The Greeks thought the language of
the people outside of their realm sounded nonsensical, strange, and ignorant. They ridiculed it by referring to it as “barbarous,”
mimicking with that term the coarseness they perceived in the language. From this root would come our modern term “barbarian”: a word which speaks of the uncivilized and
uncultured who would destroy whatever they encounter.
Today, in this country, I believe we
are now raising successive generations of barbarians. I’m not using the term pejoratively, but
rather descriptively. The word very
accurately describes the way our culture has gone. And the trajectory towards barbarism has not
been accidental. It has taken years of
concentrated effort on the part of many for us to reach this nadir in the
existence of our country and culture.
But I believe we are here. No
longer, as the movie of a few years ago asserted, are the barbarians merely at
the gates. They are now among us. They are us.
And I place no blame upon these barbarians. It’s really not their fault. They literally don’t know any better. Raised in a coarse and vulgar environment in
which evil is celebrated and perversity honored and praised, why should we
expect anything else?
Gangs of young males now roam the
streets of our cities, slaughtering each other at a horrifying pace. They have no conscience and evince little
remorse when they are caught and punished for their crimes. Daily they are breaking into our homes,
hijacking our automobiles, raping our women, and robbing the innocent on the
streets. How else could one possibly
describe them except as barbarians? The
only difference between them and their predecessors in history is
location. Their callousness to human
suffering; their viciousness and rage against those around them is no different.
Our colleges and universities have for
years been training highly educated, technically sophisticated barbarians with
business degrees and MBA’s. These
barbarians in fancy suits and thousand dollar shoes are destroying us financially
as they pillage our banks and businesses.
Operating without moral or ethical boundaries, our government has been unable
to write laws fast enough to stop them from grossly abusing the system. They can afford to purchase a façade of
civility. They live in their ocean view
estates, and have educated themselves to know which wine goes with what course,
but they are still no more than barbarians feasting on the spoils of their
carnage.
I walked into Walmart early in the
morning a few Saturdays ago and encountered one of the most egregious examples
of bizarre deliberate mutilation of the human body I have seen. This poor barbarian couldn’t have been more
than in his late twenties. He was a big
man both in height and girth. From the
top of his head to his feet every piece of flesh that was available for viewing
was covered with multi-colored tattoos.
His earlobes hung nearly to his shoulders, pierced and filled with rings
inches in diameter. There were studs and
rings protruding from his eyebrows, lips, cheeks, and ears. He looked freakish. I literally wondered if he hadn’t come early
to avoid scaring small children, because I really think he would. What would possess anyone to so deliberately mutilate
themselves? He is a poster child for the
barbaric self-mutilation that a generation of barbarians have chosen to
glorify.
The women are no less barbaric.
They have been brainwashed into believing that slut like dress and
behavior is somehow glamorous and empowering.
At a funeral I conducted the
other day, I was shocked at the dress, or lack thereof, of several of the younger
women in attendance. They were dressed
more like street walkers than mourners.
And lest I be accused of being old and cynical, I had several others in
attendance, some of whom were contemporaries of these women, making the same
comment. Once again, I’m lamenting not
blaming. These poor young women are clueless
as to how a lady is to dress. Their
mothers clearly have not taught or modeled modesty for them. The example set before them in the media is by
female barbarians who make their living by baring their flesh for a price. All they are doing is mimicking what they see
glorified instead of vilified daily.
The church I’m privileged to preach
for has a very active prison ministry at a women’s prison here in Oklahoma. I’m out there an average of twice a month to
preach and conduct baptisms. My heart
breaks at what I’m seeing. Young women
who ought to be in college or clerking at the local grocery store are behind
bars. They have been deemed too
dangerous to be set loose in society. At
eighteen or twenty they are already hardened criminals. Starving for love and hope in a world that
has never offered them either, it is at once rewarding and heartbreaking to see
them respond to the message that God loves them and their lives matter. Raised as barbarians they have never been
gifted with faith or hope. Their view of
life is too often that either you use others to get what you want or you get
used. Most have been abused physically,
sexually, and emotionally. They have no
more concept of Biblical love than the man in the moon.
As you listen to polls which show
increasing tolerance and even approval for gay marriage, transgender rights,
and legalized drug use there should be no surprise in light of the increasing
number of barbarians who are now being polled.
After a concerted effort over the last fifty years to drive God out of
our culture, we are now seeing the fruits of that effort. Young people whose parents were raised with
no moral or ethical standards are now being turned loose on the world without a
clue as to a transcendent standard of right and wrong. How could their parents teach them that of which
they have no knowledge? We have emptied
our churches and driven God from our schools.
We have made heroes out of moral cretins and vilified anyone who would
uphold a moral standard. We have
tethered our children to “smart” phones that are tools for the dissemination of
a cesspool of information from pornography to Facebook. Should we be shocked and surprised when they
embrace and support that which stands in direct opposition to the will of Almighty
God?
The Bible makes it clear that we
reap what we sow. We have spent years in
this country and culture sowing to the wind.
It should surprise none of us that we now reap the whirlwind.
Allow me to share a final
illustration of the depths to which our culture has now descended. I stood in one of the grocery aisles at
Walmart awhile back (if you want a quick take on the barbarity that exists in
our culture today just visit a Walmart) and listened to a foul-mouthed female
who couldn’t have been more than fourteen or fifteen inform the two young male barbarians
who were with her that she wasn’t sure but what she was a (blank) lesbian! What struck me, besides the vulgarity of the
whole situation, was how totally comfortable the three of them were with their
coarseness. There was absolutely no
shame or reticence about what was going on.
Quite the opposite. They were
obviously loud and proud in their barbarism. That others were in the aisle meant absolutely
nothing. “Common decency” is a concept
with which these young barbarians are totally unfamiliar.
I take comfort in the knowledge that
not all today are being raised as barbarians.
I see Christian parents doing their best to bring up their children in the
ways of the Lord. With great fortitude
and courage, with tremendous sacrifice and love, they are seeking to pass on to
their children a legacy of godly principles and values. But it is undeniably true that they are
seeking to raise their children in Sodom.
I have heard candidates for President
talk about making America great again. I
wish they would set their sights on something far more important – making America
good again. I’m afraid there’s not a
chance in the world she will ever be great again until she is first good. Barbarians know how to hate and do damage. They know how to rob and take and cheat and
intimidate. They know how to
destroy. They don’t have a clue about
how to build. When judgment comes on this country, and it
will, the only hope we will have is that enough Christians will have survived
to have a moral basis for building back.
I pray for the sake of our country that will be so.
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