WHERE ARE THE HEROES??

T he late Peter Marshall, pastor of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. (1937-1947) and later became chaplain of the U.S. Senate, preached a sermon called, “Where Are the Heroes Now?” His sermons, now in print, were preached to meet the needs of the people; they were supportive, ethical, and evangelistic. His genius for descriptive imagery made its own contribution. Entire sermons were based on hypothetical events which he described so vividly that his listeners were sure they must have happened. I’ve read many of them myself. I like the one about the heroes or the lack of them.

He starts out by saying: “There was a time in the United States when the youth was inspired by Hero Worship...Those were the days of great beliefs- belief in the authority of the Scriptures, belief that prayer was really answered, belief in marriage and the family as a permanent institution, belief in the integrity and worth of America’s great men.” Well, as we all know, NOW, all these have changed, especially marriage and family. Now America pushes the GLBTQ filth off on us as a much higher way of life and same-sex marriage as a much better marriage, and now the family can consists of two dads and two moms - the children adopted from the heterosexuals. Marshall goes on to speak of past men like G. Washington and A. Lincoln. He laments the day when the pictures of Washington and Lincoln did not fit in with our concept of modern decor... “the old Family Bible looked embarrassingly out of place beside the first surrealistic paintings and cocktail cabinets or a bar.” He continued, ”So the pictures and the Bible were often relegated to the attic of forgotten things. There went with them some of the most stabilizing influences of American life.” New America, New Enlightened America had come of age!! Is there anything in American life that has not been “put away” that reminded us of our beginnings? - when we prayed, read God’s Word for strength, guidance, help...NOT SO!! Man and Woman, HAS NOW become their OWN God!!

Marshall goes on in his sermon to say, “We had become a more sophisticated people somewhat cynical of the cherished beliefs of our ancestors, a little hard-boiled, rather blase’, frankly skeptical of old-fashioned sentimentalism. Along with our higher education came a debunking contest...a national sport. It was smarter to revile than to revere... more fashionable to depreciate than to appreciate. In our classrooms, at all levels of education, no longer did we laud great men/women - those who had struggled and achieved. Instead, we merely took their dimensions, and ferreted out their faults.” Political correctness at work! Communism at work! “We decided that it was silly to say, God sent them for a special task: they couldn’t help bring what they were - merely creatures of their time’, the products of their environments.” It was like the Frankfurt School (once called the Institute of Social Research, founded in the early years by the Weimar Republic, Germany) had always been the School of American learning from the get-go. But because, dear readers, Americans had dozed off to sleep, this “Marxist” theory practically took over all education. It is known today as “political correctness.”

Being in the Senate as Chaplain, Peter Marshall, I’m sure, saw and heard this “demon of Marx” at work right before his eyes. For he continued to say, “ So we congratulated ourselves that at last our history books were teaching the young the untarnished and unlovely truth ... that all America’s history was a myth,... so we should change the constitution to suit modern ways.” As I write, this goal is still a priority of the Left and too many of the Right. He continues...”that Christ was purely and simply an historical figure, that the Bible is a collection of Jewish folklore, pious legends, ancient superstitions.” (Marx was a Jew, became a Christian for a short period of time, then became a full-time Anti-Christ!!!)

The sixties came in as a flood, the Anti-Christ spirit made those of the older generation, who still believed in God, in Jesus, felt unwanted, archaic. The sixties was a sign of knowledge-ability and scholarship to refute the certainties of another age. So, the generation that followed grew up without, as Marshall puts it, ...”the guiding star of Hero-worship.” But the hippie generation did have their heroes—the druggies, the Rock-stars, drunkards, the anti-establishment rebels. Iconoclastic skepticism prevailed...Marx/Mao became the heroes, a sure sign of a dying, decaying society. SPOUTING FREEDOM only ENSLAVED us all!!!

The “critical theory” of society by Max Horkheimer and Adorno was put into practice (at least tried) in America’s colleges/universities. Many pseudo-Frankfurt theorists presented new “ideals” and “concepts”, giving Political Correctness (PC) a real home in modern sociology. The renaissance of Marxist sociology took hold in the late 1960s. Now it reigns as king, thanks to the overthrow of the bourgeoises culture (at least to some extent). Horkheimer, Adorno and Marcuse (the latter being a professor in a U.S. university.

Tom Bottomore makes it clear in drawing a parallel, the Frankfurt School thinkers of the 1930s were led by their pessimism into a retreat from (hard-core) Marxian social theory, and then towards an essntially philosophical and neo-Hegelian critique of ideology. Herbert Marcuses’ version of “critical theory” ( to criticize everything) shares many of these aspects of “ideologiekritik” conducted not from empirical observation but philosophical speculation, despite the fact that he preferred to stay on in America after the school returned from exile there in 1952- most FS radicals went back to Germany after WW2. Marcuse is best known by his One-Dimensional Man book.

