Why Is All This Happening?
By Dr. Ted Baehr, Publisher
Every day, several people ask, why are we having these riots, attacks on churches and censorship on social media. Social scientists could spend hours trying to explain the reasons why. Political Marxists and other pundits could do the same, referring to their particular ideologies.
The famous author, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who wrote some of the greatest books exposing socialism and communism in the Soviet Union, was enthusiastically invited to Harvard in the late 1970s to answer why all this had happened to Russia. During his famous Solzhenitsyn’s June 8, 1978, commencement address, the faculty and students were shocked that this highly esteemed intellectual summarized the reason all this had happened in Russia to cause millions of people to starve, to die and to be executed with the famous words, “People had forgotten God.” Solzhenitsyn was not the first to say this. President Abraham Lincoln said it in the midst of the Civil War, and others have said it in different ways going back to Augustine, who was facing the imminent destruction of Hippo by the Vandals, from which we get the word vandalism.
Several of us here at MOVIEGUIDE® grew up on the left because our progenitors, our parents and grandparents, had forgotten God. I’ve told my story several times in different ways, but at one point at NYU Law School I was a card carrying member of a Marxist legal group and assisted in representing Chicago Seven, who had disrupted the Democrat National Convention in Chicago in 1968. I was committed to the revolution and didn’t believe or trust anyone who wasn’t committed, almost getting into fights with those who disagreed with the revolution. Several things transformed me. One of them was noticing that none of the revolutionaries or other ideologues liked each other, just like the early Bolshevik in Russia, everyone was out to destroy the other person. Eventually, Stalin dd just that when everyone had dismissed him as insignificant. So, the consequences of the revolutionary activity will be a constant jockeying for control, by each person who thinks they are more right than the other. However, anyone with any sense or sensibility who reflects on this will soon come to the conclusion that this is a terrible, frightening way to live in constant suspicion, anger and pride.
So, what brought me around was that God found me, and He was not asserting power but offering love, freedom, deliverance. Once you realize that He comes into each life to set us free (John 10:10), suddenly our views about the world flip by 180 degrees. Before this sacred encounter, it is as if we look through a glass darkly, but, when He gives us the free gift of love, we suddenly see things clearly. The change is dramatic and yet continues throughout our lives because by His Grace alone He loves us enough to grow in us the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control.
If you’re caught up in the revolutionary fervor, consider what kind of future world you want to live in. Perhaps, you should watch some movies about the consequences of godless political ideology, such as the 1935 version of A TALE OF TWO CITIES, the 2017 movie BITTER HARVEST, the 2005 movie THE LOST CITY, the 1984 movie THE KILLING FIELDS, the 2010 movie MAO’S LAST DANCER or the 1987 movie REPENTANCE. (Some require, regrettably, extreme caution).
The Good News is, when we turn toward God, He transforms us so that we can love one another, be at peace with one another and build a life worth living full of people who are exhibiting the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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