Teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of Men

D. Thomas Newman

Life's funny little episodes strike us deeper as they repeat.  In lieu of the first repetition's giggle, a more unpleasant or sobering conclusion can develop, say, as polite conversations about one's ears frequently conjur references to "Dumbo" the elephant, or when a nongravid woman is asked when the baby is due. 

Being that a recent gym visit makes for four separate occasions on which I have been apologized to for another's use of profanity, or other such vague obscenities, I can't help but draw certain conclusions of my own.  If that the apologies included shame-faced looks was not enough, surely their direct references to my Facebook page, on which I frequently post Bible passages, gave their innermost impressions of me away.

These people think I'm devout.  Me!  The fervor of their apologies could lead nearby observers to think I whip myself at night in penitence, or go around with a barb wire garter wrapped around my upper thigh. 

I am reminded of a speech the great Peter Hitchens delivered in his home country of Britain, in which he made the case that the fact that he is frequently called devout is fine evidence of Christianity's death knell in that land.  I plead that same case today regarding this one.  If I.. yes, I.. meet the standard of a "devout Christian," such that common everymen feel they must apologize for cursing in my distant proximity, I declare it case in point that true Christianity has indeed left the American building as well.  No I am not devout by any meaning of the word.  I am a ordinary backslider, who eats to much, drinks too much alcohol on rare occasion, and doesn't delve into the scriptures nearly as much as I know I should.  And yes, I drop four letter words daily.

But my little anecdote is hardly necessary to make this point.  The Supreme Court has now delivered power over the most important earthly Christian institution - namely, marriage, the immediate substitution for the relationship humans were supposed to have with God from the beginning - to government overlords, who promptly proceeded to do with it what they do with everything - change it as they see fit, despite what "we the people" want. 

There are few more clear examples of widely accepted, historical governmenteering hubris in the face of God I am aware of.  But conservatives and Christians must remember that leftists and pro-gay politicians are part of this nation as well, and are not some foreign invading force messing up our country, as we tend to hold them as in our minds.  Now, they have set this new policy in legal stone.  Frankly, it is now a part of what America is, and must be recognized as such, rather than as some temporary taint on the surface of a beautiful thing. 

But America's Christian-nation status shouldn't be evaluated only by the whims of a small group of oligarchic lawmakers or sexual revolutionaries. Examination of cultural norms is necessary as well, as they involve the whole of the people rather than just rulers and their decrees.  For example, in early American history, though a large part of the Founding Fathers were agnostic, atheists, deists, or worse, the countrymen remained overwhelmingly Christian, and therefore were probably correct to describe the new nation thusly in general.  

Unfortunately, in our modern age, decadence is accepted virtually uniformly, and to such a degree most people don't even recognize it as such, much less question its appropriateness anymore.  Pop culture entertainment is saturated in all the most base human interests, not merely the obvious sexual infatuations. Violence, explosions, and cheap punch-lines have replaced dialogue and character development.  Sexual references and shirtless people poorly compensate for scenes of true romance and lines like Humphrey Bogart's "Here's lookin' at you, kid." The lyrics of virtually every major pop song revolves around sexual innuendo, substance abuse, violence, or any combination of the three.  As I write this, Cosmopolitan magazine online features an article on how to lick the anus of another person.  

Americans are becoming less intellectual, less religious, more base, more animal-like, and more inhumane. 

Acceptance of abortion is so commonplace that we who remain against this clear violation of morality, property rights, and human rights actually entertain debates on the subject now, rather than scoff at the very idea one could work out an intellectual justification for ending innocent human lives, indeed those of the most vulnerable.  To any decent and civilized people this would register as absurd and morally abhorrent.  An average of over one million abortions take place in this country annually, with about half of the women who have one later having another.  Thank God the numbers are slightly dropping, even as support for the legality behind abortion enters practically permanent acceptance, with neither of the major political parties presenting anything even resembling a significant challenge to it.

Dr. Walter E. Williams, political commentator and Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, wrote recently on the moral state of this country, in which he has spent seventy-nine years, including the following statements:

A civilized society’s first line of defense is not the law, police and courts but customs, traditions, rules of etiquette and moral values... 

Behavior accepted as the norm today would have been seen as despicable yesteryear..  

