When western civilization began abandoning religion en masse, it left a moral vacuum of spectacular proportions. People could have filled that vacuum with moral philosophy or something else to maintain the values that made our civilization great. After all, the Japanese have held onto a sense of honor and self-sacrifice despite being mostly irreligious. But few in the western world have done so. That's because the lure of living for one's own pleasure and personal gratification -- the essential, sloppy message of the 60s counter-culture -- has proved too gripping. It's an easy path, and people like easy.
In light of this, how do people who are largely self-centered, morally compromised, and emotionally infantile find any moral self-worth when they look in the mirror? Like this:
"
I'm for the oppressed (and you aren't).
I'm for the poor (and you hate them because of your greed).
I'm against racism (and you ARE a racist). Hey, I mean, not that I give much of my
own money toward those causes. But I stridently contend for the government helping out by taking money away from rich people -- that must be worth some moral capital. True, my personal behavior and character over the years look shabby when set next to traditional morality. But ... my social justice impulses, my viciously righteous screeds against Republicans, those things all enhance my moral bona fides and make me feel like a good person."
That's it. That's why the progressive left is so screwy, so irrational, so hell-bent on defending the indefensible. They want to feel good about themselves. And they guard that feeling with the utmost jealousy.
That's also why the left is so hostile toward Christianity and serious Judaism. They know that, next to the standards advanced by those faiths, the left's general character comes out the loser. That annoys the progressives. Consequently, they're always on the lookout with an eagle eye for Christians acting contrary to their own profession of faith. The cry of, "Hypocrite!" salves many a conscience among progressives. "Yeah, I've done too many drugs and slept with way too many people, but
at least I'm not a hypocrite like
those people."
Not that every progressive is guilty of such thinking. Nor is every one of them is immoral. Some are decent people, swept along with these societal currents, not realizing it. They're idealistic, but their idealism isn't the product of critical thinking. It's often an artsy, right-brained idealism, fueled by feeling rather than fact. In the final analysis, people's brain wiring may actually predispose them to socialism and its variants. So may traumatic life events, such as uncaring, absent parents, or growing up under the parentage of a dysfunctional single mother.
But whether predisposed or not, people are still obligated to conduct themselves as sane, rational people. Too many in our culture today shirk the responsibility. And much to our alarm, many are in positions of power. One of them is president of the United States.
