The last post was a request not to “draft Romney” for
President, even though he’s a great man, made for our times. The reason has to
do with the culture—a culture that rejected him when the alternative was a
known failure.
So what we need to talk about, rather than who should run,
is how to improve the culture. Very quickly. Now.
Related to culture, on the Glenn Beck radio show last week, Pat and Stu were discussing “a new poll” about religion and beliefs.
I tried, unsuccessfully, to track down exactly which poll—or perhaps a
collection. My guess is that the info comes from the Pew Research Foundation, or
possibly this Harris Poll (a Nielsen company),but they didn’t say. So I’ll just go with
Pat and Stu’s numbers.
First they were talking about what American people believe:
·
62% of Americans believe in Satan and hell; 75%
believe in heaven.
·
42% believe in evolution.
·
82% believe in God; 8% don’t believe in God; 10%
are unsure.
·
79% believe in miracles; 74% believe in angels.
·
41% believe in ghosts; 35% believe in UFOs; 31%
believe in witches.
·
74% believe Jesus is the Son of God; 72% believe
Jesus was resurrected; 60% accept as truth the virgin birth.
·
25% generally attend church weekly.
So far it’s just interesting. We Americans still have a pretty strong
belief in God, especially compared to other countries. But if you measure
dedication to belief by attendance, one in four is not that good. That’s
certainly down from my childhood. (My childhood home, Utah, still has the
highest attendance of 74% attending weekly—the highest in the US.)
Then Pat and Stu started talking about a specific surprising
shift in belief. I’ll let their transcript tell the story:
Stu: Right now
adults now support "same-sex marriage" by 54-38%; a 16-point margin now support
"gay marriage." For more than a decade only about a third of Americans supported
the idea, ranging from 27% in 1996 to 35% in 2009. So in 2009 it was 35%, and
today it’s 54%. A 19-point move in that type of topic is incredibly fast. I
don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything like it, to be perfectly honest with
you. In 2011 it was the first time it crossed over the plurality level, and
2013 was the majority. Now we’re at 54%.
Listen to these numbers, though, broken down by age category.
Those 60 and older oppose "gay marriage" 50-39%. They’re the only group now that
opposes it.
Pat: Sixty and
older.
Stu: Sixty and
older, uh huh. [Age group] 45-59 favor "gay marriage" by a percentage of 49-40%. Between the
ages of 30 and 44, they favor it 55-38%. So that’s a 17-point margin. But this
is where you find—and this is, you know, where democrats are going, you know,
because they try the same arguments over and over again. But these are the
numbers they’re basing these arguments on: Those aged 18-29 favor "same-sex
marriage" 75-18%. Seventy-five to eighteen!
Remember, this is a topic that Karl Rove is known as the
architect because of—the idea that he organized a bunch of constitutional
amendments on "gay marriage" to get conservatives out to vote, and they voted
George W. Bush in for a second term in 2004. That’s the general reason he’s
known as the architect, because he thought of that idea. That it was so popular
to be opposed to "gay marriage" and to support traditional marriage back in 2004,
that it was the thing that motivated people to go to the polls over a
presidential election. Now we have a situation where it’s a 16-point margin
among all people, and it’s 75-18% for younger people. Pretty amazing….
I mean, that’s just a societal study. You’re kind of seeing
how people’s views change. I will say, on "gay marriage," I don’t know that I’ve
ever seen something move that fast. 19 in five years is an astounding move for
something that has been… You know, it wasn’t like a, you know, an idea no one
had ever thought of. This is something that people considered for a really long
time. And about a third of people said, “Yeah, there should be 'gay marriage.'”
And all of a sudden, 19 points in five years. Interesting.
What else has happened during this five years? A civilization-hating
president has been in the white house. Certainly he hasn’t helped, by lying
during his campaign about what he wanted to do on this issue (lying about
pretty much any issue, if he didn’t want us to make a judgment based on truth)
and then going so far in the other direction that people are prosecuted for
their beliefs, or forced out of business if they don’t go along with the
homosexual agenda.
But it can’t be all just him. The speed of the change is
alarming.
Meanwhile, more people are educated on the Constitution and
basic human rights than ever before—mostly in the same time frame—about five
years since the Tea Party started popping up. Albeit with the mistaken idea
that Mitt Romney isn’t conservative enough, but at least making it clear that
adhering to the Constitution—which we read and carry with us—is required of
anyone we vote for.
If we’re looking for a reason the changes could happen so
quickly, I think we have to look at the diversity of the media. We connect with
each other instantaneously and widely, where such communication used to take
days, weeks, or months, and was much more limited.
This blog is a tiny little example. The Spherical Model
think tank is just me, and my computer, and whatever resources I put to use
(which include my son Political Sphere, my son Economic Sphere, and my
daughter Social Sphere). As obscure as this spot on the internet is, during the
past week, it reached people not just in the US, but also in Russia, Ukraine,
Taiwan, France, Singapore, South Korea, United Kingdom, Canada, Philippines, China,
and New Zealand. If you add beyond this week, there were also significant
readers in Turkey, Poland, Lavia…. Thank you, readers, for sharing. I write
because I hope that what I have to say can help people seeking freedom, prosperity, and civilization. Such people are kindred spirits, wherever we are in
the world.
 |
| Elder David A. Bednar speaks on flooding the earth with positive messages. |
David A. Bednar, former BYU-Idaho President, and now an
Apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gave a talk this past week in which he suggested that we flood the world with positive messages.
Use the internet for good, for uplifting one another. He said,
"I exhort you to sweep the earth with messages filled with
righteousness and truth—messages that are authentic, edifying, and praiseworthy—and
literally to sweep the earth as with a flood."
We need to flood the world with truth, in greater quantities
than the opposition is flooding the world with lies. On the issue of same-sex “marriage,”
for example, the widespread message/lie has been, “It’s discriminating to
prevent gays from marrying.” In truth, no homosexual is prevented from
marrying, according to the definition we’ve always had; they simply choose not
to. They choose instead to force a change in the definition, so that we no longer have what marriage has always been.
What if every time any media source supported “gay marriage,”
a clarifying message showed up saying, “homosexuals insist on changing the
definition of marriage, so that it no longer includes permanence, exclusivity,
nor the sexual act that can lead to procreation, but refers simply to any two
people declaring they are currently in some sort of sexual relationship”? What if every
time any media source referred to “a ban on gay marriage,” a more accurate
reference showed up: “a change in the definition that would throw out the millennia-old
definition of marriage and replace it with a new definition that lacks all the known benefits”?
The term “gay marriage” is quicker to say than what is
actual. And the term “banning gay marriage” is quicker to say than what is
actual. But going with the “quick” and “easy” over and over, in a flood of
messages, has led to a change in thinking that is harmful to civilization and
to freedom. (More, new, examples another day.)
How do we get out the truth, on this issue and so many others, when the message is harder and
longer to say? I don’t know. Twitter might not be enough. And we don’t want to
put out contention on Facebook or Pinterest. A blog, like this, at least has a
chance of saying the fuller message—to people who choose to seek it.
But we have to get into the minds of young people, and older
people, to get the ground ready for re-planting a great tree of civilization.
And, not to put too much pressure on, but a year from now we’ll
be deciding who to put forward as president against the anti-civilization crowd
currently dominating the media.
Flood! Positive, uplifting, truth! Now! Go!
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