Political Parties

American Flag Photo by Lisa Setrini-Espinosa

Will political parties become a thing of the past? America has effectively a two party system, but major party membership is on the decline. The number of independents or unaffiliated voters in the USA is rising. Right now if the independents would be a party, they would be the largest political party in the USA at 43%. The younger generations distrust institutions and systems these days. With regard to politics, I really can not blame them. My observations are that the national parties, Republican and Democrat, seem to be increasingly out of touch with reality, and in Colorado the Republican party appears to be falling apart due to infighting. Many times, the parties seem more concerned with political maneuvering than with promoting the good of the country. Full disclosure, I am an independent, who never felt comfortable enough with either party to choose one.

Colorado Springs, a former Republican stronghold and once known as the Vatican of the West or the Evangelical Vatican because of the large number of evangelical organizations in the area, just elected an independent, Yemi Mobolade, as mayor. They elected an independent and not a Republican, not a Democrat, and not a third party candidate. Mobolade belongs to no party. He does not like political parties. A big part of his campaign was that he was non-partisan and was above party politics.

America effectively has a two party political system. The political system in America, which has been codified into many laws, assumes only two parties. This is unlike other countries which have multiparty systems. In the past, I believe, third parties pointed to changes that the two major parties needed to address, and the major parties adjusted their platforms accordingly. Today the right wing of the Republican party and the left wing of the Democratic party act somewhat like third parties pushing each party to adopt more extreme policies. Unfortunately this movement away from the center has widened the partisan divide and I believe has left a large number of Americans in the center without a good choice of who to vote for. I believe this will allow independents like Mobolade and third party candidates win some elections.

Will independents belonging to no party take over? My thinking is that there are too many organizational advantages to being part of a party for that to happen. But is the two party system in America collapsing? Will a new party be formed to replace one of the two major parties, or will America become multiparty? I do not know, but I believe we are in a period of transition. Something new is on the horizon. (Or will something like rank choice voting bring more choice and satisfy the electorate?) Right now, I think that politically things are a mess in America.

In the last two presidential elections, I voted for a third party candidate for president. People say I threw my vote away. The fact is Colorado is no longer a swing state and its electoral votes will go to the Democratic candidate. That is pretty much a given. Since I do not like the candidates for either major party, I will make a statement and vote for a candidate whose platform best fits for what I stand for. Right now, I plan to vote for presidential candidate Peter Sonski of the American Solidarity Party. I do not consider that I am throwing my vote away, instead I am making a statement. The two major parties need to listen and learn.

This post was inspired by “Americans Are Leaving Both Parties. This Colorado City Shows Why.” by David Siders.

Nazis

Gail and I along with another couple recently visited Germany. There were two main themes of the trip. We went to see where the Reformation started with Luther. We saw a lot of Luther sites and learned a lot of medieval history. The other main theme was the history of the Nazis and World War II (WW2). I will focus on the Nazis. (See Gail’s blog post for more information on the Reformation and Luther.)

The Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers’ Party) was not founded by Adolf Hitler, but Hitler quickly rose to power in the party because he was a good speaker. In February 1920, a 25 point program was adopted by the Nazi Party. Though the 25 points were never fully implemented and some points were ignored, it provided a foundation for Nazism along with Mein Kampf (1925), an autobiographical manifesto by Hitler. The 25 points included the anti-capitalist, nationalist-imperialist, and anti-Semitic sentiments of the time.

In the throes of the Great Depression and in the midst of tremendous hyperinflation along with required reparations payments to the World War I allies, the German government was in disarray and was not functional. After the 1932 elections, in January 1933 Hitler was appointed Chancellor because no party was able to form a majority coalition and the Nazi Party had the most seats in the German parliament. In February 1933 the parliament building burned down and emergency powers were given to Hitler, and Hitler quickly seized power and became a dictator.