The promise of an intellectualized and culturally sophisticated quasi- Marxism had an undeniable appeal to many in the 1960s. Christianity was scorned and PC-ism was embraced, although political correctness was not a term used like today. When Marshall was chaplain, this Marxism was making its home in D.C.,, to stir this nation away from that of God and Country stuff. The founding of the Institute of Social Research (Feb. 3, 1923) was the result of particular conditions produced by the victory of the Bolshevik revolution (Jewish) in Russia. The “New Left” formed up under the ideas of “critical theory” pushed mainly by Marcuse. The old “New Left” may have died away over the years, but revived forms of Marxism thought still persist. Actually, “Western Marxism” emerged in the 1920s but exploding in the 1960s (See the writing of Korsch, Lukacs, Gromsci, Horkheimer, Adorno, and Marcuse.)

Peter Marshall, in his “Where are the Heroes Now?” sermon asked, “But why all the debunking?” It was the critical theory, it worked. He lets his listeners know, “I say this even though I am one of those who believe that there are some principles worth fighting for and worth dying for, if need be. The trouble with our time is that when we can’t believe there is anything left to us worth dying for, then we’re not sure there’s anything worth living for either.” Then he brings up military service... “As a Christian minister—I find myself on the horns of a terrible dilemma. We all hate and loath war...”. Yet, take note my dear readers, how much America PUSHES WAR !!! Is it really for God and country, as both Christianity and politics say it is? Or is it really for certain forces at work who are run by greedy men/women for wealth and power? Somebody gets RICH in all this warmongering.

Marshall goes on with his chain of thought about war saying, “We denounce it (certain Christians, and I am one that does!!) ...It is contrary to all the principles of ethics and of Christ!!” Well, too many “Christians” will take issue with that, but it is nevertheless true. I have put together several publications along these lines - War vs Peace- you may request them free of charge. You need to know about this critical issue, since War is the Agenda of the U.S. Marshall continues: “Yet I also feel that there are certain qualities, certain liberties, certain precious heritages for which a man should be willing to fight and even dare to die.” Well, there are even today millions who feel this way. I feel this way about the Gospel of Christ.

Jude writes: “Beloved, my whole concern was to write to you in regard to our common salvation. (But) I found it necessary and was impelled to write you and urgently appeal to and exhort (you) to CONTEND FOR THE FAITH...” (Jude 3, Amp Bible) Other translations use words like, “I was constrained”, “I had necessity.” Jude tells us WHY he was constrained, impelled to write his epistle: “For certain men have crept in stealthily... who pervert the grace of our God into lawlessness and wantonness and immorality...” (v.4). This infiltration is still going on in Church, in politics, in the home, in the workplace. No longer is America ruled by the Christian ethic but by the human ethic, i.e. humanism.

Although Peter Marshall was torn between the Spirit of Christ and the spirit of man, he tells his audience that , “I cannot reconcile these two positions; I shall not even try.” As far as the military goes, the Bible plainly tells us that “The weapons of our warfare are not physical (weapons of flesh and blood), but they are mighty before God...” (2 Cor. 10:4 Amp). The New Testament does not even hint about the shedding of blood for “God and country”. America has made this up, period!!! Marshall could not find Scriptures for it either: “I don’t believe there is a reconciliation in this present blundering and bleeding world.” He was by no means a coward—he was a realist.

Friends, it is true, we need heroes, but godly ones. Ones who love the Lord, ones who will, as Jesus did, lay down their lives for their countrymen, friends, even their enemies. Yes! America needs heroes on the battlefields of everyday life... In our houses, in our churches, in our schools/colleges/ universities, in the workplace, even in the military, police, rescue, etc. America has been led astray by ungodly men/ women, betrayed and exploited by both religious and political expediency. America has been dislodged with adultery, sodomy, abortion, lewdness and every kind of immorality, divorce, torn by racial and political hatreds, not withstanding religious hatred. How can America, or any other nation on earth become great when aiding and abetting sin in any manner and size??

We need to RAISE UP THE STANDARD once again, not lower it. We need to STOP changing moral laws to suit the lower standards. A loose morality is like a loose whore. Now we have this GLBTQ filth eating away at the last of the Christian foundations. The continuance of “abortion-on-demand” is literally killing the next generation... with NO let up in sight. America has become a CULTURE OF DEATH!!...reeking with the stench of human blood. Death, and despair stalks every part of this nation.

HEROES/ HEROINES WANTED!!! ...who are not afraid to be different, be “politically incorrect”! We need men, women, boys and girls to live the Christian life in a very pagan atmosphere, surrounded by perversions, porn, and profanity. To HELL with P.C.-ism, even “religious correctness” has become a blight and a mock; today’s Churchites are literally full of ridicule and sarcasm over any sort of Biblical standard and code of conduct. They have great disdain for what one believes to be “Biblically correct”!

God will once again, have his heroes and heroines who will be AGGRESSIVE FOR THE TRUTH... for God’s sake. Amen.