| (Copyright) by Richard Markland (London, Ohio) |
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| The year 2020 will go down in history as a year of deep division. It will be remembered as a time in which Americans turned on one another. The national election for the presidency will be remembered as illegitimate by Trump supporters and conservatives, but fair by Democrats and liberals. Most Americans fail to see long range repercussions for the way they decide to deal with problems. What is taking place will irreversibly harm the country as long as emotions are the driving force behind the stances people are taking. What is developing is a national nightmare in the making. Americans pitting themselves against one another is a deadly social and moral poison, void of reason, but justified because it is based upon long standing opinions. Proverbs 14:12- “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof (the end results) are the ways of death.” Division is separating people. It has created dissension because opinions radically differ among individuals and groups. People only conform if they agree with one another. It is a destabilizing force. It has become inclusive thinking and reasoning which is resulting in out-of-control violence, the death of individuals and ultimately the death of the nation if not restrained. Politicians in Washington D. C. and critics of the seizure of the nation’s capital have repeatedly stated, “This is not who we are.” Is this, however, true? When carefully looking back upon 2020, what happened on January 6, 2021 should not have come as a shock. It was the result of building anger, frustration, and suspicion. It is who we now are as a people. Americans are told they must take sides. You are for or against what America is. It is divisive reasoning because opposing views widely differ and are a point of contention among individuals and groups. Many Americans are blind to the moral crisis facing the nation. When driven by emotions not kept in check, there is no common ground. The wound that has been inflicted upon the nation’s heart and soul is deeply embedded, and until the nation’s leaders and the American people wake up to what is happening to the country, our collapse is inevitable. Both the bible and Abraham Lincoln are often quoted when the survivability of America is brought into question. Matthew 12:25- “…every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, or every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.” This verse leaves no doubts of the deadly consequences ahead for the United States of America, its cities, and American households if we continue to be divided against one another. America will become deserted, abandoned, forsaken, dilapidated, barren, lifeless, cheerless, and gloomy which are all definitions of desolation. God’s divine protection will be removed. Why? Because America refuses to obey God on his terms nationally and individually. Because the United States of America is naively viewed as a nation that has always survived and always will survive adversity, it’s commonly assumed that it will somehow overcome its fractured state. Many Americans rationalize by reasoning, “Other Nations may have collapsed, but we are America. We are strong and we’ll find a way to work through whatever happens.” It is a state of denial as if the country is going through a cycle or phase. America’s leaders and people are generally not visionaries. They lack the wisdom of foreseeing into the future, Proverbs 29:18- “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” Change must take place within every person before the scourge of division can be dealt with. God condemns the blame game, but Americans embrace it. Isaiah 58:9- “Then you shall call, and the Lord shall answer, you shall cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke (imposed burdens placed on one another), the putting forth of the finger (continually blaming others) and speaking vanity (insisting self is always right).” The answer to America’s divided state is spiritual, not physical, but it is not what people want to hear. |
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