Tradition and progress
By Robert T. Smith
web posted April 19, 2021
Social traditions, customs, and beliefs form over time organically to create a social order. The cornerstone of our country’s social order had been established generally through natural law and Judeo-Christian values. This unique social order, coupled with a full serving of individual life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, individual freedom and responsibilities as a citizen, delivered Americanism as a demonstrably best system.
The ideals or boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behavior were established based on a higher authority over the here and now man-made authority. While these ideals may not always have been or be achieved, they were/are the high-bar goal for what can be recognized as virtue.
Certain groups are intent to race through our society knocking down the boundary walls of our social order, without having thought through why such a boundary was established. Progress we are told, but to where? As we continue to experience the ongoing war on the social order that once was the glue that held our American society together, the societal chaos created by the here and now base impulses of humanism is on display daily.
The core of the natural family system destroyed by a proliferation of fatherless homes resulting in a multitude of social ills and criminal activity; deaths of despair through suicide, alcohol or drugs dramatically on the rise. Natural law and our religious-based virtue, replaced by the unnatural and man-centered anything goes feel good of the day.
“For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods.” The serpent of the story served up the apple to Eve, who enticed Adam, the allegorical beginning of original sin - the human condition. In this early scene of the Holy Bible, knowing full well what had occurred and where Adam and Eve were hidden, God sought out the representative first humans, he called out to them… And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
People seek pleasure in various ways to be their own god, to be accountable only to themselves, and God seeks out the sinner for salvation by his grace that is manifested into the individual’s faith. We all face the decisions of good and bad, natural and unnatural, ordered and disordered in our daily lives. Answering the call of God is our only means of salvation. Acting in a manner pleasing to the creator is the desire of our salvation.
An individual relationship with the creator is the cornerstone of a meaningful existence. There is no place to hide from the gaze of God. A life lived in a manner to please your audience of one, God, helps to minimize many base human impulses.
Unique in nature, this individual battle is fought only in the intellect and consciousness of man. The animal kingdom is burdened only with the drive for survival. That quiet, conscious conversation that goes on daily in our own thoughts is the spark of spiritual reality for our lives and a sign of the evidence of nature’s God.
All people have a set of values, but not all values are virtuous. As today’s culture promotes the drift toward the here and now, self-centered values of humanism, more and more frequently we see the results streamed to us daily in our social media. Those whose value system is not virtuous cause mayhem in our communities. As extreme examples are the recent mass murders of innocents in schools and churches, businesses, or other public places, or the daily body count in the big cities like Chicago. There are all manner of other lesser harms people do to one another or themselves, the unconstrained impulses of humanism.
Man’s law is ephemeral, based on personal or societal impulses of the day. As we move away from a creator God controlling authority and seek to be our own god, who is to say what is good or bad. You are your own god, and your actions will only have consequences if caught by the man-made authority. Once a person becomes their own god, anything goes based on their own set of values, there is really no empirical basis to establish good and bad, natural or unnatural, ordered or disordered.
Whole communities are consumed by their humanism, abandonment of the traditional family virtues, with no support from their local social or religious organizations they turn many to getting “their fair share,” no matter the manner. Another drug overdose or deal gone bad shooting, or another deadly interaction with law enforcement has just become background noise for our daily lives.
Free individuals living as they desire in the presence of their God is the cornerstone of Americanism. Man’s law, enforced by the state that conflicts with the God of man and nature’s laws can only lead to oppression, forced compliance.
The man-made systems of Communism, Marxism, theocracies, totalitarianism, or the softer controls of Socialism are all driven by the state authority acting as the God-like controlling authority over individual’s lives. The state cannot accept a challenge to its authority from God.
The humanists automatically default to another man-made law or another social program that alleges to fix the problems, but in reality, only serves to hide them as a feel good something to do for the self-anointed demigod political deciders and their supporters. When the small people of our current political class cast big shadows over how we live our lives, the time draws near to nightfall.
As quoted from William O. Douglas:
“As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air – however slight – lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.”
As humanism slowly erodes our society by destroying the divinely inspired human spirit, and the central powers of the state begin to encroach more into our daily lives to dictate by force what is right or wrong, good or bad, it is apparent that the real answer comes to us from long ago, divinely inspired into a book. And the Lord God called unto mankind and said unto them….where art thou. 
Robert T. Smith is an environmental scientist who spends his days enjoying life and the pursuit of happiness with his family. He confesses to cling to his liberty, guns and religion, with antipathy toward the arrogant ruling elites throughout the country.