Culture
How the Sexual Revolution Changed the World
There are numerous events or movements that have changed the course of history. In the last two hundred years, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, abolition of slavery, the Civil Rights movement, World Wars I & II and the Information Revolution come to mind.
Another one that I lived through was the Sexual Revolution of the 1950s to 70s. I know it’s not on the usual radar screens of earth-shattering events, but I believe it should be.
What really happened during the 20th century Sexual Revolution? What are its lasting effects? How has the Baby-boom-led sexual revolt changed the world as we know it?
Some of the answers may surprise you.
When we think of life changing events or movements we don’t normally think of sex. It’s a pretty basic yet wonderful aspect of human experience, and in my opinion, one of the greatest gifts from God for expressing human love.
That’s why most songs center around sensual love either from a desire or lament standpoint.
Many years ago, I noticed in the Old Testament that though all sins are equal in their motive (selfish and lawless), they are not equal in their ramifications or consequences. In fact, the clear teaching of the Bible and human history is that deviating from God’s wise boundaries of a man and woman experiencing sexual love in marriage is extremely hurtful and destructive.
That’s why the Old Testament elevates sexual sins above some others. Just peruse chapters such as Leviticus 18 or 20 and you will get the picture. Sexual sin is bad. It hurts and defiles people. That’s why God told the nation of Israel to hate it, avoid it, and legislate against it.
God does not want human beings to suffer the dreadful consequences of perverting his beautiful gift of sex.
Enter the 1950s. The world had just experienced two dreadful wars in which a total of 76 million people died (16M in World War I and 60M in World War II). That was about 4% of world population at the time. Millions more were wounded, displaced, some nations reduced to rubble, with psychological damage unfathomable.
Out of that devastation, a time of calm prevailed in the Western nations where GIs came back from the war, got married, had kids and begun to live more “normal” lives. At the time, a strong Judeo-Christian world view coupled with an evangelical awakening led by Billy Graham and others gave credence to biblical norms in sexual activity.
Most men and women married. Fornication and adultery were generally frowned upon. Homosexuality, incest, and pedophilia were seen as taboo. The Baby Boom generation–now the second largest generation in American history–were about to arrive.
I was one of them, born into a normal, religious home in 1953. Those were the days of “Leave It to Beaver,” “Ozzie and Harriet,” and “Father Knows Best.” That would all change in the late fifties through seventies when I graduated from high school.
The change seemed to start in Hollywood and the music scene. Famous actors and musicians began to sleep around. Stars like Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and others encouraged the young generation to rebel against the old, traditional (and biblical ways). The rebellion appeared to be against God, various authority figures, and sexual norms.
I remember the mini-skirts rising, the pot and sex parties, Woodstock, Playboy, and on and on it went. A new world was being created where sex was simply my desire for you, baby, to “Light My Fire.” Today, almost anything goes sexually without hardly the blink of an eye.
That movement of “sexual freedom” has changed the world–and not for the good. Here are some of its incredible global consequences.
Atheist Growth
Sexual anarchy seems to go hand-in-hand with those who do not believe in God or a Higher Power to whom we are accountable. Of course there are some exceptions to that rule, but can anyone honestly argue that those who break the biblical boundaries of sex are partly running from God?
The statistics make it clear. Over the past fifty years, atheism has doubled in America from 7 to 14 percent of the population and many people now claim “No religion.” This has given birth to a relentless attack upon biblical faith by the media, government, Hollywood, and militant atheist groups who are trying to secularize every aspect of American culture.
Last week an Army chaplain was reprimanded for giving Christian literature to GIs during a “Suicide Prevention Week.” The American military–once a bastion of biblical faith and defense of liberty–is quickly becoming our biggest social experimentation grounds.
It all has its roots in the Sexual Revolution.
Disease Explosion
One of the medical fruits of the Sexual Revolution has been the growth of new diseases due to illicit sexual activity. At last report, the Revolution has spawned 26 brand new venereal diseases.
An estimated 1.5 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2013, and an estimated 39 million people with AIDS have died worldwide since the epidemic started. Sub-Saharan Africa bears the biggest burden of HIV/AIDS, with almost 70% of the global total of new HIV infections for 2013.
Let that sink in. 76 million people died unnecessarily because of Hitler, Stalin and Mao. But half that many (39 million) have died unnecessarily in our lifetime simply due to one STD we call AIDS.
History is littered with tribes, nations and civilizations that either declined or died due to sexual perversion. The Incas, Aztecs and Roman world come to mind. The modern Sexual Revolution is taking us down the same path, albeit being retarded by advances in modern medicine.
