Given that Mike Heath of the American Family Association of Maine has made a career out of attacking gays and claiming that marriage equality causes graffiti, vandalism, and crop failure, you'll have to forgive me if I don't buy the "can't we all just get along" vibe of this op-ed he published in the Portland Press Herald, especially considering that buried beneath his lament for our national "memory loss" is a not-so-subtle longing for the good ol' days when right-wing Christian values dominated and before gays got all uppity and started demanding equality:
Memory loss has dire consequences for nations as well. Long gone is America's sense of unity and purpose. A society that inherited the maxim "In unity is strength" is now told that diversity is the preeminent goal of its civilization.
The words "union" and "united" once inspired men from Maine to fight on the battlefields of Gettysburg and Bull Run. Today the word "union" calls to mind something vastly different.
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A loss of historical memory results in a confusion in values. An appeal to diversity manifests itself in the political realm as a proliferation of competing and contradictory ideas. Moral relativism undermines the values the West has held for centuries. Post-modernism takes an even more extreme position, and denies the possibility that any truth can exist at all.
Certain outcomes are predictable for such a divided and confused society. The inability to share a common frame of reference impairs communication among groups. Where communication fails, there is opposition.
And where there is opposition, citizens will impute the wrong motives to political opponents. Extreme skepticism in the realm of politics turns out to be a very poor substitute for Christianity, charity and shared national values.
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The task that lies before us is to unite all our people -- be they left or right, Republican or Democrat -- on the basis of shared ethical values ... We can indeed have a civilization which promotes community over self-interest, respect for ethical values over unbridled greed, health over indulgence, beauty over chaos. The day will come when America is once again renowned for its houses of worship, its common values, its communal festivals, its respect for women and family!
Unity will be restored; and the spirit of lawlessness and rebellion will be forgotten -- a storm in the night, followed by a clear, bright morning.
It is well-said that a society that obeys God's laws comes to look like heaven. This, I predict, will be the future of America, and it is the goal toward which we must all strive.
