Deep in the Age of Unreason Eric Utter
There was once an Age of Reason. Today, we appear to be living in the Age of Unreason. Or insanity.
As I’ve noted in previous posts, it is exceedingly difficult today for a sane person to believe what he observes on a daily basis, whether it be Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stating that the world will end in 12 years, Nancy Pelosi demanding that Republicans in the Senate put on a “fair” trial, pundits and talking heads blithely comparing President Trump to Hitler or the devil, people being threatened with fines or job loss for “misgendering” someone, or the pronouncements that men are having their own babies…to name but a few of the absurdities now passed off as news. Additionally, nearly every progressive policy prescription is utterly, demonstrably devoid of reason and logic.
To wit: Abortion should be legal, as it’s simply “a woman’s choice” to do what she will with her body? No. She can’t light up a cigarette in a public restaurant. She can’t depress the accelerator of her car too far without being issued a ticket for speeding or worse. She can’t drive drunk. If she is conservative, she often can’t even speak without being shouted down or chased off college campuses. She may be asked to leave a restaurant while quietly dining with family. She may even be assaulted. Just ask Sarah Sanders, Candace Owens, or Michelle Malkin, among many others.
Guns are bad and should be banned? Then why are most mass murders committed in gun-free zones? Why are the cities with the strictest gun control laws typically the ones with the most homicides?
The Green New Deal will save the planet, benefit the economy, and increase employment? No, you can’t spend more money than exists in the world and ban all energy extraction industries without destroying the economy on a worldwide scale (all to possibly keep the planet’s temperature from rising 0.5 degrees Celsius by 2100). And there are already more jobs in the U.S. than people to fill them, so…?
Moreover, Democrats and leftists (sadly, there is not much distinction anymore) routinely project their thoughts, motives, and actions onto Republicans and conservatives, aided by their lapdogs in the pathetically compliant mainstream media. (See Trump’s Ukraine “quid pro quo” versus Biden’s, for example.) And roughly half of the population can’t or won’t see their ruse.
Progressives seek nothing so much as power. Yet the more they crave it, the less they claim to, and the more they purport to have only the most altruistic of motives. They want to take away our First Amendment rights…and our Second Amendment rights…and tax the hell out of us…and tell us how big a soft drink we can purchase…and how we must think about climate change, the existence of 73 (or more) different genders, and too many other things to list here…all for our own good and the betterment of society. Right. Now tell us the one about the three bears.
As Ayn Rand said, “power seekers have always known that if men are to be made submissive, the obstacle is not their feelings, their wishes or their ‘instincts,’ but their minds; if men are to be ruled, then the enemy is reason.” That is a spot-on observation. Today’s Democrats have certainly made that clear. Yet Ms. Rand was remiss in one area. She could have added that attacking religion has historically been a hallmark of would-be totalitarian governments as well. Today’s Democrats routinely eschew reason and faith.
Faith and reason are not mutually exclusive, not strange bedfellows. In fact, they are inextricably entwined. Contrary to what those on the left would have us believe, religion has generally helped foster reason, not obliterate or refute it. As Ben Shapiro has pointed out, the twin pillars of revelation and reason — emanating from ancient Jerusalem and Athens — form the bedrock for Western civilization’s unprecedented success.
Reason has led us to longer life spans, better health, greater wealth, and more leisure time. It has led to countless great inventions. It has led us, literally, to the stars. Faith gives us the strength to make these journeys, and provides the ultimate destination.
Destroying either — or both — of these inevitably leads to societal collapse. All previous great societies have gone from bondage to abiding faith to great courage to independence to abundance to complacency to apathy to…bondage again. The United States appeared to be far down that same road until November 8, 2016. Now, well, time will tell. So as we look to the future this New Year’s Day, let’s not look too far. To Make America Great Again, we’ll all need to keep our vision on 2020.
Happy new year!
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