March Madness

Parisians rally against terrorism

If you live in Chicago as I do, then you're familiar with street violence. Heavily-armed street gangs have controlled many of Chicago's streets for decades, and they've supplied the local cemeteries with countless victims of their endless narco wars.

Every so often, one of the victims turns out to be an innocent bystander such as a young child or an honors student who was on his or her way to finding a better life via a prestigious college or university when they were erased in the crossfire.

Invariably, when the victim turns out to be that young child or academic high-achiever, there's outrage. And typically, the outrage comes from the usual cast of characters such as the sanctimonious politicians, community activists and blowhard clergymen who are attracted to cameras like bugs are attracted to streetlights. 

Then there are those inevitable marches down the blood-soaked streets. The goose-stepping politicians, clergy clowns and activists are followed by the "protesters" waving their prefabricated signs that call for an end to the violence and of course, tougher gun laws. 

Recently, an estimated three million people turned out in the streets of Paris to protest the murders that took place at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper offices and at a kosher supermarket. The murders were committed by Islamists who were merely being obedient to Islam's prophet Muhammad by murdering Jews and infidels.

Marches and rallies are akin to taking the proverbial bath or shower with a raincoat on. You can stand under the water for hours, but it's prevented from doing what it's supposed to do in washing away the dirt. 

You can protest as much as you want in the streets against gun violence, narco-gangs or Islamofascism, but all that does is make you feel good about yourself. It doesn't wash away the moral and spiritual dirt that contaminates the culture and it has absolutely no impact on those who need to be cleansed the most. 

Certainly not the violent thugs who return to the streets to resume the carnage once the protesters and TV crews are gone. And certainly not to the soldiers of Allah who continue to look for new victims once the Gendarmes are gone. 

The way to change a culture is from the bottom up through the gospel of Jesus Christ rather than from the top down. When the culture is changed from the bottom up, people change because they become aware that they're morally accountable to a holy God and they act accordingly. They don't have to be forced to behave because they'll instinctively do that on their own.

But when a culture is changed from the top down, then people are forced to follow the edicts of a tyrannical government that enforces its laws at the point of a gun. That's called a police state and if you're not familiar with how that works, there are still millions of folks around who lived under the iron fist of Soviet communism who can tell you how that worked.  

Changing a culture from the bottom up is extremely difficult. It requires folks who are committed to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with those who have never heard it. It requires making Christianity relevant once again to a cynical world that views religion as irrelevant and obsolete. 

And it requires distinguishing the faith from all the false religions of the world--including Islam--that poison minds and foment evil. Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Jude urged the early church to "contend for the faith" (Jude 1:3) because the church's enemy Satan works tirelessly to pervert and destroy the faith. 

Had Christendom not stopped contending for the faith about 150 years ago, Islamofascism wouldn't be raging across much of the world. 

The apostle Paul said it best in his epistle to the early church in Ephesus: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12)

Satan and his fallen angels are the spiritual puppeteers who inspire Islam and all false religions. They encourage destruction and murder in the name of the gods of these false religions. Christ revealed that Satan is "a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44)

The way to destroy lies is by utilizing the sword of God's spirit (Ephesians 6:17) that is God's word contained in the bible. That requires patience, dedication and hard work. 

But in the end, that pays dividends in a changed society that lives peacefully and values life. And that's something that candlelight vigils and kumbaya street marches will never accomplish.