There is no other way.
By J. Jeff Toler for Shenandoah Christian Alliance j.toler@sca4christ.org
- You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. (Deut. 5:32)
Party politics and policies have so completely and thoroughly adopted a form of toxic ideology, that its impact has become a threat to every man, woman, and child. It’s now to such a level that it’s evolved into a religion. America has never been this divided. For the last several presidential election cycles we’ve been told, “this election is the most important in our nation’s history.” I believe 2024 will put an end to what has been, up until now, mere hyperbole.
Many, me included, have conflated Leftism with Marxism. In my mind, the two are the same thing. I have previously explained how Leftism is derived from the left/right political theorem that originated in eighteenth century France. Before the overthrow of the monarchy and their subsequent executions, the leading political delegates met to begin drafting a new constitution, a few short months before the capture of the Bastille—marking the beginning of the Reign of Terror—these delegates were so deeply divided by the debate over how much power King Louis XVI should continue to exercise, they separated themselves on opposite sides of the assembly hall. On the right side were the more conservative royal aristocratic supporters of the monarchy. The anti-royalists seated themselves to the left of the presiding officer. [https://www.history.com/news/how-did-the-political-labels-left-wing-and-right-wing-originate]
Largely coincidental, this arrangement is actually still observed in the House of Representatives to this day—when viewed from the back of the chamber. Originally, the intent of the “aisle” arrangement was that the Democratic Party elected are seated to the speaker’s right. [https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/Desk-Assignments/Desk-Assignments/] Regardless of where the politicians are sitting, old-style party politics is quickly becoming outdated and increasingly irrelevant and unimportant to the secular left. America is entering into something much more existentially threatening.
The new religion in America is called secular Leftism. It has its priests, its sacred texts, its acolytes, proselytes, and its faithful adherents.
How the terms far left and far right have become mainstays in political rhetoric in this country is not as simple to explain as you would think. But what we can say is this: both terms are used by either “side of the aisle” as pejorative. Applied to conservatives, the label “far right” also known as extreme right, most often refers to politics further on the right of the left-right spectrum than the mainstream political right. In the mind of hot Leftist this would include “fascism—but more so reflects simply a higher degree of rightist thought generally. Often anti-communist, anti-socialist, anti-union, and anti-liberal.”
“More substantively, the term ‘far right’ is often used to refer to those who want to abolish all federal safety net programs and all regulation meant to defend worker rights and working conditions.” [https://www.allsides.com/translator/far-right]
Even though the website, “AllSides” may intend to posture a neutral take on the issues of left/right, this description has been influenced by leftist narratives in the mainstream media for so long, it’s no longer debated, or refuted. Liberals use “far right,” or extreme right to refer to those who want to abolish all federal safety nets programs and regulations meant to defend worker rights and working conditions, sanctity of life and marriage.
Secular leftists will say that “the family” is a dog whistle. They believe a rigid adherence to the biblical definition of husband, wife, and children, is comparable to the suffocating ideals of the Taliban.
Even now, the numbers are still very close.
In the end, the biggest challenge for anyone who identifies as conservative is in overcoming not only the stereotyping, but in shaking off the resulting defensiveness it engenders. Leftists, on the other hand, have no such handicap because they have captured the moral high ground in the eyes of the corporate media. Lest the Christian thinks he is above the fray and not involved in politics, he must think again.
The big stories this year will center around the clearly failing physical health and mental acuity of Mr. Biden, who is determined to remain in the race in spite of an overwhelming concern the public has about his health. A Quinnipiac University poll, [https://poll.qu.edu/images/polling/us/us02212024_upox75.pdf] released February 14, found that only 34 percent of registered voters think the president has “the mental fitness to serve a second presidential term,” while 64 percent of registered voters said they don’t think Biden is mentally fit for another term. Is this a big factor this election? Given the events of the 2020 elections, who can say with any certainty how it will impact a determined Democratic Party. [https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4481379-most-in-new-poll-say-biden-doesnt-have-physical-mental-fitness-for-another-term/]
What may determine the outcomes will certainly be the impact this regime has had on the very family values and expectations the Left finds objectionable—not just the increasing difficulty in paying the mortgage, making the car payment, and buying groceries, but a growing concern over the tidal wave of illegal immigrants, a potential race war, DEI ideology, woke AI—indeed, all the corrosion of our cultural safety nets—just to name a few of the serious threats to the body politic.
Allie Beth Stuckey (pictured) will tell you that “Politics matter because policies matter because people matter, and politics affect people.” The policies in place in this day and age are not actually very good at all for people—left or right.
Leftists are determined to continue the tactics they have long employed—with alarming success—of appropriating words, and using them to create new threats and crises. This is their policy. The most recent term is “stochastic terrorist,” leveled at the Libs of TikTok creator, Chaya Raichik. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stochastic_terrorism] As Ben Shapiro, of the Daily Wire says, “It’s a term in which they suggest that without inciting, she is, in fact, responsible for incitement — despite the fact that she’s never called for violence against anybody.” [https://www.dailywire.com/news/secular-leftism-ignoring-facts-and-pushing-the-narrative] Raichik is guilty of only sharing the TikTok clips produced by “radical left influencers” and sharing them without edits or editorializing. Libs of TikTok now appears on X (formerly Twitter).
I learned in art school the word stochastic is used to describe random arrangements of color and objects in painting and two-dimensional art. It was, and remains, something that defied creativity and purpose. In describing a form of terrorism, this is a nonsense term. But this is just one way the secular left wages war on humanity.
- But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. (2 Timothy 3:1-5 NIV)
Photo by Rosie Steggles on Unsplash
