Updates in the 'Battle For the Soul of America'

A lot of stories caught my attention over the past month proving that Joe Biden had a point when he talked about a “battle for the soul of America.” Leaving aside the fact that Biden often finds himself on the wrong side of the issues at the heart of the “battle for the soul of America,” these stories provide necessary insight into the progress made by both sides in the culture war that continues to divide America.

For starters, 18-year-old Brandt Jean provides quite a bit of hope for the future of America; in contrast to the media’s favorite members of Generation Z including climate activist Greta Thunberg and gun control advocate David Hogg.  Last year, off-duty Dallas police officer Amber Guyger shot and killed Jean’s brother, Botham, after mistaking him for a burglar when walking into his apartment; which she mistook for her own. Last week, a jury found Guyger guilty of murder and she now faces a prison sentence of ten years. While nearly everyone else in America would probably have a seething hatred for the person who killed their brother, Brandt Jean does not. As Guyger learned her fate, the 18-year-old Jean had a powerful message for her. Jean forgave Guyger for shooting his brother, telling her that “I love you just like anyone else, and I’m not going to hope you rot and die. I personally want the best for you. I wasn’t going to say this in front of my family, I don’t even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you because I know that’s exactly what Botham would want for you. Give your life to Christ. I think giving your life to Christ is the best thing Botham would want for you.” After reiterating to Guyger that “I love you as a person and I don’t wish anything bad on you,” Jean asked for permission to hug her.  Judge Tammy Kemp, who presided over the trial, also hugged Guyger and told her to read a bible verse; which greatly upset the snowflakes at the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Jean’s behavior perfectly embodies one of the hardest Christian teachings to follow: forgiveness. If Jean can forgive the woman who took his brother away; then surely many other Americans can find the courage to practice the tenet espoused in the Our Father calling on followers of Christ to “forgive those who trespass against us.”  If more people thought like Jean, maybe we would not live in a fractured and volatile society.

Jean’s inspiring actions almost coincided with “Bring Your Bible to School Day,” where students all across America “will share God’s hope and celebrate religious freedom!” Guyger’s sentencing took place on Wednesday while “Bring Your Bible to School Day” took place on Thursday. The first annual “Bring Your Bible to School Day” took place four years ago; after I had already graduated from public school. Based on their enthusiastic coverage of the climate protests that took place in major cities across America two weeks ago which many “urchins” skipped school to attend it would seem as if the mainstream media would celebrate activism among young people. However, the national media had no interest in covering “Bring Your Bible to School Day.” 

Last month, football player Drew Brees found himself under fire for starring in an ad sponsored by the conservative group Focus on the Family encouraging students across America to participate in “Bring Your Bible to School Day.” The outrage over Brees’s appearance in the ad had little to do with opposition to “Bring Your Bible to School Day” and everything to do with his decision to collaborate with Focus on the Family, which liberals on various media platforms slammed as “anti-LGBTQ” because of its belief that marriage In response to the pushback he received, Brees sent out a tweet making it clear that his faith teaches him to “Love, Respect, and Accept ALL.”

Going back to what took place in Dallas last week, Jean’s public profession of faith comes at a time when religion continues to lose influence in America. His respect for the dignity of every human life comes at a time when many in America have subscribed to the “throwaway culture” that encourages euthanasia and abortion. Just last week, CBS gleefully reported about the opening of a “ginormous” Planned Parenthood facility in Fairview Heights, Illinois; located near the border with Missouri. While Planned Parenthood likes to portray itself as a “women’s health organization,” it should not take a genius to figure out that their If abortion didn’t matter so much to Planned Parenthood, then the Board of Directors would not have worked so hard to axe Leana Wen, who briefly served as President of the “women’s health” organization. In her goodbye letter, Wen noted that “I came to Planned Parenthood to run a national health care organization and to advocate for the broad range of public health policies that affect our patients’ health.”  Wen lamented the fact that “the new Board leadership has determined that the priority of Planned Parenthood moving forward is to double down on abortion rights advocacy.”  Following Wen’s departure, pro-abortion extremist Alexis McGill Johnson took her place.

