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We Are At War
With More Than Terrorism
We
all know we are at war with terrorism, but I often become concerned
that most Americans don’t know just how many fronts, or even
how many wars, with which are currently involved. Fox News commentator
Bill O’Reilly has become famous for being a highly conservative
and confrontational news analyst. I will quickly disavow complete
agreement with him. There are a number of places where he and
I take issue. However, I am grateful that he has called attention
to the fact that we are in the midst of a raging conflict of cultural
values in America. He has written a book entitled Culture Warrior
in which he claims he is taking on the hypocrisy of “secular-progressives”
in America. (I have not yet read the book and I don’t necessarily
recommend it, because I don’t yet know what is in it.) O’Reilly
is certainly right about the fact that we must be willing to engage
in warfare over our cultural values, but I must hasten to add
that far more is at stake than merely our culture. If you and
I don’t get serious and take hard stands for what is right,
we risk losing our very freedom, and the freedom of our children
and grandchildren.
As of this past week, I have learned that there are at least two
national battles in which we have seen victory. I would like to
encourage everyone to find a way to let Wal-Mart employees and
even corporate executives know that we sincerely appreciate two
changes they have recently made in their policies. About 3 weeks
ago, they reported that for this year’s holiday season, they
will allow their employees to say “Merry Christmas”
as they greet shoppers. Moreover, this past week, Wal-Mart also
announced that they will no longer support “controversial
causes” in their corporate donations. The bottom line is,
they will no longer be making large donations to support the homosexual
agenda. The American Family Association cancelled a proposed boycott
for shopping at Wal-Mart on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving.
We should all say thank you to Wal-Mart for these decisions. No
small amount of gratitude should be expressed to the many employees
and their families of our local Wal-Mart stores in the West Tennessee
area, of whom I am sure the vast majority disagreed with those
bad corporate decisions in the beginning and expressed their opinions
toward corporate headquarters.
However, the battles on the local front are not faring so well.
I was bitterly disappointed over recent decisions of Decatur County
leadership in promoting Decatur County to a “resort district”
in order to receive a large funding package from the state for
development. Yes, I understand the fact that the economy in our
county is depressed, and the businesses are hurting. I want very
much to see our beautiful county grow and develop in population
and commerce. However, I grieve over this decision, because, if
I understand it correctly, our entire county has now been re-zoned
(or perhaps all “zoning” has been lifted) to allow alcoholic
beverage to be sold anywhere in the county, and even by the drink
in areas closer to the river as well as lifting restrictions against
pornography and “adult” establishments. I have heard
it said that these types of offensive businesses would be a “long
time in coming, if ever.” Personally, I doubt that will be
true. I hope I am wrong. Whether I am or not, that is beside the
point.
We should never have sold out our county’s morality and integrity
for any price. I heard it said that the kinds of businesses that
will come to our county will be “clean, decent, and respectable”
allowing only “social drinking” on the side and not
permitting brazen drunkenness such as that found in smaller bars.
Is that what you believe? Suppose the day comes that your child
or grandchild gets killed by someone driving under the influence
from “social drinking” in Decatur County? Suppose the
day comes that your child or your grandchild takes his or her
first drink in Decatur County and immediately turns alcoholic
and lives a life of suffering and grief? What is it you will say
to those children when you stand with them in judgment and they
ask you, “WHY did you ever promote the spread of alcohol
in Decatur County?” I realize these words will be inflammatory
to a number of individuals. I can’t help that; I won’t
apologize. Some members of my own dear immediate family have suffered
horribly because of drinking and violent drunkenness; I have known
of individuals killed by drunk drivers. I hate alcohol and I have
good reason for doing so. Therefore, I rest my case.
I don’t know about you, but I am at war. I am at war in national
spirit on behalf of my country against terrorism, dictatorships,
and religious intolerance. That is not all. I am at war against
cultural trends that try to strip God out of government and public
arenas in America. I am at war against immorality that tries to
position itself as a right that forces its way into the lifestyles
of our workplaces and schools and day-care centers. I am at war
against the greedy materialism that sells out the innocence and
safety of my family, friends, and neighbors, exposing them to
the filth, violence, degradation, and destruction that comes from
sexually explicit business and the consumption of chemical substance.
God give me the grace to be faithful as a soldier at war until
the day I die. “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good
soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Timothy 2:3).
James Sanders
Pastor,
sandersjc@yahoo.com
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