“The collective exhaustion—known as pandemic fatigue—has emerged as a formidable adversary for governments counting on a high degree of public cooperation with the latest rounds of restrictions to flatten the infection curve,” The Wall Street Journal reported recently.
California residents in March initially demonstrated “public cooperation” as Gov. Gavin Newsom melodramatically announced that “5.5 million Californians could be infected with the coronavirus in the next two months.” No more than six weeks later, by early May, it was evident from the gathered scientific data that every projection made by the governor on the impact of COVID-19 was unequivocally unprofessional and totally unfounded in its gross exaggeration.
“As of Oct. 28, the state is reporting 908,713 positive coronavirus cases and 17,475 deaths reportedly linked to the coronavirus, which represent as a percentage of the population, 2.3% and 0.04%.” In terms of percentage of people affected in a state with a 40 million population, the real impact turned out to be marginal.
The straw that broke the camel’s back for most Golden State residents came on June 1, when their governor whistled to those who burned, looted and demolished Los Angeles businesses (75% of which were Jewish owned). Newsom showed his enthusiastic approval, “For those of you out there protesting, I want you to know that you matter. To those who want to express themselves, God bless you. Keep doing it. Your rage is real.”
The Lord scoffs at tyrants like Newsom (Ps. 2:4).
“Living in California just keeps getting worse. Newsom’s Thanksgiving mandate is straight out of a Communism handbook,” wrote Bethany Blankley in The Hayride: Southern Politics & Culture. “According to the Guidance for Private Gatherings, Californians are now required to hold Thanksgiving dinner outside of their home and only for 2 hours or less.
“Attendees may briefly go inside to use restrooms if the facilities are frequently sanitized,” the guidance adds.
“The guidance says that, ‘No more than three households are permitted, including hosts and guests,’ and the host of Thanksgiving celebrations ‘should collect names of all attendees and contact information in case the state or county wants to contact trace the guests later.’
“Families and attendees should wear face coverings in-between bites.”
Instead of self-righteously engaging in insincere empathy and political posturing, Newsom would do well to listen to scientific advice, for instance to that of Dr. Knut Wittkowski, the highly credentialed expert on epidemiology and research design: “As with every respiratory disease, we should protect the elderly and fragile because when they get pneumonia, they have a high risk of dying. On the other hand, children do very well with these diseases. They are evolutionarily designed to be exposed to all sorts of viruses during their lifetime.
“The only thing that stops the disease is ‘herd immunity.’ About 80% of the people need to have had contact with the virus, and the majority of them won’t even have recognized that they were infected, or they had very, very mild symptoms, especially if they are children. So, it’s very important to keep the schools open and kids mingling to spread the virus to get herd immunity as fast as possible … (so that) after about four weeks the virus has been exterminated.”
However, in his unparalleled big-headedness, Newsom, for eight long months, managed to bankrupt businesses across California, 65% of which will never recover. And the already staggering economy of California is about to take another blow as federal and local eviction moratoriums expire on those missing payments during Newsom’s pan(ic)demic.
But to cut to the chase, Christians have primarily themselves to blame for the breakdown of the once biblically based culture, which has allowed potentates like Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Maine Gov. Janet Mills and other blue-state governors and mayors to pontificate over the rightful, constitutional owners of America: We the people. Half of Christians are not registered to vote, and half of that half (75%) won’t vote on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020.
As Christians have abandoned the public square over the last 100 years, secularists have filled the void with their own brand of secular ekklesia, which presently hold sway over the spiritual, intellectual, educational, economic and vocational cultural mountains of influence in America. It is a great shame that it has come to this.
Two things must happen if America is to be saved:
1. Issachar Training: The Men and Women of Issachar. Recruit 1,000 pastors and spiritual leaders—those manifesting an intimate relationship with God and a thorough knowledge of His Word, who due to their full understanding of God’s Word can put spiritual wisdom to work so as to save the nation. As these Gideons and Rahabs run for city council, county commissioner, school board, parks and recreation and so on, in 2022, 2024, 2026 and every two years thereafter, Christians will begin to galvanize and incentivize grand-scale social change in America.
This will result in a third Great Awakening, which may last well into the next century. The battle in America, after all, is not between Democrats and Republicans, but between two rival religions vying for control of the public square: Christianity and secularism.
According to William McKane’s commentary on Proverbs 8, “Wisdom mixes with men in the most busy and public places in town, as She does not recoil from the rough and tumble of the marketplace with its busyness and noise. She operates where competition is fiercest,” foreshadowing Jesus’ kingdom assignment to His disciples from Matthew 16:18.
Both Proverbs and Jesus’ ekklesia assignment presuppose activity in the political arena and public square.
When Pastor Rob McCoy ran for California Assembly in 2014, he ended the campaign with 650 volunteers, who had knocked on every door in the district, and called every home. Rob had a grassroots, precinct-level army marching.
Imagine the fundamental change in the community and culture if in 2022, 2024, 2026 and every two years thereafter, 1,000 pastors and spiritual leaders ran for local office, averaging 400 volunteers per campaign.
2. Focus on our youth. We call for the recruiting of 1,000 Christian youth from universities, colleges and high school seniors to begin knocking on doors next summer—door-to-door (students start off at $20 an hour, or $3,200 a month). In this job, young men and women develop an aptitude for dealing with people, a strong work ethic, real perseverance and resoluteness, which in turn develops strength of character and stamina, in addition to learning to deal with rejection and adverse circumstances.
It will develop skills that will last a lifetime, including the ability to defend biblical values and the Christian worldview in “the rough and tumble of the market-place” as well as qualities defined in Proverbs 8:15 as positioning “kings to reign and rulers to decree justice.”
All this is in keeping with our goal to position the next generation of spiritual leaders as civil government workers, political operatives and Christians running for local office, thereby initiating a third Great Awakening and saving America from further secularism-engendered devastation and depredation.
Gideons and Rahabs are beginning to stand. {eoa}
David Lane is the founder of the American Renewal Project.
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