"MILLENNIALS AND THE FALSE GOSPEL OF POLITICS" - John Stonestreet and Shane Morris, Breakpoint.org, 2/11/20;
https://www.breakpoint.org/millennials-and-the-false-gospel-of-politics/ [AS I SEE IT: This article is very timely as the Democrat socialist candidate, Bernie Sanders - who enjoys great support from Millennials - is now leading other candidates of his party. His thinking reflects much of their thinking and this article explains what may very well lay behind much of that thinking. - Stan]
January’s cover story of TIME magazine all but admits this, although the hope is noticeably revived. Charlotte Alter, the author of the forthcoming book “The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For,” makes no effort to hide the fact that for many millennials, political reform has become a kind of gospel—and they its evangelists.
In a few years, writes Alter, millennials will be a majority of the electorate, and with historically favorable views of socialism, low views of organized religion, and liberal views on sex and gender, the up-and-coming generation looks ready to reverse what older voters have tried to accomplish by electing conservatives. Alter is not only okay with this, she’s more than okay. Her tone throughout the TIME article is triumphant. She can’t wait for millennial leaders and voters to transform America, nor does she expect their zeal to lessen, even as they age.
The odd thing throughout the article is that Alter never bothers to argue that these ultra-liberal views are true. For her, young voters’ passion to “change to world,” together with the fact that they’re young, are all the evidence she needs to know that they’re right.
If millennials’ and Gen Z’s political views are near-religious, then the devotion to that religion that Alter describes and reflects can be called a cult of adolescence. I used that term last year on BreakPoint after 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg was applauded for shouting, “How dare you?” at a room of adults at the United Nations. It’s also the same cult we saw after the Parkland high school students slammed adults as ignorant and lazy for not passing the gun control laws they wanted.
Writing at First Things last month, Theodore Dalrymple compares the activism of millennial progressives with an account by a young Marxist who traveled to Syria to fight for ISIS. Like this recruit to totalitarian ideology, Dalrymple thinks the rising generation of American voters is seeking more from politics than just good laws. They’re seeking salvation—they’re seeking a cure for the world’s evils, and an escape from what feels like a meaningless existence. Having abandoned any hope that these things will come from God, they’re left hitching their hopes to the next election, to the next Supreme Court ruling, or the next session of Congress.
“There is an evangelical tone to their declarations,” Dalyrmple writes, “a sorting of the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats, the saved from the damned. They do not merely want formal changes…[t]hey demand a reform of the human heart and intend to bring it about.”
But of course, politics can never deliver those things. For those who look to activism and policy to fill what Dalrymple calls their “existential void,” the only thing worse than losing elections might be winning them.
I don’t know whether Alter is right about the way millennials will vote in the long-term. If there’s one thing we’ve learned in the last few years, political pundits struggle to predict the future. Whenever they tell us an outcome is inevitable that’s almost reason alone to doubt it.
But what is inevitable, I’m much more certain, is disappointment for anyone who makes politics their religion. As Christians who have answers that actually can satisfy and a gospel that actually can change hearts and the world, we should see in that disappointment a chance for truth and love, not for gloating.
[italics and colored emphasis mine]
RESOURCES:
"How Millennial Leaders Will Change America" - Charlotte Alter | TIME | January 23, 2020; https://time.com/5770140/millennials-change-american-politics/
"Identity As Ideology " - Theodore Dalrymple | First Things | February 2020; https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/02/identity-as-ideology
"Greta Thunberg and the Cult of Adolescence" - John Stonestreet | BreakPoint | December 26, 2019; https://www.breakpoint.org/greta-thunberg-and-the-cult-of-adolescence-2/
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PRAYER MATTERS:
"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against
the disorder of the world. - Karl Barth
the disorder of the world. - Karl Barth
"Prayer is inviting God into a seemingly impossible situation and trusting/resting in His love and grace to accomplish His perfect will in His perfect time and for His greatest glory. Intercession is one of the great privileges AND responsibilities for EVERY believer."- Stan
World-Wide Prayer Requests:
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Praying Through the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted believers:https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/monthly-prayer-calendar/
Secret believers in North Korea Winters can be very difficult in North Korea. Food is often scarce— especially this winter following the recent drought. However, even in the midst of this difficulty, Christians often share a portion of their rice with their neighbors—a practice called “holy rice.” One underground leader says, “It’s a great way to build trust and, after trust has been built, to talk about the gospel.” Right now, Open Doors is helping 60,000 Christians with food relief to strengthen the church and empower believers.
February 12 -[Trauma care in Nigeria The Shalom Center, a long-awaited trauma center in Nigeria from Open Doors, started operations in March 2019 after it was delayed by a year due to challenges with security in the area. The center is intended as a place where people who have suffered various kinds of trauma can come for extended care to find peace. Since opening on March 1, the center has trained trainers and provided weekly in-depth care to survivors of violent attacks.] “I was able to make sense of how trauma has affected my life,” says Pastor Peter.* Pray with him as he works through his pain.
*Representative name or photo used to protect identity
*Representative name or photo used to protect identity
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