People ruining America

A few years ago Bernard Goldberg, author of Bias, wrote a book provocatively titled 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America. I came across this book the other day at a library sale and just had to read it because I like what the author had to say in his previous book. This one is full of amazing stories and quotations coming from well-known Americans who are messing up our country, according to the author. I want to highlight some of these for you so that you can be as depressed as I was at some of the nonsense that is alive and well today in America.

Goldberg has some general targets near the beginning of his book. For one thing, he takes on gangsta rap. Of course, that's an easy target, but it's still worth bringing up. One critic of this music, William Bennett, brushes aside those who say rap music is like all other rock 'n roll in the past – edgy and rebellious. He says there's a huge difference between “I want you,” “I need you,” “I love you,” to “I'll slash you,” “I'll mutilate you,” “I'll kill you.” He says record producers and entertainers claim they have a right to put out this kind of music. Bennett responded, "We know. We know about your right to do it. Now we’re trying to run a society here. We're trying to raise children here." Goldberg tells of gun-toting men in these lyrics who boast of shooting their rivals in cold blood and young women who brag about acting like money-crazed whores. Life is portrayed as horrifyingly violent and unendingly bleak. Another scholar says, "If this idiom had been created by whites, it would have been gone a long time ago, because we [blacks] wouldn't have stood for it." Goldberg ends this section by quoting a journalist:" In a society where anything goes, everything, eventually, will. A society that stands for nothing will fall for anything – and then, of course, will just simply fall."

Then Goldberg goes after those who push victimhood. He says there are far too many Americans today who say, "I'm offended, therefore I am." He sees this attitude as paralyzing – if you believe the deck is stacked from birth, why should you bother struggling? He gives an example of the National Museum of American History in Washington, which has become a museum of multicultural grievances. Far more space is devoted to the internment of and prejudice against Japanese-Americans than to the entire rest of World War II. He dislikes the idea that in multicultural America, everything is relative, especially in matters of right and wrong. Here's one example: right after September 11, 2001, the NEA came up with some tips for parents and teachers, one of which said that due to the terrorist attack against the United States we should focus on "appreciating and getting along with people of diverse backgrounds and cultures, the importance of anger management and global awareness." Really? We need to work on our anger management? Goldberg has a powerful quotation by Dennis Prager: "If we continue to teach about tolerance and intolerance instead of good and evil, we will end up with tolerance of evil." That’s worth thinking about.

Another general target of Goldberg's verbal attack is the strident feminist. He worries that too much of the time the hard-core feminists focus on women as victims and men as oppressors. He has some chilling quotations to back this up. For example, Catherine Commins, an assistant dean of students at Vassar College, told Time magazine that "men who are unjustly accused of rape can gain from the experience." Mary Daly, an important feminist academic, was asked one time what she thought of the idea that the male population should be reduced to cut down on violence. She responded by saying, "I think it's not a bad idea at all. If life is to survive on this planet, there must be a decontamination of the earth." Goldberg points out that women are finally getting a better deal in society today – they earn the majority of bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees, girls are not silenced or ignored in the classroom, medicine has not neglected women's health, abuse by men is not the leading cause of injury to American women, and when allowances are made for experience and voluntary absences to have and raise children, there is no wage gap. That's good news that the fanatic feminists ignore.

Then there are the colleges run by leftists. According to the New York Times, one study showed that, nationwide, Democratic professors outnumbered Republicans by at least 7 to 1 in the humanities and social sciences. He says the results of this have been sad. For example, the University of Connecticut once put into effect a policy that banned "inappropriately directed laughter" and the "conspicuous exclusion of students from conversations" to make sure nobody's feelings got hurt. Brown has had rules against "verbal behavior" that produces "feelings of impotence or anger" whether "intentional or unintentional." Then there's Colby College in Maine, which has restricted speech that causes loss of "self-esteem or a vague sense of danger." Today the problem, according to Goldberg, is that professors are hired and promoted as long as they embrace the entire range of liberal ideas, such as radical feminism, multiculturalism, postmodernism, identity politics, and gender politics. What's ironic is that the real liberals today are conservatives since they are the ones who are taking on the speech codes.

At this point, the author singles out specific people he says are ruining our country. I’ll save them for a future blog. Meanwhile, you can probably find this book on sale somewhere. It’s a fast read and a good reminder of the constant battle we must engage in to prevent such thinking in taking over the entire country.

A grim look at Europe and ourselves

I recently came across a book review for The New Vichy Syndrome: Why European Intellectuals Surrender to Barbarism. The author, Theodore Dalrymple, looks at some of the problems now facing Europe -- its demographic decline, its aging population, its bureaucratization, its inability to stand up to Muslim immigrants who threaten its political and theological foundation. His conclusion has a lot to do with loss of Christian faith on the continent of Europe.

The author's overall point is that Europeans have succumbed to purposelessness, anxiety, sublimation, and self-doubt. They review European history without enthusiasm -- they discount cultural and historical achievements while playing up failings and catastrophes. He says two world wars caused this along with loss of faith.

Ideas have consequences, and this is true for Europe today. As a Christian, I find it sad but not surprising that Europe's sickness can be traced to the continent's loss of belief in the Judeo-Christian God. What does the secular world have to offer if God is dead? Nothing important. Instead, the modern idea is to go for the gusto now because this is all you get. Narcissism rules -- buy it all, have as many extreme experiences as you can, don't take time to think about the emptiness inside you. Of course, consuming and living on the edge can't satisfy for long.

This attitude also produces a different view of children. No longer are they seen as future inheritors of wonderful things or as gifts from God. To Europeans, they are obstructions to the enjoyment of life, a drain on resources. No wonder they are having fewer and fewer children as they desperately focus on themselves.

But, as St. Augustine said, we all have a need for God. Consider all the things that have been elevated to take the place of God in the minds of Europeans -- Marxism, environmentalism, feminism, political correctness, multiculturalism. These have failed, leaving Europeans more dissatisfied than ever.

The sad part about his book is that the author has no solutions. The book review ends with these depressing words: "at least he writes beautiful books, which is something." But is it "something"? I would say no. What good is a beautiful book if it expresses a terrible truth?

Part of the terrible truth is that America is heading down the path of Europe. Greece comes to mind with its economic mess not too far removed from ours. Look at the hedonism here, the refusal to grow up, the sexual promiscuity, the inability to confront Islamic terrorism and call it what it is, the elevation of movie actors and rock singers to God-like status.

Is there a solution? Yes, but it will take a moral, political, and social upheaval to reverse these trends. It has to start with each one of us, renewing our faith and confidently sharing it with others. That's why apologetics has been important to me -- there are good reasons for the Christian faith. I hope you keep reading this blog because I will try to encourage you in your faith. It's not too late for us, and it's not too late for Europe.