Cultural Clamor – Graduating…

Sorry, this is not a devotional post… just some thoughts about our current culture…

May 14

There are three things I usually try to avoid (in no particular order)… weddings, funerals, and… graduations. It’s not because they are not important (they certainly are!) but it’s mostly because you have to get all dressed up, endure an overly-long event, stuck in a crowd of people you hardly even know. Maybe it’s just me…

‘Tis the season for graduations, so yesterday I spent the whole day waiting for that five seconds when that person (for whom you are there) finally walks across the stage (and yes! She was worth it [so don’t get me wrong!]).

But this was not your typical bore-fest. We weren’t there for 20 minutes before there was a huge shouting match between several people (over someone who got bumped… in a crowd! [I kid you not]), that nearly escalated into an all-out brawl.

Then we moved on to the actual ceremony itself. It takes a long time to seat over 1100 graduates (Do they have to play “Pomp and circumstance” over and over and over..?).

But the most interesting occurrence of the 2 & ½ hour event (other than the almost fistfight) was the keynote speaker – a former student at the university, who had made a name for herself, as a show writer, out in Hollywood.

She was warm, bright, and entertaining… for the first two-thirds of her address and then, inexplicably, decided to use her “platform” (literally) to launch into a diatribe on the horrors of gun violence. Now, I will be the first to recognize the fact that she has every right to any opinion that she feels is right – and she has every right to voice her opinion (this is a free country, after all). But there is a time and a place for everything. And this was NOT the place! Sometimes, our desires to make a point… end up pointing our “moral” compass in the wrong direction.

There are times when we need to realize that what we think about an issue ISN’T appropriate in certain circumstances. …And when someone begins their statements with the phrase “I don’t mean to be political…” you can bet their very next words will make them a liar (or, at least, very contentious).

To me, this incident speaks to the depth and the width of the divide we are seeing in our country. The issue is that we view certain subjects very differently… and the answer is not found in everyone coming together to see things the same. The graduation speaker made a big deal about her feelings that we just need to “come to the table” and talk about these issues. But what she meant was “let’s come together so you can accept my way of looking at, and doing, things. “Coming to the table” so I can straighten you out – is not dialogue… nor is it productive.

Our country is built upon the foundation of diversity – differences coming together to make us stronger.

But more and more these days, the emphasis seems to be on blurring all the lines and turning us all into the same. The same thoughts. The same views. The same conclusions…

Think about the real hotbed issues of our day… The prohibition of gender distinctions. The redefining of masculine and feminine roles within society. The removal of honor and recognition for those who achieve (“we just can’t have winners and losers anymore!”)…

The outcry seems to be that we must all be the same. No distinctions. No honorees. No clearly defined roles.

Heck, even the Boy Scouts have felt the pressure to become “Family Scouting.”

Are there issues to address in this country? You bet. But it seems like the more we try to address these issues (from our own narrow perspectives) we just widen the divide. We want solutions… but we only want OUR solutions.

There is something much deeper going on here. There is an agenda that is being ingrained into the hearts and minds of so many people these days. And they are not even aware it is going on. So many think they are being “enlightened” by insisting that we all blend together as one. This is subtly destroying everything that it means to be individuals, made in the image of God.

The Bible makes it clear that there is one who seeks to “blind the minds” and who seeks to destroy everything that is right and good in this world.

The same God Who has made it so that every snow flake is different, also desires that our individuality be celebrated within the framework of what He knows is best for us. To me, there seems to be a direct correlation between the ideological divide and the efforts to eliminate God and His “outdated” ideas from our culture.

I don’t mean to be political, but…

Advertisement