An expressed concern for the wimps to the right

I have not read Bernard Goldberg’s book, Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right, but the title intrigues me. In this volume Goldberg supposedly gives “hard-hitting observations and no-nonsense advice for saving America from the lunatics on the Left and the sellouts on the Right.”

Since the contents of the book have not been a part of my literary diet I can only speculate as to Goldberg’s observations and conclusions. I don’t know if his assessment of the “Left” is anywhere close to being correct, but I’m guessing he has nailed the “Right” with pinpoint accuracy.

The early church “turned the world upside down,” but most churches today fail to create as much as a ripple in the stream of life. We are wimps!

So then, who are the most vocal, the most influential, and the most powerful people in our day? It is doubtful that it is the evangelical church or what some refer to as “the religious right.” Most would categorize me with the “wimps to the right,” but for me it is an embarrassing characterization. It is the “wimp” part I don’t like.

Nonetheless, we are much like the ostrich with our heads buried in the sand going through some kind of denial hoping beyond hope that things aren’t as bad as they seem. Or we are like the oppossum that in the face of a predator just rolls over and “plays dead.” Or are we like the three-toed sloth that moves so slowly that he could hardly bring either contribution or consternation to anyone or anything?

As Vance Havner used to say, “We are many, but not much.” The religious right may go to church, but the vast majority is seldom stirred to action. In church we sing our hymns (choruses), say our prayers, pay our tithes, hear the sermon, sit through the invitation, and go home and do nothing. The same ritual is repeated Sunday after Sunday.

It is practically impossible to find anyone with enough spiritual grit and gumption to confront sin, challenge the Pharisees, or drive the moneychangers out of the temple. We used to be concerned about things like drinking, smoking, chewing tobacco, playing cards, and dancing, but today it is nearly impossible to find more than a handful of people to register a modicum of concern over the killing of babies.

There is nothing more fundamental than the preservation of human life, but since 1973 we have allowed the abortionists to slaughter 45,000,000 babies. We are wimps because we have grown accustomed to this atrocity; and we have come to accept it as normal.

Has it ever occurred to you that once the religious right has been defeated the lost cause is never regained and the territory annexed by the opposition is never reclaimed? Once liquor by the drink is legalized, once the blue laws are eradicated, once the lottery is a part of the landscape, once abortion on demand is sanctioned we never seem to be able to mount an offensive to recoup our losses. We just never seem to be able to out-organize, out-mobilize, out-maneuver, out-wit or out-vote the opposition. Consequently, evil triumphs because good people are wimps.

If the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered activists were as apathetic, passive, and indolent as “the wimps on the right,” they would not have free reign in Hollywood, the favor of the mainstream media, and would scarcely be able to gain the attention of Barney Frank in the U. S. Congress.

What if the earliest disciples of Jesus had been wimps? The message of the resurrection would have been silenced. The gospel would have never been preached. The church would have never been birthed. The New Testament would never have been written. There would be no Christian martyrs. No examples of faithfulness and sacrifice. No remnant of Christianity left for this present day. The cause of Christ would have disappeared into the dust of oblivion.

The church is hemorrhaging at the rate of 50,000 souls per Sunday. As the population of the nation increases, the influence of the church decreases. Secularism is gaining an increasing foothold in our society. The sanctity of life is held with little regard even though politicians regularly invoke the words of the Declaration of Independence and proclaim, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Why? Why are we in such a spiritual and ideological freefall? The religious right appears to be satisfied with the status quo. In short, we are spineless wimps.

We must extricate ourselves from this malaise, the cove of complacency, the den of dormancy, this world of “wimpiness.”

My fundamental concern in this editorial is the Paramount Human Life Amendment. I know this sounds hauntingly, perhaps even boringly, familiar, but I have revisited this subject because we have a unique opportunity to make a historic, landmark decision, buck the trend, and reclaim some of the territory the enemy has menacingly claimed as its own.

If this bill, H.R. 536, were to appear on the ballot in November and pass, it would preserve and honor the sanctity of life from fertilization to natural death in Georgia and set a precedent for the entire nation. It could ultimately lead to the reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on demand in the United States.

Our state legislators must vote in the affirmative on H.R. 536 in order for it to be on the ballot in November. So far, 69 legislators have co-signed the bill, but it has not gotten out of committee as of yet. Speaker of the House Glen Richardson can be our great ally in getting this bill passed. I beseech you to call Speaker Richardson at (404) 656-5020 and let him know you favor the Human Life Amendment, or H.R. 536. Your call can make a difference. Become a change agent. Be a crusader for the most fundamental right of mankind – the right to life. Don’t be a wimp! Call today!