Dr. Jim Denison is a well known philosopher and often writes on the political applications to our society. Dr. Denison published this article on July 5, 2021 and provides some insightful thoughts to modern doctrine and circumstance.
"Another French Revolution?
On this day in 1789, French revolutionaries stormed the Bastille. The ensuing French Revolution tried to excise all vestiges of religion from French society. In October 1793, all public worship was forbidden, church bells were pulled down and melted, and crosses and relics were seized and sometimes destroyed. In their place rose the Cult of Reason which recognized no god but worshipped the goddess of reason in former churches now known as "temples of reason."
Are we witnessing a similar movement today?
In an important article I hope you’ll read, cultural commentator Andrew Sullivan warns of the rise of what Wesley Yang calls "the successor ideology." Sullivan notes that this ideology argues, for example, that "the only and exclusive reason for racial inequality is 'white supremacy.' Culture, economics, poverty, criminality, family structure: all are irrelevant, unless seen as mere emanations of white control" (his italics).
But Critical Race Theory is just one dimension of this movement. In a larger sense, "this ideology wishes, first and foremost, to repeal and succeed a liberal society and democracy" (his italics). Sullivan continues: "In the successor ideology, there is no escape, no refuge, from the ongoing nightmare of oppression and violence—and you are either fighting this and 'on the right side of history,' or you are against it and abetting evil. There is no neutrality. No space for skepticism. No room for debate."
This is a "successor" ideology in that it intends to succeed what came before, including religious worldviews in general and Christianity in particular. Its advocates view biblical morality as oppressive, discriminatory, and dangerous. In their view, beliefs and institutions that do not align with their ideology must be replaced and removed. The so-called Equality Act is just one example and symptom of this rising tide of secularism.
Its advocates, ironically, embrace its tenets with a zeal akin to religious fervor. As Ferguson warned, we are witnessing the rise of a secular religion.
"Cisterns that can hold no water"
In Jeremiah 2, the Lord grieves, "My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water" (v. 13).
What happens to those who reject the one true God for false gods of their own making?