History’s Biggest Holocaust
One of the most tragic fruits of the Sexual Revolution was the revival on the ancient sin of abortion–killing an innocent baby in the womb simply because it is unwanted. As people slept around and sex started to multiply beyond marriage, something had to be done with the unwanted fruit of unrestrained passion.
Enter the tragic and legislative stupidity of Roe v. Wade in 1973. It came about for one primary reason: to get rid of the evidence of sexual chaos and evil. Abortion wasn’t new, it was just pagan–an ungodly practice revived in the modern world–to keep the Revolution roaring without “problems.”
The Guttmacher Institute estimates that between 1 and 2 billion human beings have been aborted in 20th and 21st centuries. That makes the Sexual Revolution abortion machine the greatest holocaust of all time.
Take a moment and weep over that statistic. At least a billion innocent children sucked apart or cut to pieces on the altar of selfish indulgence. Makes Hitler look like a piker.
Destroying Marriage and Family
Can anyone deny that “sexual liberation” is one of the main causes of the destruction of marriage and family in the past fifty years?
In former times of biblical mores, men and women either got married and kept sex in marriage because it was the right thing to do, or, if they weren’t believers, the man wanted sex and the woman wanted children. Both of those motives produced wholesome family units, with a mom, a dad, and kids.
I saw an article today that appeared a week ago in the Washington Post that shows how the Sexual Revolution has destroyed the America family. It’s called “The Unbelievable Rise of Single Motherhood in America Over the Past Fifty Years” and is based on studies by Princeton’s Sara McLanahan and Harvard’s Christopher Jencks.
It explains, for example, that more than 70 percent of all black children today are born to an unmarried mom, a three-fold increase in that rate since the 1960s. You can read the article here.
Hey, what happened in the 1960s? Oh yeah, there was the Sexual Revolution where men started sleeping around with whoever would have them, then split the scene. What was once sinful is now the new awful norm–kids without parents and diseases galore.
Ask the children if that kind of sex is “liberating” to them. In most cases, it sentences young ones to a life of poverty and lack of good role models.
Rising Narcissism and Anarchy
An awful lot of rioting is happening around America these days due to racial tension and exploitation. I know this can’t be directly attributed to the Sexual Revolution, but let’s be reminded of this: The essence of the Revolution was rebellion against authority–God, parents, police and others. At the root of the original movement was a spirit of anarchy and chaos which said, “I will do what I want with my body or to others.”
A couple generations later, that same spirit is once again manifest in American streets and neighborhoods.
Mushrooming Financial Debt
What does sexual promiscuity have to do with trillions of dollars of debt?” More than we realize.
I learned this consequence of the Sexual Revolution by looking at various charts. For example, if you read the Washington Post article you’ll notice a number of graphs that the authors use to demonstrate the rise of single motherhood and dissolution of the family. They show the uptick beginning in the fifties through seventies then exploding upward to the present time.
It’s exactly the same graph as the uptick in illicit sexual activity i.e. the Revolution. America’s debt bomb mirrors our sexual confusion. So what’s the connection?
People who cheat in marriage or relationships will do the same thing with money. When you’re living for pleasure or the next conquest, it’s all about the “now” without thought of the future. In the financial realm, the same spirit is in operation–living for today and not saving for the future.
In other words, the same character that rebels against God-ordained sex will do the same thing with finances. Lack of self control in one inevitably produces lack of self control in the other. The graphs are the same.
For hundreds of years, most Americans believed in God’s ideal for marriage and family. During that era, they also generally practiced his principles of financial stewardship. Debt was taboo and limited. So was illicit sex.
When the Sexual Revolution erupted fifty years ago, it produced the debt mentality that now enslaves us in trillions of dollars of borrowed money–both personal and corporate. Sexual atheists beget financial atheists. Unfortunately, they now occupy the power structures of our once wiser nation–with a day of reckoning coming.
That’s how the Sexual Revolution changed the world.
We need a new Jesus Revolution to reverse it.
Political and Spiritual Repentance Bring Twin Rays of Hope
A political tidal wave washed ashore in the United States last night, bringing some hope to a struggling and fearful nation. A few weeks prior, another important but quieter riptide was set in motion in parts of the American nation.
One of these waves was political and the other was spiritual. At the center of both stands the re-emergence of a very important theological truth:
Repentance.
Political and spiritual repentance brought twin rays of hope to America today.
How so?
In my early years as a follower of Christ I wasn’t taught much about the concept of repentance. In fact, in some early discipleship classes, I was told that repentance was an Old Testament concept (primarily) and that it had been superseded in the New Testament by grace and faith.
