I have a question that goes to the core of what we’re seeing in America’s current presidential race: if it is true that science has proven that humans are simply animals and nothing more, then why should we expect men to act differently?
Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Anthony Weiner, et. al., are not exceptions, but representative of how American males think about and treat women in general.
The “I can’t look, I can’t not look” reaction we’re all experiencing this election cycle to the ghastly revelations of what goes on behind closed doors with today’s male politicians betrays a deeper reality we all know to be true: American men are saturated with pornography, convinced there are no transcendent moral values beyond the physical, and increasingly willing to act out their fantasies with women.
When our culture expects men to behave differently, it has no objective basis to do so.
If science is the only objective reality we point to as a basis for truth in our culture, then the argument “I’m just a man, doing what men do” is irrefutable. Men can do horrid things and their execrable acts lose shock value the more our materialistic logic sets in. What was unthinkable yesterday is today thinkable. And there is no reason to suppose the downward spiral will stop tomorrow. In fact, the pursuit of this downward spiral becomes the very definition of masculinity, as any gang member in inner city America will tell you.
We are essentially asking men to behave as if they are Christians while at the same time denying that Christianity is true.
We want men to reign in their lusts, honor marriage and treat women with dignity and respect. We know science doesn’t teach this. We just know it needs to happen. In other words, we want men to pretend they’re not just animals for pragmatic reasons. We’ll all get along better if they do.
Given the road map Christianity provided in the past for men to develop respectable attitudes and behavior toward women, asking men to act as if they’re not just animals seems reasonable. At least we have the memory of how men are supposed to act, if not the conviction.
So long as this is the case, we will continue to experience a very steep decline into animalistic behavior.
A memory of how men acted in the past is not enough. Our culture is in an advanced stage of moral dementia as our materialistic world view enmeshes our minds in moral sludge. As shocking as things my now be, we have yet to see the depths of depravity men can, and most certainly will, descend to. The logic is inexorable.
We have opened ourselves up to the imposition of moral order by force.
A free people without a moral compass cannot stay free for long. Moral chaos produces social chaos and one way to reign in social chaos is to impose a set of moral principles by force. Radical Islam attempts to do precisely this: “Here’s our moral template, fill in the blanks, first name first, last name last…or else.”
Whether it’s radical Islam or another form of moral tyranny, somehow, someway, some form of moral order will eventually be imposed in America.
But fortunately there’s another way to respond to social chaos.
As Christians, We Can Remind Our Culture that Many Christian Men Really Do Live Out Their Faith
Actually, I’m pretty optimistic. The reason why is because I’ve been involved with men’s ministry for several years now and I have had the opportunity to see first hand the thousands and thousands of men all over American who are living out their faith in Christ. They’re walking with the Lord, going to church, loving their wives, raising their kids, working hard, paying their taxes and serving those in need.
If they’re struggling with pornography, they’re learning to be honest, transparent and accountable to other men. They’re learning how to treat women with the respect they deserve. They know there is more to reality than just the physical world and the science used to describe it. They’ve come under the norms of Scripture and live by its teaching. They exalt Christ as Lord and proclaim Him to the world as an invitation, not an imposition.
In a sense, I believe America is ripe for revival and reformation. Why? Because as America is forced to experience the practical outcomes of it’s materialistic world view, God is asking, “Had enough?”
And sooner or later, the answer will be, “Yes.”
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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