In my small Alaska community, the bluff along Cook Inlet is eroding. It happens mostly because of wind. Homes and structures that were once safely back from the precipice are now being moved, abandoned or demolished, before they plunge into the abyss.
Christians, conservatives, traditionalists – the heart of what remains of all that is noble and good in our culture – are themselves being led down a path of erosion. It happens ever-so-gradually and is hardly noticed. If anyone resists by making a comment, friends and family are likely to say something disparaging, such as, “Oh, that is so, so trivial, it is not important.” Or worse, “Don’t be such a dinosaur, times are changing.”
Times are always changing, but we must ask, “Is it for the better?”
Recent changes seem to be moving in a Leftward direction, done gradually because that is how things become more permanent. Let’s cite some examples.
Who voted on changing the orientation of the calendar of western history? “B.C.” (Before Christ) and “A.D.” (Anno Domini: “In the Year of Our Lord”) have become “BCE” (Before the Common Era) and “CE” (Common Era). When I first saw this pop up in history textbooks some 30 years ago, I thought it was being changed to represent “Christian Era” and “Before the Christian Era.”
Fat chance! It is a deliberate attempt by academia to expunge the reality of Man’s redemption with what was once viewed as the central event of history: the ministry, sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.
We have been conditioned to play their game. Have none of it. Turn back the clock. It is never too late.
And what about that “Man” thing? Unlike the romance languages, English does not identify inanimate objects with a masculine or feminine gender, with some charming exceptions. Humanity, as in the human race, was always described collectively by the masculine gender. Thus, we once had “The Brotherhood of Man” and “Sons of God,” which are now being morphed, and silently accepted with the lengthy, clumsy and childish “Brother and sisterhood of human persons,” “Sons and daughters of God,” or some such nonsense.
In politics and business, “chairman” now is “chairwoman” or worse, “chairperson.” “Congressman” now is “congresswoman” or “congressperson.”
It gets worse. Check your Bible. Depending on the myriad translations that swirl throughout Christian publishers, you will find all kinds of violations of the Christian maxim, “Not one word of the Bible added or subtracted!”
Paul began an address to his target audience with “Brethren,” and everyone once knew he meant a community of men, women and children. Instead, now we get a diet of inconsistency, such as “Brothers and Sisters” or even “Sisters and Brothers.” In the Catholic Mass, we hear at the Gloria, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men people of good will.”
Yet in the Nicene Creed, we still find it unchanged – but only in most parishes: “Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven,” is usually left untouched. But not everywhere.
Is this dichotomy, which likely is found in all denominations somewhere within their hymnals, common prayers and Bibles, even noticed? Are there complaints from both the trads and the progressives? What do we say to young people, old enough to ask the questions?
But English was always balanced, because nations and ships were identified as feminine: “England will send her fleet to defend her empire”, and “America will always defend her shores.”
You cannot help the Mad by becoming Mad yourself.
“The Titanic began listing noticeably towards her bow within minutes” and “The Arizona took a bomb directly at her powder magazines.” Both nations and ships are now likely referenced in the 3rd person with the more mundane “its.”
Look at commercials. They are almost unanimously produced with actors that are minorities: women, blacks, Asians, Hispanics. Cleaning agents, restaurants, insurance, automobiles, airlines, it doesn’t matter what product is up sale. If white men are portrayed at all, they are usually the designated “chump,” and often set right by the minority with a pithy comment, or worse – from their own children.
So, what can we do? Why, resist, of course! Resistance occurs when you disturb others by pointing out the trend, the hypocrisy, the injustice. People will not like it. You will pay a price, by mild or virulent name-calling. Smile when this happens, for it means you are not permitted to notice the transgression, yet you nevertheless have, and you have called their unwanted attention to it. Prepare a handy rejoinder, too, such as “Tolerance has become intolerable,” or “Only white males can be abused or stereo-typed, all others are off limits,” or “Shakespeare’s English is not obsolete, it’s immortal.”
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
But these examples are already decades old, and we have been conditioned to play their game. Have none of it. Turn back the clock. It is never too late.
And hit back on the more recent efforts to warp common sense: I speak of the transgender pronoun tyranny, now making itself the cutting edge of Leftist weirdness and change. Accepting whatever name changes they have done is not our business, but you are not required to play make-believe to pander to the gender fantasies of people who have, frankly, gone stark, raving mad.
You cannot help the Mad by becoming Mad yourself.
To buck the trend in little ways is a tip-of-the-hat to the Left. They knew that only in small increments could they make “weird” become “normal.” Your efforts will be turning the trend 180 degrees.
Be prepared to not live to see it. But it will be worth it.
The views expressed here are those of the author.