Also in March 1933, the Dachau Concentration Camp was opened and it was first filled with Hitler’s political opponents. I found it interesting how much planning, lies, and deception the Nazis did. There was not enough jail space for all of Hitler’s political opponents so it was fortunate that there were these new concentration camps for them. The camps were promoted as a place where these people could work and be reeducated. The truth is in the Dachau camp the inmates were abused, tortured, and worked to death. And just outside the camp proper was a gas chamber and crematorium to kill the lesser inmates. Brutal treatment and terror tactics were the norm. The SS commanders of the camp did not want to deal with the inmates. The inmates were in their opinion a lower form of human life in varying degrees, so within given boundaries the inmates ran the camp. It surprised me how well that worked. There were no uprisings. I think the inmates were in survival mode and thinking only of themselves. I think it was the self-centered selfish nature of humankind that allowed this evil to continue.

There were several WW2 points I took away from this trip.

The Germans today do not want this to happen again and have these documentation centers set up not only for us tourists but to teach the next generation about the dark side of their history. That is very commendable.
The Nazis were planners. This evil was not something that just happened. It was planned.
The false philosophical beliefs (e.g. Aryan superiority) were taught to children and believed by many.
Lies and deception were common tools of the Nazis.
And human nature is not good. Evil exists in the human heart. You can see instances of similar evils since WW2. This was not a one time thing.

This sounds quite depressing, but the other big theme from the trip was the Reformation and Martin Luther. God’s mercy and grace is there for us. We may not be good, but God showed his love for us in sending Jesus to pay the price we could not pay. We can be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do good. There is hope for this life and hope for eternal life with our loving God.

I have one last WW2 fact from the trip. When you see the old buildings in the center of these German cities you need to realize that almost all of these buildings are reconstructions of the original buildings. This is because the allies heavily bombed the German cities. It took decades to rebuild these buildings. There were only a few of the old buildings that were left mostly untouched. Those untouched buildings were used as landmarks (e.g. the Cologne Cathedral) to guide the allied bombers on their bombing raids.

Why a Luther Tour?

My wife, Gail, wrote this blog post.

We recently traveled in Germany, seeing many historical Luther sights. As I posted yet another picture of a Luther Statue on my Facebook page, I wondered if our trip was looking somewhat cult-like for friends not particularly interested in Luther and Lutheran Christianity. I’ve come to the conclusion that while our trip was filled with Luther specific sights, our trip was more about the history and the amazing times in which Luther lived. While we visited key sights in Luther’s life and work, very little of the content we saw was explicitly evangelistic or spiritually moving. Rather, in seeing the locations, I was moved by what an amazing time in history those years were and what amazing company of fellow scholars and great minds were concentrated in one time and place.

When we visited Wittenberg, within a thirty minute walk, we could observe Luther’s Black Cloister, the home of Philipp Melanchthon, a fellow theologian and reformer, the home and workshop of Lucas Cranach, a prolific artist, businessman and craftsman, and the Wittenberg Castle Church where Luther first posted his 95 theses. When I think about the intersection of all these people and the timing of their lifespans in the wake of the innovations in movable type printing by Johannes Gutenberg, I am in awe of God’s orchestration of events, propelling history and theology forward by new technology.

Additionally, the social impacts of the Reformation, including the dissolving of many convents and monasteries, the bloody Peasants’ War, and eventually the Thirty Years War were enormous and largely unconsidered by Luther in his 95 theses invitation to discuss issues.

Having local guides tell their own local history was one of the best parts of the trip. Their history, so much longer than any American can imagine, shaped their culture. When touring various sights, guides told that to most Germans, Luther’s greatest accomplishment was the establishment of the common language of High German. And while most guides could articulate the reformation truth of salvation by Grace through Faith in Jesus, there seemed to be very little appreciation of the life changing impact of that truth for daily life and hope.

Was our trip a Luther pilgrimage? Maybe. It wasn’t a worship of Luther and it wasn’t just historical learning. We saw the places, but more importantly we gained insights about how God worked in that unique time and place.

