist successfully smuggled a cavity bomb onto a jetliner, the TSA told Americans the added "inconvenience" was an "absolute necessity" in order to stay "one step ahead of the terrorists." Winston's own body had grown accustomed to such probing ever since the government expanded their scope to just about anywhere a crowd gathered, via Anti-Profiling Act of 2022.  That law made it a crime to single out any group or individual for "unequal scrutiny," even when probable cause was involved.  Thus, cavity searches at malls, train stations, bus depots, etc., etc., had become almost routine.  Almost.

The Supreme Court is reviewing the statute, but most Americans expect a Court composed of six progressives and three conservatives to leave the law intact.  "A living Constitution is extremely flexible," said the Court's eldest member, Elena Kagan.  "Europe has had laws like this one for years.  We should learn from their example," she added.

Winston's thoughts turned to his own children.  He got along fairly well with his 12-year-old daughter, Brittany, mostly because she ignored him.  Winston had long ago surrendered to the idea that she could text anyone at any time, even during Atonement Dinner.  Their only real confrontation had occurred when he limited her to 50,000 texts a month, explaining that was all he could afford. She whined for a week, but got over it.

His 16-year-old son, Jason, was another matter altogether.  Perhaps it was the constant bombarding he got in public school that global warming, the bird flu, terrorism or any of a number of other calamities were "just around the corner," but Jason had developed a kind of nihilistic attitude that ranged between simmering surliness and outright hostility.  It didn't help that Jason had reported his father to the police for smoking a cigarette in the house, an act made criminal by the Smoking Control Statute of 2018, which outlawed smoking anywhere within 500 feet of another human being.  Winston paid the $5000 fine, which might have been considered excessive before the American dollar became virtually worthless as a result of QE13.  The latest round of quantitative easing the federal government initiated was, once again, to "spur economic growth."  This time they promised to push unemployment below its years-long rate of 18%, but Winston was not particularly hopeful.

Yet the family had a lot for which to be thankful, Winston thought, before remembering it was a Day of Atonement.  At least he had his memories.  He felt a twinge of sadness when he realized his children would never know what like was like in the Good Old Days, long before government promises to make life "fair for everyone" realized their full potential.  Winston, like so many of his fellow Americans, never realized how much things could change when they didn't happen all at once, but little by little, so people could get used to them.

He wondered what might have happened if the public had stood up while there was still time, maybe back around 2010, when all the real nonsense began.  "Maybe we wouldn't be where we are today if we'd just said 'enough is enough' when we had the chance," he thought.

Maybe so, Winston.  Maybe so.

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