The Left censors Christian language and concepts that defined a great
culture
Special
to WorldTribune.com
"To paraphrase the twentieth-century novelist, George Orwell: words are a
conduit to thought; destroy the word and the idea dies with it.
If we no longer use Biblical language, we are ensuring that Christian
concepts will disappear.
For example, the key word “salvation” is now rarely used. The end goal
of human existence is to attain salvation rather than happiness. Hence, in
order to dismantle liberal arguments predicated on the happiness of the
individual, it is useful to recall that individuals may or may not be happy at
any given time; happiness is a fleeting emotion.
Instead, Christians have understood that life is often fraught with
suffering, which must be borne gracefully in order to attain salvation. When we
stop using the word “salvation,” we are enslaved to ideas that disregard the
afterlife.
The word “pervert” has also often been lampooned as judgmental. And, in
fact, it is because when we use it we are affirming that there is a natural
moral order and the human body is part of that order. Hence, acts that defile
the body are properly understood as a perversion of the natural order. When we
use this word we affirm both the harmonious nature of the universe, designed by
a loving Creator, and the absolute moral laws that He entrusted his creatures
to uphold. Indeed, some sexual acts are perverted; and that is, whether they
are done alone, by same-sex conjugation and even by men and women on one
another.
Liberals have also deliberately sought to bury the word “judgment.” This
is essential in order to promote the philosophy of moral relativism. Yet, the
Bible teaches us that in order to obtain salvation we need to abide by absolute
moral laws, which can be discerned by making judgments. This is necessary in
order to combat the notion that individuals are free to make a moral code at
their discretion. Christians need simply to recall that to judge is not the
same as to stone or inflict any other physical punishment, as was the custom in
ancient times. The oft-cited Biblical invocation “not to judge” refers to
leaving the ultimate assessment of each soul up to God. This is too often
misinterpreted as meaning that there should be moral relativism.
Other key words that must be used with confidence are “God,” and “His
son, Jesus.” From an affirmation of God comes the notion that each individual
is created in His image, rendering all life sacred. Furthermore, the divine
image means there is a powerful conscience in each person that is a guide to
the divine will. Finally, by loudly affirming the resurrection of our Savior,
we also state there is a singular path forward toward redemption.
It is important to return to the use of words like “good” and “evil.”
For decades, we have been told that this is simplistic; it is better to consider
how “complicated” so many issues are and how “grey” are the moral questions
individuals confront. But this is not Christianity: we are told in the Bible
that there is a stark difference between good and evil. Let us not be ashamed
to return to this more muscular use of our language.
Also, the Bible tells us to aim toward perfection — moral perfection
akin to the holiness of the Lord. This aspiration is beautiful and glorious —
and calls forth noble ideals, even though they cannot always be met. Nowadays, we
are told to wallow in imperfection as though moral perfection is impossible.
Yet, Christianity tells us the opposite: aspire to be pure and perfect.
We may fail along the way, but the aspiration is an affirmation of the
perfection of God Himself in whose image we are created.
And the opposite too, is now buried. Words such as “evil,” “sin” and
“damnation” are considered primitive, simplistic and old-fashioned. Yet, these
concepts are central to Christian thought.
The fear of evil and its consequences in the afterlife has been
abolished in order to make way for the permissive society. The only way to
combat the rampant hedonism and moral equivalency of our time is to confidently
use the words that have been used for centuries. When the love of virtue does not
work, the fear of evil and damnation can be effective to compel righteous
behavior.
Finally, the “Devil,” “Satan” or even “the demonic” is rarely invoked in
order to avoid appearing superstitious, archaic or a simpleton. Liberals have
succeeded in branding the language of faith as that of the uneducated. Instead,
Christianity is the highest form of thought and the greatest moral creed ever
created. It is primitive and simplistic to be ashamed of it.
Christians have been cowered long enough. We are often cajoled into
using the utilitarian, secular language that belies a materialistic view of the
world. The focus of our discussions is rarely on “the soul,” which conveys a
transcendent view of the world.
We cannot win the culture war if we concede first principles in our
language. It is therefore high time to use the powerful Biblical words we have
been given to smash the liberal creed that is destroying the central ethical
code of Western civilization.
In other words, liberalism is the handmaiden of the Devil. Resist and
smash this demonic ideology with the wellspring of truth, beauty and goodness
that emanates from Biblical language and godly concepts.
Grace Vuoto is the Editor of Politics and Culture
at World Tribune. The founder of the Edmund Burke Institute for American
Renewal, she is the host of American Heartland with Dr. Grace on WTSB Radio
Saturdays at 3:00. See show and archives at: the Grace Vuoto channel at WorldTribuneTV"
