In his sermon yesterday, my Pastor mentioned something that triggered a stream of thoughts. In passing, he mentioned Tradition and adherence to Old Testament Law. He said more than once that repeated actions will eventually become a tradition and with other traditions can create cultures.
We have examples of three cultures, in conflict, here in the United States. Eventually, one of those cultures will rise to supremacy.
The first culture is one that, in the past, was recognized by the old slogan, “Mom, Flag, and Apple Pie.” It was the native American culture of Independence, Individualism, Family, Love of the Constitution, and the free worship of God. That culture is under attack by the other two.
The second culture had its roots in the writings of Marx and Engels. In the United States, its first appearance was the formation of unions and unionism in the late 19th Century. Granted there were many justified reasons for the early unions, but the unions quickly merged their agendas to be concentrated attacks on the free market economy and capitalism. My family was involved in those early days. My Grandfather, Uncles, and Father were all miners. My Grandfather and Father were stewards in the United Mine Workers of America. As the power of the central union grew, the aims, needs and purposes of the local unions were subordinated to the anti-business agenda of the central union.
After a lifetime involvement in the union, my Grandfather and Father withdrew. Unions have been infiltrated and absorbed by that second culture. Today, we see the strength of that second culture in the dependency class—those 49.5 percent of the people who are dependent on the largess of government in one form or another.
There is a third culture that has appeared in this country in the latter half of the 20th Century. It is ignored for the most part by the dependency culture. They don’t see any real conflict between the two because they don’t see any areas of mutual contact. Instead, when conflicts between the third and first cultures arise, the second culture sides with the third. They follow that old adage, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” In some areas of the country, that alliance is becoming more visible.
Case in point. The second and third cultures do not believe nor support the Constitution. The second culture views the Constitution as an impediment to their agenda. The third culture views the constitution as irrelevant and contradictory to their culture. Frequently the second and third cultures join forces attacking the first. The most common point of attack is against the First Amendment.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The third culture detests freedom of speech. They attempt to suppress it at every opportunity. The second culture detests the free expression of religion—specifically Christian beliefs because those beliefs don’t support dependency but promote self effort and individualism.
Together, these two cultures violate that portion on the First Amendment concerning the establishment of religion. I say that because they now use the “rule of law,” or rather the Rule of Judges to promote a specific religion.
Islam.
There is a surprising story out of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania that seems the perfect storm of religious tensions. You begin with Ernie Perce, an atheist who marched as a zombie Mohammad in the Mechanicsburg Halloween parade. Then you add Talaag Elbayomy, a Muslim who stepped off a curb and reportedly attacked Perce for insulting the Prophet. Then you have a judge (Judge Mark Martin) who threw out the criminal charges against Elbayomy and ridiculed the victim, Perce. The Judge identifies himself as a Muslim and says that Perce conduct is not what the First Amendment is supposed to protect. [UPDATE: The judge says he is not a Muslim despite what is heard by most listeners on the tape. That being the case, the criticism of the comments remains.]
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The case, however, then went to District Judge Mark Martin who not only threw out the charge of harassment but ridiculed Perce as a “doofus.” He also proceeds to not only give an account of his own feelings (and say that he was offended personally by Perce’s action) but suggests that Elbayomy was just protecting his “culture.” (Emphasis mine: Crucis) The judge not only points to the Koran in the courtroom but his time in Muslim countries as relevant to his deliberations. Putting aside the problem of ruling in a case where you admit you have strong personal feelings, the lecture given on the first amendment is perfectly grotesque from a civil liberties perspective.
This is not the most egregious example. It’s just the most recent. Mr. Perce, although an avowed atheist, was expressing a belief using his First Amendment rights. Judge Martin and Mr. Elbayomy violated the First Amendment twice. That is a direct attack against the Constitution and against the first culture. The second and third cultures ignore and refuse to recognize that the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land, not Sharia law, nor the Koran.
These culture clashes will continue and grow in strength. We are already at a crux between the first and second cultures. The coming election in November will be crucial in determining if the first culture, the one of traditions of reverence towards the Flag, Family, Freedom and personal beliefs against the second culture of dependency, statism, corruption and tyranny.
We see the second culture, the culture of the liberals and the dependency class, build traditions, expanding their culture that is contradictory to the native traditions of the first culture. We all have a dog in this fight. We ignore these clashes at our peril.
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