I wrote in my prior post: good has already won the spiritual battle (which-team-do-you-choose); however, good and evil still compete for our allegiance in this world; there is a continual battle for our souls. Nations make choices as well: promote godly values or the material world’s values and its immediate rewards. Political parties too align with sides.
My progressive friends call my worldview an over-simplification. They do not dispute that our culture is locked in such a battle, but they say good and evil are not so clearly defined; they do not like stark choices. They also say I disingenuously attack the Left, calling my criticism unbalanced:
You seem to be saying that democrats are evil and therefore republicans are good. It is a spurious argument statement (and one that your posts rely on) it fails to understand that both parties have made statements that are reprehensible and that incite violence. Your approach is to declare one party good and one evil and that you can only choose the good. This is an overly simplistic assessment.
Without a belief in God, without acknowledging the spiritual realm is as real as the material world, beliefs several of my progressive friends doubt themselves, this indeed becomes an argument of Left vs. Right. However, because God is real and immersed in this world, good vs. evil is the most important battle.
I accept that good and evil span the political spectrum, and that no political party is the standard for good. In fact, I believe most politicians are corrupt, dishonest, and rarely know what they are talking about. The number who are not corrupt or unintelligent is exceedingly small. I prefer Republicans, but still we go to hell just a tad more slowly with them in charge. No, President Obama, Republicans are not the party we have all waited for, but they are the best we have.
Because the battle is for our souls, not for our political allegiance, simple analogies like good vs. evil clarify our choices. I find some positive values promoted by Republicans, but I am hard pressed to find any worthwhile values promoted by Democrats. My vote is guided by my values, although many I vote for do not represent my values well. I am well aware President Trump has a checkered past and I cringe when he says things like he hates his opponents, but, at least, he aligns with a party that promotes (albeit inconsistently) God, faith, family, and nation. The other party rejects all these, perhaps because Republicans have cornered the market.
When a man stops believing in God he doesn’t then believe in nothing, he believes anything. G.K. Chesterton
Progressive vs Traditional Values
Almost everyone believes they side with good, so we should ask ourselves: How have I chosen between good and evil? Reduce your choices for good and evil to political parties and you will ultimately fail. Both parties are corrupt. Neither party leads one to eternal salvation, and eternal salvation should be our life goal.
The better choice, and the more clearly defined choice, is between value systems: Judeo-Christian values, the traditional values we can trace back to the time of Moses versus worldly progressive values promoted by today’s culture. There are advocates for each in both political parties, although, it is increasingly difficult to detect Judeo-Christian values in Leftist ideology. It is not fruitful for their electoral chances to promote such values.
Progressive values, by definition, are adjusted as new circumstances arise and as we learn from past experience. They may overlap with Judeo-Christian values (both traditionalists and progressives are generally well-intentioned), but progressive values are defined by our culture. Progressives throw out the bad and keep the good, so as to make the world a better place. A progressive friend described his philosophy this way:
Morality is a social construct, like culture and language, and, like culture and language, moral ideas are subject to change. We are not born with a culture or a language or a moral framework. We acquire these things from the society in which we are raised. But we also have the ability to think about the moral ideas we receive from our society and question whether they are really the ideas we should build our society on.
He trusts these values will be refined and improve with age, as if morality were a fine wine. It sounds nice, but this model is flawed. Progressives re-calibrate values too frequently and for the wrong reasons. Progressives also allow for individual value systems (you live yours and I live mine) which means we cannot rally behind a common standard. Although some may disagree with traditional values and see them as outdated, they are far more precise and far more clearly define right and wrong. Furthermore, traditional values unite us; they are above us and we cannot legitimately modify them to suit ourselves as one might do with one’s own value system or with the current progressive value system.
I found this proxy to define progressive values:
https://thisvsthat.io/progressive-values-vs-traditional-values
Progressive values . . . focus on social justice, equality, and inclusivity. Those who hold progressive values tend to advocate for change and reform in various aspects of society, such as healthcare, education, and environmental protection. Progressives prioritize diversity and tolerance, believing that all individuals should be treated with respect and dignity regardless of their background or beliefs. They are often open to new ideas and are willing to challenge traditional norms and practices in order to create a more equitable and just society.
These are indeed contemporary issues vigorously debated today, but these concerns may soon be replaced by others or they may just be capriciously demoted or stricken; the progressive value system must continually accommodate new issues and contemporary viewpoints. This current value system may be completely out-of-fashion in ten years. What good is it then? How does one stay abreast with progressive values given all the movement? I struggle to grasp the current standard: what are the new microaggressions, the new nomenclature, what criticism is allowed, what is taboo, etc.? It is too easy, even for the initiated, to lose track as values progress.
Something as delicate and as vital as a value system developed by humanity will ultimately fail. We have had thousands throughout history. I trust only in a value system from the ultimate source: God.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former. Albert Einstein.
Judeo-Christian values, traditional values, progress very slowly, if at all. What has been passed down was acquired at great cost, so we should be extremely careful when modifying. The ten commandments were relevant in the time of Moses, and are still relevant today. Moses and the two tablets, in fact, still lord over the US Supreme Court building.
Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Per a progressive friend, Judeo-Christian traditional values were derived during the Bronze Age when reprehensible punishments like boiling in oil or burning at the stake were acceptable. Because we know better today, he argues, we should dispense Bronze Age values. Still, Judeo-Christian values today do not incorporate such barbaric practices; there has been progression as humanity’s understanding of God’s will has evolved. We universally reject polygamy, animal sacrifice, and slavery as well, practices present during Moses’ time. These were accepted by many in the past, but virtually no right-minded individual seeks to re-institute these practices. Judeo-Christian values remain unchanged, but our understanding of them has evolved over time.
He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you,* whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery. (Matthew 19:8-9)
It is tremendous hubris to criticize the worst Bronze Age values while ignoring the worst contemporary “values”. How would Bronze Age people judge pornography, gender transition of minors, modern-day gluttonous appetites, overindulgence and waste of societal resources, the incessant desire for fame and wealth, the proliferation of abortion, government assisted (and sometimes promoted) euthanasia, the drug culture, etc.? Even if present in ancient days, these scourges were not taken to the extremes they are today. Perhaps Bronze Agers might consider their own value system, despite its occasional barbarities, superior.
We have many apologists for contemporary barbarities. President Obama liked to say during his presidential campaigns: “We are the people we have been waiting for.” Are we now? Have new socially constructed moral systems significantly improved over millennia? Given the ugly list above, I would say we have had many regressions.
Our progressive culture promotes itself as “tolerant”. That’s nice. Unfortunately, tolerance is not even a value. It is merely an acceptance of something which may actually be unpleasant or odious. I am tolerant of this ridiculous (anti-Christian) display from the 2024 Olympics, but I am also ashamed our oh-so-advanced and enlightened culture considers this progress.
Judeo-Christian Values Rejected
Unfortunately, the Left has abandoned Judeo-Christian values altogether. Democrats and other Leftists still claim people of faith, but the party itself cringes at talk of God or Judeo-Christian values; the party line says politics should be devoid of religious references: separate your religious life from your political life–it is even better if you try not to be influenced by religion at all.
Those who believe religion and politics aren’t connected don’t understand either. Mahatma Ghandi
Judeo-Christian values were prominent during America’s founding; they were not exclusive to one party. These values built Western Civilization, making it ascendant. These values were still very much present during my youth. However, in America today, just one in two Americans (one in four of Generation Z) consider themselves religious:
Just ten years ago, Americans were somewhat united in their commitment to religion and religious values; values from the major religions significantly overlap. However, such values no longer collectively bind us. This decline in religiosity means Judeo-Christian values are often seen as one set of values among so many other choices. The imprimatur of God means little to so many folks today. That vacuum must be filled with some new set of values.
A former vice-presidential candidate demonstrates the depth of the commitment to exclude our Creator from the public forum.
“The notion that rights don’t come from laws and don’t come from the government, but come from the Creator — that’s what the Iranian government believes. It’s a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Shia law and targets Sunnis, Bahá’ís, Jews, Christians and other religious minorities,” Senator Tim Kaine, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing, September 4, 2025.
The greatest political document ever written, our nation’s founding document, acknowledged our Creator, not government, established rights:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”. US Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.
These words have inspired hundreds of millions of Americans and drawn hundreds of millions more to America for centuries.
Have today’s progressives simply forgotten the wisdom of the past? Is Senator Kaine displaying his ignorance or is he showing fealty to the Leftist value: “reject all that made America great”. I suspect the latter. Senator Kaine compares Thomas Jefferson and our nation’s founders to Iranian mullahs, and nobody in his party critiques him. That is astounding to folks like me who grew up in another time.
One Catholic US Senator told a Catholic judicial appointee that progressive values, not Judeo-Christian values, are the ones to follow when ruling from the bench.
Why is it that so many of us on this side have this very uncomfortable feeling that dogma and law are two different things, and I think whatever a religion is, it has its own dogma. The law is totally different. And I think in your case, professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you. And that’s of concern. Senator Diane Feinstein to Judge Amy Coney Barrett, Senate Judiciary Committee, September 6, 2017
Can we coin a new word: Christophobia? Why is only Islamophobia recognized?
I prefer a time when Judeo-Christian values were preeminent. My friends claim I wish to return to discredited or questionable values of the past. They easily fill in that blank for me. One channel media says today’s religious conservatives seek to restore our previous position of power or some such nonsense. Not at all. We tried your silly progressive values and they have failed. We do not desire a return olden days. Instead, we seek an elimination of your new-fangled crazy values and a return to sensible values which once united us and kept us on the right paths.
Politics and morality are inseparable. And as morality’s foundation is religion, religion and politics are necessarily related. We need religion as a guide. We need it because we are imperfect, and our government needs the church, because only those humble enough to admit they’re sinners can bring to democracy the tolerance it requires in order to survive. Ronald Reagan
Which Side is Violence on?