Relativism

If I place my water glass on the table, and say “my water glass is on the table”. Is that statement true? Everyone in the room would agree that it is true, because you can see the glass there on the table. But if you are not in the room and you can not see it, is the statement still true? You may believe that the statement is true or you may believe that the statement is false, but the truth is, the water glass is on the table. That is the fact and it is external and separate from what you think. That is reality. This is called objective truth. Unfortunately, today we tend to look inside of ourselves to find the truth. We decide what is true. It is a subjective truth and it is also known as relativism. This is a big lie and it has been around since the Fall.

Adam and Eve listened to Satan and decided themselves to eat the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:1-6). They were deceived and ignored the external truth of God’s love and command and decided to follow their own desires. They became focused on themselves instead of God. Ever since then we have been dealing with this internal self-centered god complex in each one of us.

What does the Devil do? He lies (John 8:44). He deceives (Revelation 12:9). He blinds people (2 Corinthians 4:4) and takes them captive (2 Timothy 2:26). And thus, the world is in his power (1 John 5:19).

This is spiritual warfare, and not just a battle of opinions. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood but … against spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 6:12). We need to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). With the first piece is “the belt of truth” (Ephesians 6:14) along with the last piece “the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) we can take on the lies of the Devil (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). We do this with patience and gentleness, while praying for their salvation (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

When we are learning about what a person believes, look for a big spiritual lie that is obvious to you, but they are blind to. We respond by countering the lies with the truth. And I believe a very good way to do that is by asking questions. You first ask questions to discover what they believe. Then ask questions to learn why they believe what they believe. And lastly ask questions that guide them to expose some areas where they have been blinded from the truth.

In this age of relativism, we find people have their own internal individual truth, their own subjective truth, and yet they tend to live with some external objective truth. They may consider all moral truth to be relative, however they have their moral standard that they expect others to follow, especially when it affects them. They tend to be blind to the inconsistencies of their beliefs.

I believe Satan is in the shadows deceiving the world. Because of relativism, many historical stories are being rewritten (e.g. The 1619 Project), and many words are being redefined to fit the narrative of their beliefs. This is being done to control the culture and individuals. This does not lead to the freedom of expressive individualism that their narrative is supposed to create, but instead the truth is lost. It reminds me of the newspaper Pravda of the Soviet Union. In Russian, Pravda means truth, but the newspaper was full of lies. I find that words of virtue like tolerance, diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and love are being used to cover vices, and words describing evil (intolerance, bigotry, inequity, exclusion, injustice, and hate) are being used to subvert the good. It bothers me to have these words and stories redefined. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20).

Satan has blinded and deceived this world and has taken it captive. Christians have the truth, the true story of reality. We need to share the truth of God’s love and gently point out the spots of blindness that prevent them from having that good full life in Jesus Christ.

This post was inspired by chapter 6 of “Street Smarts” and lesson 3 of the video series “Street Smarts”. Both are by Gregory Koukl.

Dealing with DEI

Companies and government agencies have embraced the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) worldview. In order to advance in the organization you need to show you are supporting DEI. (The State Department recently said that you need to document that you are actively involved in DEI practices to be considered for a promotion.) Coming from a Christian worldview, how do you deal with DEI? How can you find some common ground when there is much you feel is wrong and harmful about DEI?

First, Christians are in favor of diversity. The body of Christ is made up of a diverse group of people with different gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-27). Heaven will be filled with people from everywhere (Revelation 7:9-10). God loves everyone (Psalm 117:1-2) and calls us to do the same (Matthew 5:43-48). Note God loves us so very much that he is unwilling to leave us as we are but will change us for the better through the work of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16-17). So Christians are in favor of diversity, but out of love we stand against broken and harmful lifestyles and beliefs. Unfortunately the secular DEI worldview demands acceptance of the harmful lifestyles of LGBTQ+ community. As Christians we can not accept their wrong and harmful lifestyles, but we can accept and affirm the LGBTQ+ people as people loved by God.

