Twitter World was on fire last week.
There is nothing new in that. It is always a repository of vitriol and name calling.
I do not in my heart of hearts believe that the majority of Americans are represented by the tweeters, but I find it interesting to scroll through the comments from time to time.
Three incidents occurred recently that give me reason to reflect.
I think as Christians we ought always to pray for our leaders and to pray for our country. We are not the first people to live in strange and divisive times.
Attorney General Bill Barr had given a speech at the Notre Dame Law School on the role of religion in America’s history of freedom.
The leftist voices absolutely lost their minds over it. You can find the entire speech online if you are interested. It was actually refreshing to hear him speak words like “truth” and “morality” and give credence to the true intent of the founders on exactly what freedom of religion is.
He quoted founding fathers themselves, one of the most notable being President John Adams who said, “Our Constitution was made for only a moral and religious people.”
He mentioned the evolution of pop culture and the rise of secularism, the decline of the family, the rise of drug addiction and suicide, the anti-traditional values taught as part of the public school curriculum, and an intentional effort to coerce everyone into submission.
He linked the importance of teaching the historical moral and religious beliefs in the founding of America.
Considering the usual protests on a college campus these days when a conservative shows up to speak, it was surprising how attentive the audience was.
I realize Notre Dame is not a secular campus, but it surprised me anyway.
Twitter, however, behaved as expected. The hatred was on full display, but instead of disagreeing with Mr. Barr’s opinion, the attack went straight to the man and his character.
He was corrupt. He should be impeached. There is quite an overuse of that “i” word at the present in case you haven’t noticed.
In the same week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a speech in Nashville to the American Association of Christian Counselors. I had heard Pompeo refer to his belief in God in passing comments once or twice. Just observing the way he handles himself in an interview, speaking respectfully even when the favor is not returned, I had a feeling that his demeanor had a Christian basis. I was right.
Pompeo is open about how he came to this deep faith of which he is not ashamed. He had two influential Christian friends, fellow cadets at West Point who brought him to a new understanding of what it meant to follow Christ. He speaks openly of spending time in the Bible and asking God for wisdom in every situation. I guess the thing that irritates atheists so much about Christians is that we believe God hears our prayers and that He is quite able to intervene in the affairs of men. We know this is true because we have lived it.
It is routine to post the Secretary of State’s schedule and his remarks on the official website. Again, Twitter World lit up. A few extreme lefties called for his resignation. The very idea of allowing the name of God on a government website! Never mind that it is well documented that the assemblies that ratified both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States prayed for God’s direction before every session.
So much for that false argument that our founders absolutely did not want anything religious to taint the offices of government.
The third event that caught my attention occurred during the latest Democratic debate. There was a commercial break soliciting contributions to the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Ronald Reagan, Jr. was the spokesperson.
Described on the FFRF’s website as the “first free-thinking ad to have ever run during a presidential debate,” the 30 second spot ran six times over two days. Mr. Reagan, Jr. said, “Hi, I'm Ron Reagan, an unabashed atheist, and I'm alarmed by the intrusion of religion into our secular government.
“That's why I'm asking you to support the Freedom from Religion Foundation, the nation's largest and most effective association of atheists and agnostics, working to keep state and church separate, just like our Founding Fathers intended.
“Please support the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Ron Reagan, Jr., lifelong atheist, not afraid of burning in hell.”
The commercial was a top trending search on social media the next day. There were sadly those who thought it was just great and so “progressive.” There were also lots of comments from the conservative right, but I noticed there were no profanity laced rants from that sector. Most expressed real sorrow for the former President’s misinformed son.
I have no doubt that Ronald Reagan, Jr. is sincere in his belief.
We still live in a country where he is free to believe whatever he wishes to believe. Our forefathers fought wars for his right to choose his belief system.
However, sincerity can be sincerely wrong. This is one of those times. C.S. Lewis said, “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.”