Then I began to read the Bible for myself and found the word and concept of repentance all over the New Testament. For example:
- The first words that Jesus said when he began his earthly ministry are found in Mark 1:15, “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Good News.”
- Thirty three times the word repent or repentance is mentioned in the NT books and letters (e.g. Matthew 4:17, Acts 20:21, Romans 2:4, 2 Corinthians 7:9,10 and Revelation 2:5).
- In the first recorded sermon of the Early Church era (Acts 3:19), Peter doesn’t mention the word “faith.” In order to be saved he tells people: “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”
My early teachers must have been confused about the concept of repentance. Repenting from sin and error seems to be at the center of both the Old and New Testament teachings.
During my early missions training, I read Mother Basilea Schlink’s excellent book Repentance: The Joy-Filled Life which was required reading in our YWAM schools. That, and my continued reading of Scripture settled me in the truth that repentance was a critical character quality for both individuals and nations.
Repentance is necessary and it brings both joy and hope!
So what does this old theological word really mean?
Our English word repentance comes from the Greek equivalent metanoia which simply means to “re-think,” “change your mind,” or do a U-turn in thinking which, in turn, changes your life.
Sometimes we associate this change of mind with tears, regret, and an emotional experience that we call “repenting.” But the feelings are not the critical element.
Change of thinking is the key.
Changing your mind and life is a vital concept. We come into right relationship with God by re-thinking or changing our minds about our sin and rebellion against God. We’re wrong. God is right. Our change of mind leads to a change of direction–we stop living for ourselves ands start living for God and His glory.
That U-turn–from self-centered living to a God-honoring lifestyle–brings great joy and hope, not just on this earth but a promise of eternal life.
It might be true to say that nothing brings more joy and hope than the fruits of repentance.
Enter the 2014 election.
A Political Tidal Wave
Though I was expecting some change in direction in the American nation through last night’s election, the tidal wave of results truly amazed me and stunned most political pundits.
Politically, America repented last night. Some significant majorities “re-thought” their position on the way the nation was going and changed their votes to point us in another direction. To state it in negative form, they repudiated the growth of incompetent Big Government and decided to give the Republican Party a chance to take us back to smaller government, economic growth, moral values, and national strength.
This was nothing less than political repentance. Call it what you want–buyer’s remorse, seeing the consequences of bad policies, or feeling the pain of domestic and foreign upheavals–the American people went to the polls last night and RE-THOUGHT the direction they wanted America to go.
Their change of mind–repentance–gave birth to a historic change in voting:
- US Senate: The American people gave the Republicans majority control of the Senate with 8-9 pickups (Louisiana needs to go to a run-off). That was big deal, throwing out Majority Leader Harry Reid and bringing in Mitch McConnell and a new slate of leaders.
- US House of Representatives: Added 14 seats to the House of Representatives–the highest total Republicans have had since 1946. The House stands at 247-183, well beyond what analysts expected. A few races in Arizona and California were not called on Tuesday night.
- Governors: Grew Republican governorships to 31 versus 17 Democrats, with Vermont headed into a run-off and Alaska still being counted (if Republican Sean Parnell loses, it will be to independent Bill Walker.) That’s a net gain of four governorships for the GOP. This leaves Democrats at their weakest point in state legislatures since the 1920s.
- State Governments: Republicans seized new majorities in the West Virginia House, Nevada Assembly and Senate, New Hampshire House, Minnesota House and New York Senate, The West Virginia Senate is now tied. (Control of several legislative chambers was still up in the air early Wednesday as counting continued in several tight races that will determine control of the Colorado Senate, New Mexico House and Maine Senate.)
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The lone bright spot for Democrats was holding majorities in the Iowa Senate and Kentucky House.
I remember being in Washington, D.C. during the days of the Reagan Revolution which brought a conservative president into the Oval Office and threw many liberal bureaucrats out of town. They called that era “Morning in America.”
We’re not there yet, but I see this morning a shining ray of political hope.
All because a majority of the American people repented (re-thought and changed their votes).
A Spiritual Rip-tide
Something else happened on the Sunday before election day (and the weeks and months that led up to it). Thousands of Christian leaders and their people gathered in a Houston Church to show solidarity during “I Stand Sunday.”
You’re probably aware that Houston Mayor Annise Parker, an avowed lesbian and LGBT activist, recently rammed through the city of Houston an ordinance that became known as the “bathroom bill” which allowed trans genders to use any facility they wanted.