Also, Christians are in favor of equity. God is fair, just, and impartial. He will judge with righteousness and equity (Psalm 98:9; Isaiah 11:3-4). All people have sinned and fall short of God’s standard (Romans 3:23). We stand equal before God, regardless of race, gender, or social status (Galatians 3:28). Unfortunately the secular DEI worldview distorts equity when it requires equal outcomes or the redistribution of resources without considering individual talents, individual effort, personal responsibility, and the stewardship of resources. Christians show equal dignity and respect for all people regardless of one’s status (James 2:1-4). It is only in Christ where we find true equity.

And Christians are in favor of inclusion. Inclusion is the intentional welcoming and acceptance of people. God loves all people and he desires that all would come to know him and be restored in relationship with him (1 Timothy 2:3-4). As Christians, we welcome all who follow Jesus as brothers and sisters (Romans 15:5-7) and we desire all people to come to faith in Jesus. Unfortunately the secular DEI worldview sees inclusion as the acceptance of all beliefs and of all practices, even beliefs and practices that are harmful. (However many times they will exclude people whose beliefs they consider to be intolerant.) God loved the world so very much that he gave Jesus as our substitute so that we could have life and a restored relationship with God (John 3:16; 1 Peter 2:24). God wants to include you. Do not reject him, but instead turn to him and follow him.

And yes, Christians also stand against inequality and oppression. We too are against societal structures that oppress people and cause inequality. We work for a better society through promoting love (1 Corinthians 16:14), forgiveness (Ephesians 4:32), and reconciliation (Matthew 5:24), first with God (2 Corinthians 5:18-21), but also with the people around us. Unfortunately the secular DEI worldview broadly divides the people into groups of people that oppress and groups of people that are oppressed without considering the individual circumstances of each person. The secular DEI divides. Christians seek to reconcile and unite.

So as Christians, we believe in the real biblical version of DEI, and not the distorted secular version. There is common ground with secular DEI in which we can start conversations, but it will not be easy in a secular DEI workplace. You can gently point out the problems with their version of DEI. I would do it by asking questions about their beliefs to get them thinking about what they do believe and what are the problems that the secular DEI creates. You need to realize that you may be labeled as a person who hates or an oppressor for opposing certain aspects of their DEI standard, but you need to stand firm on the truth. It is good to do so for you, for them, and for society.

This post was inspired by “Understanding DEI (From a Biblical Perspective)” by Cam Arminio.

Broken

Everybody today realizes that there is something broken or not right with the world. Utopia, where everyone can live in harmony, is a dream that we all seem to share. Many have tried to create utopia-like communities, and all have failed. There are a few attempts to deal with the brokenness.

One idea is to focus on getting your mind in the right state. You look inside yourself and you determine what you consider reality to be. You decide what is right and what is wrong. You fix yourself internally. You attempt to block out the wrong and promote the right (whatever that right is that you determine to be).

Another idea is that the environment is wrong. People tend to do what society tells them to do. The idea is you can fix society or the culture by training people to think correctly and do the right things. Only then would utopia be possible. The idea is we can do this if we have enough rules or laws to guide people to utopian thinking. Correcting the environment, if you can get people to do what has been considered to be right, is an attempt to solve the problem.

Both these concepts assume that you or society knows what is right and what is wrong. In the first case the person determines what is right or wrong, and what is reality. In the second case, society determines that. Unfortunately, in either case, their definition of reality and what is good or evil can easily change.

There is a third way to look at the reality of our brokenness. We start by recognizing there is a Creator that made us (1 Corinthians 8:6). He is the one that has defined reality and has set standards of right and wrong, good and evil. We do not get to. As the Creator, who loves us, he set these standards for our good. However, our first parents failed to follow God’s standards and went off on their own (Genesis 3:1-6). Because of this we are broken through and through (Romans 3:23). We live self-centered selfish lives. We are unable to fix ourselves. Our disobedience broke us and the world and ever since then we have had this longing for a restoration of that utopia.

God, our Creator, did not give up on us. He set out to rescue us from our brokenness and to restore the world to its unbroken state. In Jesus, he became one of us, and lived a perfect life that we could not (1 Peter 2:22). Out of love for us, he died on the cross as payment for our wrongdoings and our brokenness (1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2). He rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) to start the process of restoration.

