The gods
of
liberalism
By J.
Matt
Barber
What
has been
will be
again,
what has
been
done
will be
done
again;
there is
nothing
new
under
the
sun.
(Ecclesiastes
1:9 NIV)
Modern-day
liberals
or
"progressives"
as they
more
discreetly
prefer
labor
under an
awkward
misconception;
namely,
that
there is
anything
remotely
"progressive"
about
the
fundamental
canons
of their
blind,
secular-humanist
faith.
In fact,
today's
liberalism
is
largely
a
sanitized
retread
of an
antiquated
mythology
one
that
significantly
predates
the only
truly
progressive
movement:
biblical
Christianity.
While
visiting
the
Rivermont
Evangelical
Presbyterian
Church
in
Lynchburg,
Va., a
few
weeks
back, I
heard a
troubling,
albeit
thought-provoking,
sermon.
Pastor
John
Mabray
addressed
the
ancient
Canaanite
practice
of Baal
worship
and,
though
he
didn't
reveal
it by
name,
connected
the dots
to its
present-day
progeny:
liberalism.
Baal,
the
half-bull,
half-man
god of
fertility,
was the
focal
point of
pagan
idolatry
in
Semitic
Israel
until
God
revealed
His
monotheistic
nature
to
Judaism's
forebears.
In his
sermon,
Pastor
Mabray
illustrated
that,
although
they've
now
assumed
a more
contemporary
flair,
the
fundamentals
of Baal
worship
remain
alive
and well
today.
The
principal
pillars
of
Baalism
were
child
sacrifice,
sexual
immorality
(both
heterosexual
and
homosexual)
and
pantheism
(reverence
of
creation
over the
Creator).
Ritualistic
Baal
worship,
in sum,
looked a
little
like
this:
Adults
would
gather
around
the
altar of
Baal.
Infants
would
then be
burned
alive as
a
sacrificial
offering
to the
deity.
Amid
horrific
screams
and the
stench
of
charred
human
flesh,
congregants
men
and
women
alike
would
engage
in
bisexual
orgies.
The
ritual
of
convenience
was
intended
to
produce
economic
prosperity
by
prompting
Baal to
bring
rain for
the
fertility
of
"mother
earth."
The
natural
consequences
of such
behavior
pregnancy
and
childbirth
and
the
associated
financial
burdens
of
"unplanned
parenthood"
were
easily
offset.
One
could
either
choose
to
engage
in
homosexual
conduct
or
with
child
sacrifice
available
on
demand
could
simply
take
part in
another
fertility
ceremony
to
"terminate"
the
unwanted
child.
Modern
liberalism
deviates
little
from its
ancient
predecessor.
While
its
macabre
rituals
have
been
sanitized
with
flowery
and
euphemistic
terms of
art, its
core
tenets
and
practices
remain
eerily
similar.
The
worship
of
"fertility"
has been
replaced
with
worship
of
"reproductive
freedom"
or
"choice."
Child
sacrifice
via
burnt
offering
has been
updated,
ever so
slightly,
to
become
child
sacrifice
by way
of
abortion.
The
ritualistic
promotion,
practice
and
celebration
of both
heterosexual
and
homosexual
immorality
and
promiscuity
have
been
carefully
whitewashed
yet
wholeheartedly
embraced
by the
cults of
radical
feminism,
militant
"gay
rights"
and
"comprehensive
sex
education."
And, the
pantheistic
worship
of
"mother
earth"
has been
substituted
in
name
only
for
radical
environmentalism.
But it's
not just
self-styled
"progressives"
or
secular
humanists
who have
adopted
the
fundamental
pillars
of
Baalism.
In these
postmodern
times,
we've
also
been
graced,
regrettably,
by the
advent
of
counter-biblical
"emergent
Christianity"
or
"quasi-Christianity,"
as I
prefer
to call
it.
This is
merely
liberalism
all
dolled
up and
gratuitously
stamped
"Christian."
It's a
way for
left-wing
ideologues
to have
their
"religion"
cake and
eat it
too.
Under
the
guise of
"social
justice,"
its
adherents
often
support
or at
least
rationalize
the
same
pro-homosexual,
pro-abortion
and
radical
environmental
policies
pushed
by the
modern-day
Baal
worshiper.
Though
the
"Christian
left"
represent
what is
arguably
a
negligible
minority
within
larger
Christianity,
the
liberal
media
have,
nonetheless,
embraced
their
cause
and
seized
upon
their
popularity
among
elites
as
evidence
that the
so-called
"Christian
right"
(read:
biblical
Christianity)
is
losing
influence
that
Christianity
is,
somehow,
"catching
up with
the
times."
Because
emergent
Christianity
fails
the
authenticity
test
whenever
subjected
to even
the most
perfunctory
biblical
scrutiny,
I
suspect
it will
eventually
go for
the most
part
the way
of the
pet rock
or the
Macarena.
But this
does not
absolve
leaders
within
the
evangelical
community
from a
duty to
call
leaders
of this
counter-biblical
revolution
on their
heresy.
It's not
a matter
of right
versus
left;
it's a
matter
of right
versus
wrong
of
biblical
versus
non-biblical.
Nonetheless,
the
aforementioned
pillars
of
postmodern
Baalism
abortion,
sexual
relativism
and
radical
environmentalism
will
almost
certainly
make
rapid
headway
over the
next
four to
eight
years,
with or
without
help
from the
Christian
left.
The gods
of
liberalism
have a
new high
priest
in
Barack
Obama,
and
enjoy
many
devout
followers
in the
Democratic-controlled
Congress,
liberal
media
and
halls of
academia.
Both
Obama's
social
agenda
and that
of the
111th
Congress
are rife
with
unfettered
pro-abortion,
freedom-chilling,
pro-homosexual
and
power-grabbing
environmentalist
objectives.
The same
kind of
"hope,
action
and
change,"
I
suppose,
that was
swallowed
up by
the
Baalist
Canaanites
of old.
So,
today's
liberalism
is
really
just a
very old
book
with a
shiny
new
cover. A
philosophy
rooted
in
ancient
pagan
traditions,
of which
there is
naught
to be
proud.
There's
"nothing
new
under
the
sun,"
indeed.
Matt
Barber
is an
attorney
concentrating
in
constitutional
law. He
serves
as
Director
of
Cultural
Affairs
with
both
Liberty
Counsel
and
Liberty
Alliance
Action.
Send
comments
to Matt
at
jmattbarber@comcast.net.
(This
information
is
provided
for
identification
purposes
only.)