In other words, if you were a man but wanted to be a woman, you could use the ladies’ restroom in any public facility (and vice versa). The residents of Houston didn’t like the intrusive bill and collected 50,000 signatures (30,000 were required) to bring it to a vote of the people.
The activist mayor not prevented a vote on the measure (how’s that for “We, the people”), but issued subpoenas to five local area pastors demanding their Free Speech-protected sermons, bulletins, letters etc. Mayor Parker was ticked off that the pastors had mobilized their people to gather the 50,000 signatures that were required to put the referendum on the ballot.
Her actions were shades of Nazi Germany or Communist China–not America.
Instead of Mayor Parker winning her way, she accidently lit a fire storm of protest from a sleeping church that woke up to realize that basic religious rights were being trampled by secular zealots and needed to be resisted.
The Church’s “repentance”–re-thinking their need to be the salt and light in this nation while facing outright persecution–caused them to rise up nation-wide to send Bibles to Mayor Parker’s office, start a cascade of prayer for revival, and led to the scheduling of “I Stand” Sunday on November 2 where thousands gathered in a Houston Church to speak up for freedom.
We can especially thank Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council for leading the “I Stand” charge.
One observer described “I Stand” this way:
“With more than 7,000 looking on within the sanctuary, there was no mistaking the energy and enthusiasm in the auditorium, as people stood and cheered for nine minutes as dozens and dozens of the area’s pastors marched into the sanctuary for the “I Stand Sunday” kick off. As Dr. Ronnie Floyd, President of the Southern Baptist Convention, told listeners, ‘it is time to wake up from our slumber! While Mayor Parker may have overstepped her bounds, that was only possible because the church had fallen asleep at the gate.'”
“’Our greatest problem,’ Dr. Floyd said, ‘is not in the White House, but God’s house!’ If you’re wondering why things like this are happening in cities like Houston, Fayetteville, and San Antonio, look in the mirror. The blame for this doesn’t rest with Annise Parker or the city — but every Christian, who has quietly stepped into the shadows on tough truths.'”
“‘It’s because a lot of people in our churches have said, “I just don’t want to get involved,” former Governor Mike Huckabee explained. ‘My dear friends, when the government comes to your pastor and says, “Cough up all of the sermons, sermon notes and correspondence that the pastor has had with his own parishioners,” you are already involved.'”
“‘It’s time’, Dr. Floyd and others pointed out, ‘to get right with God.'”
Just prior to the “I Stand” event, hundreds of pastors had participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday–an opportunity to resist some unconstitutional edicts of the IRS regarding free speech in the churches. In 2008, 33 churches participated in the thrust.
In 2014, 1600 churches joined the movement.
Numerous prayer thrusts, Pulpit Freedom Sunday, and the “I Stand” movement all galvanized this fall to call the Church in America to repentance–to change our minds and actions–to see people come to Christ in our nation and resist the advance of evil.
A spiritual rip-tide is beginning in this nation that brings a shining ray of spiritual light to the horizon.
In summary, God is moving in the Church and in our nation that could bring positive affects to our nation and the world in the coming years.
Repentance–continuing and deepening repentance–is the key to both, and can bring back hope that comes through change.
Education For Liberty Project
One month from now, Americans have the privilege of going to the polls to elect their leaders. Nearly one hundred nations in the world do not allow that privilege.
Many of us possess the right to vote, but don’t value it enough to use it wisely.
I have a friend, who, when he was young, reminded me of Clark Kent. He was talk, dark, handsome, soft spoken and deeply committed to “truth, justice and the American way.”
That friend has an idea for the 2014 election…
His name is Bill Burtness, thinker, author, and missionary who has written one of the best books I’ve ever read on civil government. His book explains how government works and how liberty is lost in a society.
Bill not only writes, teaches and speaks in many places, he also trains political science majors in the nation of Kosovo.
I mentioned that nearly one hundred nations on this planet do not allow people to elect their leaders. At least, they don’t have “real elections” as we know it. The youthful demonstrations taking place in Hong Kong right now are over this issue. The Communist Chinese government in Beijing is calling the shots on who can run for office in Hong Kong.
The students are saying no–and protesting in the street. They want the true freedom to choose their own leaders and not be governed by communist puppets.
We shall see if they prevail or if another Tianneman Square massacre is coming.
Other nations that don’t allow “We the People” to govern include Muslim states (over fifty of them), other communist regimes like North Korea, Viet Nam and Cuba, and various monarchies such as in Nepal or Brunei.
Question: What do most of these nations have in common?
Answer: They are poor and oppressed (especially women and children).
Then there is the United States of America where a “5000 Year Leap” took place two-and-a-half centuries ago which produced the world’s freest nation.