To illustrate this, consider this story. You are walking across university grounds and you come across a standoff with the police and a shooter. You are peeved when told you can not go that way because you have important business to attend to. You slip to the side and think this does not look really dangerous and I can slip under the barrier and take this other route. So you do that and about a minute later, you see a glint of a rifle barrel, hear a shot, and end up on the ground. You are okay but lying on top of you is the policeman that told you not to go past the barriers. He is bleeding and is dead. He sacrificed himself because of your disobedience and selfish stupidity. He saved you. That is what Jesus did for us. Jesus sacrificed himself in order to save us from our broken selves. He did it to bring us back to himself, to restore that broken relationship with God that our first parents had in the beginning.

The Bible says you are saved by God’s undeserved love through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is a gift. Faith has been defined in a variety of ways. Faith is not a blind faith. There are few things needed to have faith. First, you must know what or who you have faith in. You have faith in Jesus, who died for you. Second, you need to agree or give your assent that Jesus is Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9). And lastly, you need to place your trust in Jesus, that is you need to recognize your brokenness, turn from your selfish ways, and strive to follow Jesus and his ways (Acts 3:19). That is faith. It is an active faith.

Jesus’ resurrection points to the day we will rise back to life and live forever with God in that utopian environment (Revelation 21:1-5) (or without him in Hell if you reject him). Today we live in the new life that he has given us (John 10:10). We have been rescued and are in the process of being restored.

This post was inspired in part by Gregory Koukl’s book, “The Story of Reality”.

Daylight Savings Time

Today there is a big push to go permanently to Daylight Savings Time (DST). Colorado has already passed a law that will have Colorado go permanently to DST when Congress allows it to happen. The U.S. Senate in 2022 passed a bill to make DST permanent, but the House did not take it up.. There are harmful medical effects when there is a time change, however the medical professionals seem to prefer going permanently to Standard Time instead of DST, because it best aligns with human circadian biology.

People today do not seem to realize making DST permanent has been tried before. In 1973, Congress passed a bill making DST permanent for two years in order to save energy costs. So from January 7, 1974 until October 27, 1974 DST was in effect. It ended early and it lasted less than a year, because people did not like the dark mornings. Some children took flashlights with them when they left for school. (I remember this event because of an editorial cartoon which had Nixon cutting off one end of a blanket and then sewing it back on the other end.)

The advantage of DST is that you have an extra hour of sunlight in the evening. In the summer, under Standard Time, that extra hour of sunlight would have been in the morning when most people would have been asleep, so DST shifts that hour to be when most people would be awake in the evening.

If I had to choose one or the other, I would choose Standard Time over DST, however I do like the longer evenings in the summer. My preference would be to have both but shorten DST to start on the Spring Equinox and end on the Autumn Equinox. I do not understand why DST in America extends now into November.

I find it interesting that DST was not set nationally until 1966. The first time nationally America had DST was in 1918 to save energy during World War I. Again in World War II, DST or “war time” was used as part of the war effort, but it was not until 1966 when Congress standardized DST. DST was extended in 1975 and again in 2005.

Also I find it interesting how we assume things like time zones have been around forever. Not so! It was in 1918, the bill that set DST for World War I also nationally set time zones in the continental U.S. Before that it was up to the states and the railroads. The railroads led the way with time zones because they needed a consistent time standard as their trains traveled across the country. Railroad time was a thing that people used, and effectively created the time zones before they became official. Back in 1884, there was an international conference that set the Prime Meridian (0 degree longitude). That conference made the Prime Meridian go through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. This made it possible to standardize time zones around the world, but it was not until 1963 when Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) became a standard. That officially gave the time zones the needed reference time. UTC is the time in Greenwich, England. Every 15 degrees longitude makes an hour difference. It took until 1963 before all the pieces were in place. To be fair, solar time, placing 12 noon when the sun was the highest, is pretty obvious, but time zones allowed people to travel without having to adjust their time pieces every few miles.

PS In 2005, I visited the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. The museum there was great and I learned a lot about the development of small accurate clocks and the use of time to determine longitude.