Foul language is spoken by children in front of and sometimes to teachers and other adults... 

Nowadays baby showers are often held for unwed mothers. Yesteryear such an acceptance of illegitimacy would have been unthinkable.Today there is little or no social sanction or shame for illegitimate births. There are no “shotgun” weddings to make the man live up to his responsibilities... 

Our youths have been counseled that there are no moral absolutes. Instead, what’s moral or immoral is a matter of personal opinion... 

If it were only the economic decline threatening our future, there might be hope. It’s the moral decline that spells our doom.

It may be most accurate to read these social opinions from an economist not as the diatribe of one overstepping his professional qualification boundaries, but rather as the opinions of a man with a highly exercised mind wanting to dispel his last wisdoms in the twilight of his life.  Nobel Prize winning economist Dr. Milton Friedman was also known for extracting ethereal facts of life from observations in economics.  Facts with origins that aren't necessarily explained in numbers, but exist in the unknown depths of human nature.  Friedman many times attributed a large part of the American poor's problems to unquantifiable effects in their spirits from receiving government welfare.  Both Friedman and Williams' writings, along with countless other economists', frequently warn against decadence for its inevitably disastrous influence on a people and their wellbeing. 

Further, the Christian Church, formerly a bulwark against institutionalized sin and degradation, enjoys a passive acceptance, occasional participation, and sometimes voracious, fervent support for illicit activity today.  With the Supreme Court's recent ruling mentioned above, the Church currently seems to be experiencing a brief flash of strength in solidarity.  I surmise it is merely a knee-jerk response to a poignant dose of inflicted trauma - a response that will soon subside, if it hasn't begun to already, as Christians are lulled back to sleep by feel-good sermons and Sunday lunches.  The gays won't have some immediate, meteoric rise in their number, and the Church's lifestyle will not be infringed upon, at least for a while until the daddy-angry Gay Mafia Social Assassination Brigade targets them for legal action, possibly to challenge their tax-exempt status, or to force marriage performances.

Meanwhile, Christians themselves continue to aid their enemies in their own destruction.  Indeed, destruction of the worst and most permanent kind.  A wave of church bombings could even be a good thing in comparison if their enemies were to plan only that, and if the Church were aiding in only that.  Perhaps the resulting solidarity wave as mentioned earlier would even be a lasting thing in that event, and the Church would come off better than before.  But destruction of a building is nothing compared to destruction of the doctrine.  To the insertion of poison, so subtle it seems as if Christians rationally chosen it for themselves, yet so poignant as to spread the rot to the whole bushel in only a matter of decades.

Twice in the Bible God warns:

Matthew 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. (9) But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said , Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: 14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish , and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

The overwhelming support from American Christians for their government's war efforts, especially the bold-faced support actually institutionalized into church services, amounts to honoring God in vocal tradition but having a heart far from what His word teaches.  The unadulterated aggrandizement of soldiers and warring government leaders, and especially the incorporation of the supposed propriety of these things into doctrinal teachings, is, plainly, teaching "the commandments of men" as if they were God's doctrine. 

The Word is very clear on the pro-peace, anti-war spirit the church is to ceaselessly exude.  But the American Church has decisively forgotten this.  Propaganda and poor education - both the Christian sort and the government's secular excuse - are to blame.  The church has very effectively been brought to its knees by endless tales of a foreign terror threat.  In reality, this threat is virtually non-existent, conjuring to the informed mind references of the fake "Eurasian" and "Eastasian" enemies in George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four." 

Any legitimacy this boogeyman holds seems entirely due to retaliatory blowback for the Washington's military devilry abroad - afflictions the American Christian refuses to believe take place.  However, fear, being the most potent and debasing emotion, has made Americans easy to control.  Despite a plethora of Biblical tutelage against it, the Church has readily fallen prey to this fear, and in response turned over the tenets of the Prince of Peace for those of this world's god. 

The endless cultural decay and degeneracy of morals in America so complained-of by Christians pales in comparison to the Church's unwitting, emphatic endorsement of mass-murder.  With such a massive "foot-in-the-door," acceptance of other sins as normalcy has arrived as a very natural next step.  God help us all.  I am reminded, as I so often am, of a Tolkien quote, so pertinent to modern life:

"The world is changed. I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost; for none now live who remember it."