Ecc 3:1-8 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: (2) a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; (3) a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; (4) a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; (5) a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; (6) a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; (7) a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; (8) a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
These words are just as true today as they were when they were written so long ago. Who can argue that life and society and governments go through seasons of change? It seems to me though, that many of us have forgotten that there is a time for *every* matter under heaven. I have never seen so many politicians and college aged kids and celebrities and even my own peers so distraught over the fact that those who have been silent in America and even around the world are now speaking out against the tides of liberalism, pluralism and political correctness that has swept across the west. I hear the 60's were close, but no where near as global. Brexit in the UK, the growing conservative parties in Holland, France and Germany, the middle America backlash in America has proven that it is far more than politics that we see taking place in the world, it is a cultural rebellion. It is a revolution of the people, maybe even a civil war of type, with competing ideologies.
I think of the preacher's words when he says there's a time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted. A little over 210 years ago, there was this thing called the French Revolution, with their call of "No God but Man", Fraternity, egalitarianism, and a deep seated hatred and distrust for the governments, which were rooted in the philosophies of John Locke and Rousseau. It was an idea of democracy, but not a democracy rooted in a Republic as we conceive of it, but more in line of that of a re-imagined Roman Empire. The idea of Liberty, Freedom, Natural rights, and Constitutionalism were not necessarily bad, as they were rooted in a Nationalism that set France as the center of their loyalties. However, the idea of egalitarianism, and a fraternity was severely flawed and rooted in a type of socialism that has crept into our own government and society.
Egalitarianism is that ideology that all men are not only created equal (which I believe firmly), but that they also deserve equal treatment and opportunity (which are also noble ideas I am in agreement with as well). The problem with Egalitarianism is that the logical conclusion of that thinking cannot be left there is a socialistic way of thinking. You necessarily have to take opportunity away from some to bolster the opportunity of others. In other words, if the person working harder and earning more and doing better because of his merit is progressing past the others, we must take from him and give to the one who is not as skilled, talented, etc.. Instead of that person working harder, training more, or moving to another occupation, or simply even remaining where he is because of his aptitude, egalitarianism instead teaches that everybody deserves the same thing regardless of ability. In other words, it neglects the fact that while we may all be created equal, we do not all remain equal, while we may all have equal opportunity, not all can or do make use of that opportunity. In other words, Egalitarianism in it's enlightenment context means that in order to achieve enlightenment equality, special treatment (not equal treatment) must be given to those who cannot or do not achieve as well as others. It is an unequal leveling of the playing field at the expense of others. This is perhaps one reason why there is a time to plant and a time to pluck. There are, at times a separating of wheat and tares, of plucking bad plants from the crop to allow good ones to grow. And of course the good harvest from the planting. Every seed starts with equal opportunity and receives the same treatment in its planting , but not all seeds produce the same results.
In Western Society however, we will nurture the failing plants at the expense of the ones who have the potential to thrive. This is why socialism fails. Here is another reason why. Our progressive culture in the west fails to recognize a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up. Whatever good intention might have lain at the heart of the beginning of the movement has been removed and obscured by selfishness to be heard, to be right, to quench any real freedom to express dissenting opinion. Instead, they riot, they shout down and they obstruct. How contradictory is this from the idea of Liberty that we have held so dear for so long in the West? A time to kill and a time to heal means someone has to lose. A time to break down means we remove what was once there and a time to build up means we replace it with something else. It is the way society works. It ebbs and flows, it peaks and valleys. Social progressives and many liberals fail to recognize this, and instead see it as a threat to our established way of life. They believe there must be a pluralism where absolutely everything except a dissenting opinion must be accepted and practiced. It is in essence a Stalinistic, neofascist, Islamic ideology rooted in submission to their ideology only, or revolution is the only option left.
In America, we had 8 years of progressive liberalism that left us with a time to seek. Conservatives and many others spent that time watching and reflecting on our failures and needs and our country spoke in the last election. We endured our time to lose, sometimes with dignity and sometimes not, but we never rioted, burned or assaulted others in violent protest.
Now we sit at a precarious time, because we are in a time to heal, a time to embrace. We need to heal from the horrible leftist policies that have hurt us, we need to embrace each other not as ones who accepts every idea or practice that reflects our own ideologies, but as Americans, or Frenchmen or Germans or whatever western country you are from reading this, because our uniting bond is that we were all created equal and deserve equal treatment and even though we don't all achieve equal success, we deserve equal dignity for who and what we are. This is real liberty. It is ok to disagree, it is what sharpens us, and we should be united under the ideals of liberty. We need walls. Walls keep out those who undermine liberty and freedom. Not every ideology is healthy or good. Some are destructive and damning. This is why vetting is necessary. How many people live without doors on their homes? Doors are like walls in one respect. They can shut things out or keep them in. We find them necessary because the truth is, there are bad things out there that would do us harm.
And there are. Bad things that is. That would do us harm. This is why there is a time for war. No one is fond of war, but it is a necessity. General Robert E. Lee once said "It is good that war is so terrible lest men grow too fond of it". He hated war and thought it should be avoided when possible, but that at times it is necessary to protect the people. In our age of Islamic terrorism, we are in a time of war. It is time to make our plowshares into swords and stand. A country with no military or defense, a country with no borders or gates is no country at all. Restrictions are there to provide freedom within its bounds. Socialistic Globalism seeks to eliminate boundaries and in reality destroys liberty and freedom. When that happens, when pluralism takes root we cease to remain a nation and we cease to be a people. When the vision dies, people perish.
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