Divisions

America is very divided politically. I believe this is different from the cultural divisions of worldviews. A version of the Christian worldview used to be the dominant worldview in America. Today, prevalent in America, there are several variations of the critical theory worldview (with expressive individualism mixed in). And today both political liberals and conservatives use the critical theory framework to promote their agendas.

Critical theory states that there are unfair oppressive structures in society, and thus there are people being oppressed or in other words victims. Critical theory states these various forms of oppression are what is wrong in the world and its goal is to liberate us from the oppression. Some of the more common variations of critical theory are critical race theory, feminism, queer theory, and postcolonialism. You can especially see critical theory in action with the agendas found in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Movement. This has been part of a big push by the political liberals.

But the political conservatives use the same critical theory framework. The oppressive structures are instead the mainstream media, the deep state government, and other concerns, like voting. So the conservatives see different structures that are oppressing America and making us victims of the current power structures. Donald Trump is big in promoting the oppressive nature of these so-called liberal power structures, and in this current election cycle with his legal troubles he is especially promoting the idea that he is the victim and that he is taking the “attacks” for us. I believe this critical theory framework is one of the main reasons he has been able to resonate with so many voters because critical theory is already embedded in today’s culture.

“Wait, wait”, you say, “there is some truth in what they say”. Yes, there is some truth found in both the liberal and conservative statements. But note that every good lie has a kernel of truth. I believe the framework of critical theory twists the truth and makes it divisive. It ends up being less than the whole truth.

You need to be aware that critical theory’s way of thinking in terms of oppression is the dominant way of thinking in today’s culture. You still need to acknowledge the truth found in the twisted statements, but only the truth. You especially need to avoid using the critical theory framework. It is divisive. It is not an us versus them (the enemy and the oppressor) situation. There is really only one enemy. His name is Satan.

The Christian asks how I can help and make the situation better. The Christian realizes that it is not an us versus them situation, because we are all sinners in need of a Savior. We need to, as much as possible, work together and not be divisive. We are to be generous, kind, and gracious in our speech. We do not lie, but we speak the truth in love. We do everything from an attitude of love, wanting the best for the other person. The Christian Faith is about reconciliation and forgiveness, first with God, but also with our fellow human beings. Critical theory is about justice and fairness, whereas Christianity has justice with mercy. Relationships cannot be restored with only justice. Mercy and forgiveness is needed to end the divisions and restore healthy relationships.

I believe the political dysfunction in Congress and throughout American politics is due in part to critical theory thinking. Avoid it!

Marriage

Marriage is found in all cultures. It is nearly universal. It is foundational to human society. Marriage has a positive effect on health and wellbeing. In marriage, families are formed and children are raised. And yet today, I find that in Western culture marriage and families are considered to be not very important. Instead the individual is considered to be much more important. Below I will describe marriage with a few insights I have learned. It will be a Biblical view of marriage.

God instituted marriage from the very beginning. Jesus summarizes it well when he said, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4-5; Genesis 1:27, 2:24) God designed marriage for us. It is a gift to us. (Note some are called to be single and marriage is not for them (1 Corinthians 7:7-8).)

Marriage is a public covenant and a commitment you make in love. You promise and bind yourselves only to each other for life. Because of that commitment, marriage creates a safe place where intimacy rules. It is not just physical or sexual intimacy, but it is all the other types of intimacy too. You can safely share your concerns, your faults, your mistakes, your sins and everything else, because your spouse is there for you and will not run away. You can be vulnerable. They love you and want the best for you. They will listen to you as you share. They will forgive you. They will help you restore what has been broken.

Also marriage is a safe and stable place to raise children. The family is the building block of society. Studies have shown that children do better when both parents are a part of the family. Fathers are especially needed. The cornerstone of a Christian marriage is Jesus Christ. He is first in the marriage with your spouse as second, and the children are third. Children learn by watching how the husband and wife love and serve each other. And they also learn to serve God by watching their parents.