In a short space of time, the US became the wealthiest, most religious, and most prosperous nation in the history of the planet.
Today that freedom and blessing is at great risk because many Americans don’t know where liberty originates, nor they they care about maintaining it.
They show their apathy by not voting. And many of those who do vote are grossly uninformed and end up electing people that only hasten the nation’s demise.
My friend, Bill Burtness, has an idea.
It’s called the Education for Liberty Project.
During this month and for the remainder of your life, I encourage you to follow Bill’s wise words and example. Our response will determine whether America remains a free nation, or joins the list of tyrannies that have cursed people’s lives from the dawn of time.
The Education for Liberty Project
“I’m not even going to vote. It’s just the lesser of two evils!”
FRUSTRATED WITH POLITICS
A pastor in one of our city-wide pastor’s meetings recently voiced this frustration felt by many Bible-believing Christians at this time, not knowing how to approach the quandary we find ourselves in and feeling our single vote as impotent. Evidently, there were some 20 million believers who felt the same way in recent elections, and that adds up!
Unfortunately, this has become a self-fulfilling prophecy of cultural decline, as Godless policy has been implemented at every level of civil government in our nation, for many years, while we scratch our heads.
The Scriptures tell us about ancient Israel’s decent into chaos and violence in Judges 2:7 & 10, “There arose a new generation that did not know the Lord, nor the things He had done for Israel.” Their problem was they had not been taught.
That is our problem as well.
We believers have not been taught the original thinking of the American Founders. There is now a need for a huge education movement in our day as our culture has become more secularized and postmodern. We believe this movement has begun, but there is much work to be done, especially at a grass roots level. Thus the
EDUCATION FOR LIBERTY PROJECT!
America at its founding was unique on the earth – the people could for the first time as a nation govern themselves under God in the area of civil government. We could choose those who govern us! Thus the opportunity to “hire” the best in the land periodically to be our representatives.
But, we must want the best. That is a matter of our personal character. And we must find the best, and get them into office. That will take some effort.
The Education For Liberty Project is a grass-roots vision to help remedy this dilemma, challenging believers with four key elements:
PRAY – STUDY – VOTE – SERVE.
1) Pray, daily. This is the beginning point! If we are going to be delivered, it is only God who can deliver us. We need His intervention. Our wits are not good enough. We know prayer changes things. God’s people must turn back to Him. In II Chronicles 7:14, God tells us that if we do, He will forgive our sin, and He will even heal our land. We must see a new Third Great Awakening in America.
2) Study, regularly. Like Ezra, who studied the law of the Lord, practiced it, and taught His statutes in Israel, Ezra 7:10, so must we put forth some effort to learn, practice and teach God’s ways for nations. Study the Bible and the Biblical worldview. Learn the Biblical principles America was founded upon. Apply them in your family, church and civil government. Teach them in your sphere of influence.
SELF-EVIDENT TRUTHS by Bill Burtness is a resource textbook, written in simple terms especially for Christian Americans to study and teach, to help renew a practical understanding of how America was designed to work. It is about how to have a free nation. It is about philosophy of government, not politics.
The least expensive and easiest way to begin your study is the PDF e-book you can download now for your computer or portable reading device. Hard copy available at Amazon.com.
Get your copy of SELF-EVIDENT TRUTHS today!
Learn, and teach your family, friends and co-workers.
3) Vote, always. And vote wisely. A studied vote is a crucial action step. Actually, though “voting for the lesser of two evils” may be a helpful way to look at it, we are actually “voting for the best available option in this particular election,” not for a minimum of evil. (Acts 1:21-26) If the choice is really that bleak, we need to find better individuals to run for our representatives in the next election cycle. Voting intelligently is the most basic part of governing ourselves under God in the civil sphere. This is what America is all about.
4) Serve, as the Lord leads, however possible. This is a long-term frame of mind in a free nation. There are many local positions where we can begin to serve in the civil sphere – election judges and pole watchers, precinct committee and political party leadership, school board or city council, local, county, state, national representatives, and more. As the Lord leads, each position is a place of learning and service to the Lord and the community.
Our representatives must be the most Godly, Biblical, intelligent and capable servant leaders in the land. (Matt. 20:25-28)
TAKING THE LEAD
The basis of law and government comes from God and the Bible. Without that basis, we only have man’s greed, power hunger and opinion directing nations. So the charge for restoring America lies at the feet of Bible-believing Christians, many of whom refrain from voting. Since we believers have the instruction Book, we must take the lead. Refraining from voting is in itself a vote. But how do we cast an intelligent Godly informed Biblical vote?