My progressive friends also argued for something I think untrue:
Today the left is more violent, yesterday it was the right, tomorrow it will be the right again. All is bad. As was already said this isn’t a contest, these are lives, what does it matter if the attackers ideology is right or left wing.
I was reminded by them that three years ago President Trump mocked Paul Pelosi after he was attacked by a home intruder. Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded in kind recently by calling President Trump: “a vile creature. The worst person on earth.” Both comments are inappropriate, but neither is evil.
President Trump, at Charlie Kirk’s memorial, also said: “I hate my political opponent” https://www.c-span.org/clip/white-house-event/i-hate-my-opponent-and-i-dont-want-the-best-for-them/5172742, the wrong thing to say at the wrong time.
However, President Biden said he if they were both still in high school, he would take President Trump behind the gym and beat the hell out of him. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-beat-hell-trump-high-school-disrespecting-women/story?id=53897309
Again, both comments are inappropriate, but in a different category from those incidents I highlighted previously (which-team-do-you-choose):
- “death to the IDF” (musician Bob Vylan)
- “globalize the intifada” (NYC mayor Zoran Mamdani)
- “two bullets for my opponent” (Virginia Attorney General, Jay Jones)
- “piss on their graves” (Jay Jones again)
- “I would kill Steven Miller: (“No Kings” protestor)
- “go in the gutter”, followed by a knife stroke across the neck (Texas state legislature candidate Jolanda Jones)
- US Senate candidate with Nazi symbol tattoo (Maine candidate Graham Platner)
Prominent Democrats have indeed been violently attacked, but that doesn’t mean their assailants come from the Right.
- The man who killed two Minnesota Democrat legislators was appointed to a political position by Governor Walz, a Democrat. A state report in 2016 listed his political affiliation as “none or other,” and another report in 2020 listed him as having “no party preference,” according to the New York Times.
- The man who attacked Paul Pelosi is a 42-year-old man with a history investigators said included mental health issues, substance use, and extensive online activity embracing conspiracy theories. He is a nut case and there is little to link him with the Right.
- The man who burned Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home formerly worked as a mechanic and had shared memes and other posts that were critical of Democrats and Republicans, NBC News reported. A 2022 Facebook post believed to be the assailant’s showed a picture of a piece of fabric artwork depicting a Molotov cocktail and the phrase, “Be the light you want to see in the world.” He is another nut case.
No Republican leaders condoned these attacks, unlike Democrat media and political leaders who publicly made excuses for the Kirk shooting and Trump assassination attempt. My progressive friends still insist my criticism is unbalanced:
In your world anything done to Republicans is amplified, and anything to Democrats is minimized. Why is that ok?
It is not ok, but that’s not what I have done. Yes, there are problems on both sides, but the scales are different. I worry deeply about a value system which introduces violence and executions into the lexicon–and then dares us to notice the change in tone. The Right certainly has problem people: Alex Jones, Andrew Tate, Nick Fuentes, and others, but they are resisted by conservative media and politicians while Democrat leaders openly advocating for violence are embraced by the party (or there is barely a whisper of dissent).
I defend a party which attempts (sometimes well, sometimes not-so-well) to conserve Judeo-Christian values, values our nation was built upon, while rejecting a party united only by the rejection of those same values.
My friends say good vs evil is a childish comparison for today’s serious issues, but that is exactly their preferred party’s strategy. A rejection of formerly well-accepted American values is the Democrat Party formula for votes. It is how they distinguish themselves from Republicans. The Democrat party’s constant drumbeat today is: Republicans are white supremacists, Nazis, misogynists, homophobes, islamophobes, transphobes, fascists, phobo-phobes. The rhetoric is pervasive and continual.
Surely, my friends recognize such rhetoric is almost exclusively from the Left? Watch The View or MSNBC for a week–if you can stand that torture–and you will be inundated in it. They paint Republicans as evil. If President Trump is the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler than he must be stopped by any means. In other words, they boil down politics to the simple paradigm: good Democrats vs evil Republicans. Any means, including violence, is justified to stop such great evil.
Leftists portray themselves as the good guys riding white horses. Yet, they never save us! They simply reject what the nation used to overwhelmingly believe was good. To maintain their political edge and keep voters in line, their rhetoric grows increasingly violent. Unfortunately, they have had success driving home this message:
I choose God’s team and God’s standard. I cannot change God’s standard; it challenges me to do better when I fail. On the other hand, the progressive culture follows a continually changing standard: there are no wrong answers; there are no bad choices; whatever you decide for your own life is inherently good. NO! There are a myriad of wrong answers and bad choices. Progressives allow countless standards, each fine tuned for personal preferences. Live and let live. That is a recipe for failure, but a recipe currently being followed.
transgender-adults-strip-naked-dutch-TV-10-year-old-childrens-program
The Left establishment tacitly, and sometimes not-so-tacitly, gives permission for violence. The Left’s constant hyperbole influences regular folks, and a few take the message to the ultimate extreme. This rhetoric must end or the two diverging worldviews will be unable to share a country.
Dave https://seek-the-truth.com/about/
https://seek-the-truth.com/category/faith/
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