As I have said before, the abortion debate will go down as the civil rights issue of this generation. The Supreme Court announced last week that it will play a major role in that civil rights battle by deciding to weigh in on the constitutionality of a Louisiana law that will require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. The Supreme Court struck down a similar law in Texas back in 2016 when the Court only had eight justices as a result of the sudden death of originalist icon Antonin Scalia.  Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has since retired from the Supreme Court, joined the four liberal justices in declaring the law unconstitutional. This time around, President Trump’s Supreme Court Justices will get to weigh in; much to the chagrin of the left.  So far, for the most part, the Supreme Court has found itself on the wrong side of the civil rights battle of this generation. Their ruling in the case of June Medical Services v. Gee will indicate whether or not that has changed.

In addition to the issue of abortion, the judicial branch has often found itself on the wrong side of another issue at the center of “the battle for the soul of America,” religious liberty. Many on the left have gone on a jihad of sorts against Christian bakers, artists, florists, and photographers for refusing to provide services to same-sex marriages due to their religious beliefs.  For the most part, the Supreme Court has not really weighed in on the debate over religious liberty but that may soon change.

Just last month, the Arizona Supreme Court gave a major victory to Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, the proprietors of Brush & Nib Studio, by ruling that the City of Phoenix cannot force the Christian business owners to creating wedding invitations for same-sex couples. Other devout Christians in similar positions have not had such luck. The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled against Christian bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein while the Washington state government has made life difficult for florist Barronelle Stutzman. 

It should not come as a surprise that the culture war that has extended to nearly every aspect of American life has caused bitter relations between the opposing sides in the culture war. People on one side of the culture war, specifically the left, can face the wrath of the liberal mob simply for talking to somebody on the other side. Hillary Clinton supporter Steve Harvey learned that the hard way when he dared to attend a meeting at Trump Tower with then-President-elect Trump. Jimmy Fallon received a tremendous amount of backlash for “humanizing” then-candidate Trump by tussling his hair. Not surprisingly, the rancor has only gotten worse now that President Trump has actually taken office and sought to implement his “Make America Great Again” agenda that horrifies many in the cosmopolitan class that makes a large segment of #TheResistance.

Just this past weekend, left-wing comedian Ellen DeGeneres recently came under fire from the SJW mob for daring to sit next to former President George W. Bush as they watched the Dallas Cowboys face off against the Green Bay Packers in a VIP suite. Many on the left obviously did not appreciate the fact that a “gay Hollywood liberal” would sit next to a “conservative Republican President.” De Generes had a perfect response to the controversy, telling the audience of her syndicated talk show: “I’m friends with George Bush; in fact, I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have. We’re all different and I think we’ve forgotten that that’s okay that we’re all different.” DeGeneres pointed out that “just because I don’t agree with someone on everything doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be friends with them. When I say be kind to one another, I don’t mean only the people that think the same way that you do, I mean be kind to everyone.” At this point, her audience, many of whom likely despise President Trump and Republicans, erupted into applause.

While I have made it clear how I feel about many liberal policy positions and the behavior of liberals in the Trump era and I have no intention of toning down my criticism of liberalism as a philosophy anytime soon, I agree with the Twitter user who said that “Ellen and George Bush together makes me have faith in America again.” The fact that two people who, for the most part, sit on opposing sides of the culture war, could sit next to each other at a non-political event without erupting into a shouting match represents a positive development in the “battle for the soul of America.” After all, as President Trump has pointed out at a number of his rallies, “whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots.”  The same definitely applies to the words “left or right or center.” The survival of a country as ideologically diverse as the United States depends on Americans of varying political beliefs having the ability to coexist with one another. In other words, the survival of America requires the rejection of Maxine Waters’s call to harass Trump administration officials and “tell them they’re not welcome anywhere anymore.”

When it comes to fighting the culture war, the show must go on. However, that does not mean that Americans of opposing viewpoints have to constantly bicker with one another. During the day, Americans who have voluntarily decided to enter the political arena by serving in local, state, and federal government, working as an opinion writer, TV host, and/or radio host, or working on behalf of an advocacy group can and should fight passionately for the causes they care about. But at night, we must remember that as Americans, our similarities outnumber our differences. If we feel to keep that in mind, then the “battle for the soul of America” will become impossible to win.