For those who are not in the United States, and for those of you in the US that live under a rock, today is Super Bowl Sunday. And, again, for those of you living under a rock, there’s a controversy over a Super Bowl ad endorsed by Focus on the Family.
You know, I can remember when “liberal” meant you were for something. OK, maybe some of the things they were for weren’t exactly what you and I would have been for, but some of them were pretty decent things: freedom of religious expression, equality of the races, equality of the sexes and freedom of speech. That last one is particularly important. It used to be that certain conservative groups would (attempt to) exert power in order to squash nonviolent demonstrations and the like.
Now, however, it is the liberals who want to squash freedom of speech. The link above to NPR outlines how liberal groups like NARAL and NOW want CBS to pull the ad.
Since when did “liberal” mean the desire to silence critics? Since when did dissenting viewpoints become “hate speech” rather than “freedom of speech”? Since when did “Make love, not war” become “You can speak only if you agree with me”?
It never fails to amaze me how once a particular group gains political power, it will do its best to silence its opponents. I guess it’s the modern equivalent of killing off the opposition once you become emperor, often abandoning the ideals and people who put them into power.
In fact, I would argue that the postmodern liberalism we see today isn’t even real liberalism. Note what Wikipedia says about classical liberalism:
Classical liberalism is a political ideology that developed in the 19th century in England, Western Europe, and the Americas. It is committed to the ideal of limited government and liberty of individuals including freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly, and free markets.
~ Classical liberalism. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_liberalism. [Bolding in original article. Underlining mine.]
While the hypocrisy of the right never ceases to amaze me, it is obvious that the left is even worse. Liberals have lost sight of the very ideals they are supposed to be standing for. Since they cannot win in the court of popular opinion, they have resorted to other means.
Is it any wonder a Republican was voted in in Massachusetts? It isn’t because of any virtue of the right, but rather because the left has proven incapable of producing anything of substance.
As long as we have a 2 party system, we will continue to have a polarization between 2 extremes instead of something that resembles a common middle. By “common” being excluded, I also mean “common sense” is out of the question. Instead, we are left with right and left, or perhaps “dumb and dumber” might be a better description.
And, to think that it is only going to get worse. I pray to God that it comes quickly, though. When leadership is no longer even interested in common sense, we are all in trouble. May Jesus come soon!
P.S.: In other Super Bowl news, it looks like the Who will play “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, which some ex-COGers have as an anthem. Of course, I disagree with them, as my experience is coming from the opposite direction. I like the song, nonetheless. 🙂
P.P.S.: You are fooling yourself again if you think the Saints are going to win. ;->
I'll confess — I've avoided the Super Bowl for several years.
1. Football in February? Simply silly.
2. Most-watched event in U.S. TV history? If everybody's doing it, what should a Christian do?
3. I've used several Super Sunday nights to begin a day of prayer and fasting, that turns me toward Passover. The world feasts and worships a brown oval-shaped god; I fast to seek the true God.
(In other years, it's been a great night to work on my income tax forms.)
4. This year it was a "come out of this world" experiment for me. How long could I go without knowing who won XLIV – especially since I'm unemployed right now?
The answer: not long. A reader of my blog simply had to call after the game, to tell me he won more than $10,600 gambling on it. Sigh….
@Richard: I don't pay a lot of attention to football during the season. Some people burn up a lot of resources on remembering stats, who plays what position in what year, etc.
Having said that, the Super Bowl is still "big" (or, at least as big as big gets around here, which some would still consider lame) at our place. I suppose it is a holdover from my days in the Army, where the next day was usually a half-day off if not a full day, especially in Europe.
Please don't take this the wrong way, as I can see what you are saying, but only up to a point. Do you still drive a car? Some people worship automobiles for the status they provide. When one goes to the movies, they often watch one of Hollywood's "idols" on the screen. I assume that you are not unemployed because you reject the green god that people are so quick to accumulate, since it is difficult to pay the rent otherwise. In other words, anything can become an idol. All I'm saying is that you have to draw the line somewhere.
Reminds me of a sermonette where the speaker held up a Bible and said, "This is nothing." He then went on to explain that even the Bible can be an idol. The Bible, though, is not the end game. It is the One to Whom the Bible points us that is the end game.
Am I making sense?