Into the Darkness
"Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers."

-Barack Obama

No doubt President-elect Obama meant this statement to appear as offering fairness and justice to every American, regardless of their religious persuasion.

But the way he worded it is revealing. “No longer” are we going to let Christianity dictate national policy. “No longer” do we care about the Founding Fathers’ concern that the doctrines of Christianity should be our guiding light as a nation (they felt it was the only way the “American experiment” could work). “No longer” will we go by the Bible’s rules of what is right and wrong. We are heading in a new direction now, a deliberate turning away from the image of a Christian nation. We don’t want the world to perceive us as such anymore. We were once considered that – but “no longer.”

In other words, when we sit down to decide on what is right and just, we’re going to go by what the Jews, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus, and the unbelievers want to do as well. Christians may still be the majority in America, but we have to take measures to push the Church aside and let others speak. The majority doesn’t rule; it shouldn’t rule, if it means that the minorities don’t get what they want. It’s not “fair” to them. It’s time to silence the Church if necessary.

That ought to raise the hair on the head of every true Christian. The Jews believe that Jesus was “the Bastard” (unlike the Christians); the Muslims believe in jihad, waging bloody war against infidels (unlike the Christians); the Buddhists and Hindus believe in idols and the vileness of the body (unlike the Christians); the non-believers believe in unbridled immorality (unlike the Christians). How much do we Christians have in common with these people!

Obviously Obama is tired of being dragged back to our Christian heritage. Like a mantra, his opponents keep invoking the ghosts of the past. But Obama feels that we don’t have to do things like our forefathers wanted to do – we can, and should, do what we want. He seems to be bragging about opening up the discussion to all parties. But what he’s doing is deliberately turning off our guiding light, the one good standard that has guided the nation for over two centuries.

What does that mean for Christians? It means that the light is being turned off. We are turning away from wisdom and decency. We’re about to enter an era of darkness, where non-Christian powers will determine the principles that we live by. Now instead of having millions of votes at the polls, Christians have only one vote at the table of “dialog”.

This isn’t just a philosophical point. It looks good on paper to a nation determined to let everyone “worship according to the dictates of his own conscience.” But the practical effect is the balance of power that it gives. The government is actively pursuing a dominating role in every aspect of our lives; along the way, then, it will have a great deal to say about what we can or cannot do in everyday life. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the government now decides the very makeup of previously private matters: what we eat, what we wear, what we entertain ourselves with, our sex and family lives, our education, what we live in, what we communicate with and travel with, where we go, what we say in public, what we consider right and wrong. It has the ability (and it believes it has the right) to give power to those powerbrokers that it chooses. And now the government feels that it’s time to take the power away from Christians.

For example, what are we allowed to teach our children? This isn’t an issue for an “individual’s conscience” anymore. The schools are forbidden to teach our children about God, or the Bible. This issue has been decided in the courts. The only way we have now to safeguard our children from the doctrines and influence of sexual immorality, and drugs, and lowering educational standards, and rebellion against God, is to pull our children out of the schools and educate them ourselves. The educational institutions of our country are ruled by and dominated by the wicked as they pursue their anti-Christian agenda.

Pornography is legal now, according to the law of the land. Homosexuality is not only legal, but homosexual marriage is well on its way to getting the government’s blessing as well. Any reference to God, or the Ten Commandments, or any part of the Bible, is being removed from courts and legislatures and law books and government institutions, as a result of fierce legal battles. The entertainment industry is filled with whores and thugs, protected by law as it pollutes the minds of millions of devotees. What used to be considered wrong and profane in this country is now protected by law. “The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.” (Psalm 12:8)

It reminds me of the story that Jesus told:

When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation. (Matthew 12:43-45, NIV)

We as a nation have turned away from God, and now we’re being filled with the spirits of madness and destruction. In other words, removing Christianity from the United States is not just a passive Constitutional issue; it’s a war. The forces of darkness are systematically removing its presence.

The homosexual marriage issue has shown us how this process works. At first it’s put to a vote (as if Christians should be willing to turn to the wicked for their opinions!). It almost always gets outvoted, because few are willing to allow public support for such an obscenity. Then the courts decide that such a decision isn’t being fair to the homosexuals, and they overturn the vote. Again, it’s the government’s method of giving Christians just one vote, and the homosexuals one vote, to determine a public issue. The government can no longer allow Christian doctrine to dictate policy, even if it means eliminating the principle of majority rule.

Pagans are forcing Christians out of power and back to their little strongholds in the local church. But even there we have little hope of survival. The Liberal movement has virtually destroyed our faith over the last two hundred years; the culture of the world dominates so completely that the church is actually an entertainment industry trying to please demanding consumers; and almost nobody knows how to fight a spiritual battle. We are faced with destruction in the front and in the rear. There is little left for our enemies to do to us except eliminate our political presence.

So, America is no longer listening to God. It’s official. But when we are no longer willing to listen, God has another method of communication.

We pride ourselves on being a strong nation, but we are not strong enough to take on the Creator! He made us, and he can just as easily un-make us. We think our American ideals of freedom can withstand even God’s scrutiny; but God and his Law will not be ignored. And the signs are pretty obvious that he has already begun his “gunboat diplomacy”. Problems are mounting, the pressure is starting to crack the seams, and nobody can do anything about the situation except make more mistakes, bringing on more problems. Soon the strain will be so great (I’m looking for the proverbial “straw on the camel’s back!”) that we will finally collapse.

In their arrogance, the wicked have no fear of God. But when that day of disaster brings us down, they will either learn to fear him or die. Nobody wins the battle against God. In fact, we will all die, if necessary, for God to make his point.

There is a ray of hope. Jesus has a way of coming back from the dead. He will destroy his enemies, restore his Kingdom, and his people will come out of hiding and serve him freely. He always does restore his remnant.

But I’m afraid it will be a dark road for all of us until that day finally comes.

Dr. Charles Vogan
9 January 2009