Over and over again, I am amazed at the ability of progressives to suck every last bit of joy out of life. Give them good news, and they’ll find the bad. Give them a happy story, and they’ll speculate what unseen ugliness lurks below the surface. Give them people living a green lifestyle and they’ll despair because the planet is dying around them. Give them classic Christmas shows like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and they’ll rip it to shreds. Many comedians refuse to perform on liberal college campuses because no one has a sense of humor anymore.
And of course, during this Christmas season they can’t take comfort or joy in celebrating the birth of a Savior since, of course, there is no God and Jesus (if He existed at all) was just some bearded hippie dude dumb enough to let himself be murdered by the Romans. In fact, anything reverent is an automatic target for taunting, mockery, or outright banning.
Take, for example, my column from last week in which I pointed out how Salon.com called the Hallmark channel’s wholesome Christmas movies “horror stories.” Predictably, I heard from a number of progressive readers who agreed with Salon that – since not everyone lives happily ever after in real life – then life stinks and there is no God.
One semi-literate reader (edited for clarity) took me to task for my audacity to suggest “happily ever after” (as depicted by Hallmark) might actually be a worthwhile goal in life:
“There are plenty of married women with children who are living very tough and depressing lives. Hubby is cheating on them. He doesn’t find them attractive anymore. The children are having problems in school being bullied, etc. The kids are suffering from clinical depression. They’re taking drugs and having sex. Drinking. Smoking. Taking care of the house, cooking, etc. is sheer drudgery. Hubby may be having problems earning enough money. He may be let go any day. How will they be able to afford food, rent etc.? Junior’s braces? Will they be able to send their kids to college? Tuition costs are rising all the time and there isn’t very much assistance and loans are awfully hard to get. What will happen if the kids come down with some serious illness? Or me or my husband? Will we be able to afford treatment? …”
On and on it went, outlining in great detail why life stinks, there is no God, and therefore Hallmark should stop making happy movies. This reader did a superb job of illustrating the points in my last two columns: Progressives – for all their talk of peace and love and world harmony – simply cannot find joy in life.
I’m sure you’ve seen this bumper sticker: “Annoy a liberal. Work. Succeed. Be happy.” It’s brilliant. In seven short, succinct words, it sums up what I see as some of the most serious flaws of the left: their inability to tolerate anyone who isn’t a victim.
Why is this, do you suppose? I speculate it’s because happiness would dry up their revenue source. An unhappy liberal is a liberal with an open wallet (or someone who will vote to force open your wallet). Whatever the cause du jour, libs need unhappy people to fight for them. If they can’t find enough people to support their causes, then 12-plus years of academic indoctrination will provide sufficient “victims” – and heaven forbid any of those young people shake off that victimhood enough to work, succeed and be happy. Like many unhappy people, liberals prefer to drag others down into the depths of their unhappiness rather than appreciate joy when they see it and strive to attain it themselves and for others.
I say this from the perspective of a former liberal. Yes, in my college days I was just as leftist as the rest of ’em. I could out-worry, out-cry and out-victimhood just about anyone else. I had the milk of human kindness oozing out my veins, right?
Of course, the ultimate source of joy is the source liberals paradoxically love to hate: faith. How dare a God try to tell them what to do (or not to do)? How dare a God imply they might one day be accountable for their actions to someone besides themselves?
It’s why progressives mock and taunt believers for their childish faith in a God who helps and rescues. I wish these unbelievers could take comfort in the Christmas song “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”:
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
Get it? God isn’t dead, nor does He sleep. If you don’t like God, it’s because you don’t know Him. If life stinks, then try inviting God to help out. There is no hardship on earth that isn’t eased by a belief in God’s redeeming grace – if not here, then later after this life is over. It’s like the old saying goes: No God, no peace. Know God, know peace. That’s the message I wish every liberal could hear, understand, and embrace.
God has the ability to carry people over the roughest parts of life. We may not always live in a Hallmark movie – we may have to deal with the litany of woes listed by my progressive reader above – but there isn’t one single thing we have to deal with that can’t be made immeasurably easier by laying those troubles in the lap of God.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” said Jesus. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
This is the good news – the Gospel – given to us: Life is beautiful, and there IS a God. You just have to seek out both … and not necessarily in that order.
A blessed Christmas to you all.
