There is an article I read recently by Chuck Colson titled “Now More Than Ever.”  In it he says:  Our worldview determines how we live — as individuals, as a nation, as a culture. And the Christian worldview, which created the most humane and advanced civilization in human history, is under attack from all sides.

You may disagree with parts of these statements, but I don’t believe you can, in all honesty dismiss the fact that the world view that is based on a transcendent source of “right and wrong” IS under attack.  And those attacks become more blatant with every passing day.

Mr. Colson refers to it as a Christian world view, but it really does extend to other religious views to some extent.  Judeo-Christian is closer to the mark.  And, if Zuhdi Jassar is the man I think he is, his world view would also fit into this category.  Please watch his testimony before Congress on March 10th:

Chuck Colson goes on to say: “We live in a culture that is at best morally indifferent. A culture in which Judeo-Christian values are mocked and where immorality in high places is not only ignored, but even rewarded . . . A culture in which violence, banality, meanness, and disintegrating personal behavior are destroying civility and endangering the very life of our communities . . . What’s more, when Christians do make good-faith efforts to halt this slide into barbarism, we are maligned as intolerant or bigoted.”

Below is a short video: World View 101 that presents a short discussion of the impacts world view has on all of us. Consider the utilitarian (or progressive) world view and the radical Islamist world view, both of which are diametrically opposed to the world view based on religious values and principles. 

An example of a real world consequence of the two competing world views in our country today is evident in the 2010 census.  In an article by Thomas Sowell: Voting With Their Feet he states:

In general, people are voting with their feet against places where the liberal, welfare-state policies favored by the intelligentsia are most deeply entrenched.

That is bad news for states like California and cities like Detroit, which was once a thriving city but is now a city in ruins. “Liberal, welfare-state policies” favored by those with a progressive/socialist/communist world view do not work in the real world.  However, they vigorously dismiss evidence of these failures.  They just think they have to take more control and help those of us who “just don’t understand” see that they know best. In other words, they need more and more power over our lives in order to complete their fundamental transformation of our country.

An even bigger issue, however, is how the differing world views act within the structure and limitations of our Constitutional Republic.  The foundation of our government is based on basic God-given rights and liberties for each and every individual.  The Founders structured the system to prevent tyranny and protect those liberties.  That system has for some time been under attack from the opposing world view.  Attacks that are getting stronger and more numerous.

A quick quiz; according to our Constitution:

If you are acquitted of a crime do you still go to prison?  The correct answer is no.

Can law enforcement write their own search warrants?  The correct answer is no.

Watch a short clip by Judge Andrew Napolitano and find out how the answer to those questions is now “yes.” Not only can an individual go to prison even if acquitted, they can go to prison for the rest of their natural life.  This was achieved through a recently signed Executive Order by President Obama.  Yes, it applies at this point to those held in Guantanamo.  But what sort of safety measure is in place to ensure that this does not happen to you or someone you love now that many of our Constitutional protections are seen as “outdated” and in need of re-interpretation?

Now consider the theme of President Obama’s State of the Union speech: “Winning the Future.”  In an article in the Washington Times, Edward Crane says:

It is a theme that is shorthand for the Democrats’ notion that America is some kind of team – that we are all in this together, sharing some goal toward which we must strive (together) in order to win.

We may be able to agree on a goal….HOW we get there is the crucial difference.  He goes on to say:

Yet Mr. Obama and those colleagues who share his collectivist, we-are-family, what-is-America’s-purpose mentality aim to “win” the future. The question is, whose future? (emphasis mine.)

Which brings me to the column:  The Call of the Tyrant by Thomas J. DiLorenzo.  In this column the author makes a interesting distinction between patriotism and nationalism:

Clyde Wilson makes an important distinction between nationalism and patriotism: A patriot is someone who loves his country and its people. A nationalist, on the other hand, loves government and all its powers….All nationalists who assume political office are tyrants to some degree, since they aspire to use the coercive powers of the state to regulate, control, direct, punish, brainwash, conscript, or kill the citizens whom they rule. There is a scale of tyranny, ranging from the mere welfare/warfare statist who taxes half of his citizens’ income to keep himself and his friends in power with the help of the poverty and war industries, respectively, to the mass-murdering tyrants like Stalin, Hitler (the National Socialist), Mao, and Pol Pot.(emphasis mine)

and

One thing that all tyrants have in common is that they all claim that what they are doing, no matter how heinous, is all done in the name of “national unity.” Of course, they get to define what goals the entire nation is supposed to be “unified” over, whether it be communism, fascism, or democracy in Iraq.

Our country was founded on principles and a structure of government that was designed to prevent any one individual or group of individuals from acquiring too much power.  The world view that sees it as acceptable to use the powers of the state to achieve goals that only a select few have agreed upon has lead to some of history’s greatest atrocities.   And there lies the most distressing set of consequences that arise from a world view that is not based on a transcendent source for its guiding values and principles.

Now more than ever…yes, Mr. Colson is correct.  Now more than ever is it important for you to know exactly what sort of future your world view will lead you to.