A Christian marriage is a witness to the world of God’s faithful love for us, his sacrificial service of love to us, and his loving commitment and pursuit of us. A Christian marriage displays the relationship between God and his people. God has been faithful in his love for us. Unfortunately, we have put ourselves, others, and things above God. We have not submitted ourselves to his loving guidance, and yet he still loves us and pursues us. He is so committed to us that Jesus came and died for us to allow that intimate relationship with us to be restored. Jesus is our bridegroom and we are the bride.

There is no such thing as a perfect marriage. A marriage joins two sinful people, so there will be problems and issues you have to deal with, but because of that covenantal commitment you both can work though those problems and issues. You need to talk with each other and especially listen to each other. You need to forgive each other. Great marriages require that commitment and for both of you to work at making the marriage great. It is worth the effort.

Crazy Sex Culture

I am concerned about people today, because today’s culture is very focused on sex, from sexual identity to pornography to mostly naked girls trying to impress the boys. This is a very unhealthy focus of sex and it is causing lots of problems in society today. I am especially concerned because there has been a dramatic rise in the number of people with sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and a large rise in the number of people with mental health issues, especially among young people.

That is not how it was meant to be. Sexual attraction is a good thing. God made us male and female and gave us an attraction for each other. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). In the context of marriage, sex is a good thing. Sexual attraction and sex itself help bind the husband and wife in marriage. It is in marriage where sex is meant to be.

Unfortunately, the cultural focus on sex has been around for a long time. I think of Jane Mansfield and Marylin Monroe. I think of the old commercial saying, “Sex sells”. Beautiful well endowed women would be placed with the products you wanted to sell. But it was in the 1960s, the era of free love, when things really took off. Birth control pills became available, so the concern of an unexpected pregnancy mostly disappeared. Because of that, the expectation of having sex while dating became the norm. Although for some, their only purpose of having sex was to release their own sexual desires. Sex for them was very me focused.

Pornography has also taken off, capitalizing on the lustful side of sexual attraction. Pornography is there mostly for men’s fantasies. (Pornography is not exclusively for heterosexual men but the large majority of it is, so I will talk about pornography in this male heterosexual context.) Pictures and videos created a fantasy world for men where women are there to please the men and to appear to greatly enjoy being sexually handled. With the arrival of the Internet, pornography became easily accessible and much more anonymous. (You are never completely anonymous on the Internet.) Pornography on the Internet has increased the expectation that having sex with anyone is the normal thing to do, and all the kinky ways to do it are possible and okay.

With all the boundaries disappearing, other sexual forms found in the LGBTQ+ community have become popular. Instead of having a clear cut physical identity of either male or female, people today are supposed to look inside themselves at their feelings and desires and decide who they are sexually, heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual, and also male, female, neutered, or something else. Who you are physically does not really matter. Today, gender is a fluid social construct. You can be whoever you want to be and you can change your gender hourly if you want.

This concerns me, because it appears the LGBTQ+ community has focused their efforts on “helping” teens find their gender. Puberty is a time of great bodily change. I remember not quite knowing how to handle all the changes happening with my body. The last thing I needed was someone asking to look deep inside me to find out what gender I was. It would have been very confusing to me. I think this is one of the reasons there are so many mental health issues among the youth today. The youth today need some stability as they discover who they are as a person and to deal with the physical changes happening with their body. They do not need someone asking them to decide right now their gender, that is asking them to make some big life changing decisions.

Sexual promiscuity is the norm these days, especially in the LGBTQ+ community. Having many sexual partners greatly increases your chances of getting one of the STDs. For me this was made clear in August 2022 when there was a very limited supply of Monkeypox vaccines. Colorado’s Governor Jared Polis focused their efforts on making the vaccines available to the LGBTQ+ community because they were “currently the most at risk”. Having multiple sexual partners is dangerous! It only takes one sexual partner to infect you.

Being sexually promiscuous is wrong and is harmful in many ways. There is a better way. God has set apart sex for marriage. A man and a woman are to save that physical sexual intimacy for marriage. Sex is meant for marriage. Doing it God’s way is safer both physically and mentally. (More on marriage in the next blog post.)