“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, woe to men valiant to mixing intoxicating drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous man!” (Isaiah 5:20-23. NKJV)
“Therefore, the will be destroyed, just as the flames of fire burnt up straw or dry grass. They will be destroyed, like a plant whose roots rot, and whose flower dies and blows away like the dust. They have refused to obey the teachings of Yahweh of the armies of heaven. They hated the message from the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 5:24. IEB Study Bible).
It’s a message which seems to be heard (or perhaps, needs to be heard) with more and more frequency. It’s a very unfortunate response the time and culture in which we live. At the time of this writing, one of the more recent examples of the above warning in verses 20-23 is the seemingly innocuous decision of the principle of an elementary school in St. Paul, Minnesota. The following information was taken from an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune paper, dated January 29, 2016.
Celebrations of Valentine’s Day and the other “dominant holidays” are ending at one St. Paul elementary school, according to a letter from the principal addressed to families.
Principal Scott Masini of Bruce Vento Elementary School, whose student body is overwhelmingly nonwhite, explained in the letter that “my personal feeling is we need to find a way to honor and engage in holidays that are inclusive of our student population.”
With Valentine’s Day a little more than two weeks away, Masini noted, “I have come to the difficult decision to discontinue the celebration of the dominant holidays until we can come to a better understanding of how the dominant view will suppress someone else’s view” (The emphasis is mine, JPM).
Masini said there will be no cards or treats brought to school to mark Valentine’s Day.
The letter listed the holidays that the East Side school will no longer celebrate as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine’s Day. …“One of the concerns that I have,” Masini wrote, “… is whether or not this practice is encroaching on the educational opportunities of others and threatening the culture of tolerance and respect for all.”
We are living in a cultural free-for-all that boggles the imagination. Political Correctness either has become (or perhaps was from the start) a way of thinking and acting which contradicts logic, rationality, and common sense, and which ultimately may well threaten our ability to openly take a stand for the truth contained in God’s Word. If the pendulum doesn’t soon swing back toward the middle of a common sense approach to life, we may face the challenges in the United States which have faced Christians in countries where Christianity is viewed less than favorably or even outlawed altogether. Unfortunately, there is a bias toward religion in the politically correct crowd that is critical of Christianity, but very favorable to Islam. Years ago, whenever Muhammad (the founder of Islam was mentioned), he was mentioned exactly that way “Muhammad.” Listen to references to him in the media today and the usual reference is “the Prophet Muhammad.” When was the last time you heard anyone in the media refer to Jesus as “the Lord Jesus Christ”?
While nothing is stated in the above decision of the school principle to specifically reference the reason for his decision, it is interesting that an investigation of the teachings of Islam regarding any holiday not mentioned in the Quran shows a non-participatory reaction to what we regard as a non-religious holiday (Valentine’s Day) as well as a host of other days.
In addition to only sharing the Gospel of Christ with a lost and dying world, we may soon find that we have to first deal with helping attitudes change from embracing irrational, inconsistent, and illogical ways of thinking to help people analyze facts and think for themselves. May God grant the prayer that God-given common sense become the norm in society instead of being an endangered species. Have a blest week!
By: Jim Mitchell