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Tom Vail’s Two Minute Warning 8/30/2023
I am a Bible Believing Christian, and as such, I believe that the Bible contains life lessons which can be interpreted in numerous ways.
Yesterday in church, the Pastor delivered a message based on Daniel Chapter 3. Throughout the sermon, I kept thinking of the parallels between that story thousands of years ago and what is happening in our country today. Both the Biblical text and the Pastor’s commentary made me think of the social and political issues we now face.
I believe that the Bible is the Word of God; that it is both a history and a testimony, but also that it is an example for us to learn from, by seeing and understanding the parallels between what happened 2,000 or 3,000 years ago and today – because while civilization and technology has changed, WE have not changed.
Nobody is building 90 foot tall statues of gold today. But, if you look at that idol as an allegory for what is happening today, you might see that ‘principles’ or narratives are ‘idols’ which we are told that we must respect and that we cannot question (in other words, that we must worship). These ‘idols’ are ‘false gods,’ ideas which we are told to honor: CRT, Marxism, transgenderism, etc.
Again, while nobody is being thrown into a fiery furnace as punishment, there are punishments for resisting the narratives and ‘principles’ that we are told to honor without question. These punishments include censorship, criminal and civil prosecution, and incarceration (for example: General Flynn, Roger Stone, President Trump, the January 6 ‘trespassers’).
In verses 2 and 3, the princes and governors, etc. were called by the King to gather and worship the image. The king, being a monarch (a totalitarian leader), had appointed these princes and governors over the citizens (subjects) because of their loyalty to him, personally, as THE government. They were expected to obey the King in all things, at all times.
Pagans at that time worshipped many things. They believed that there was something greater than themselves, but did not know who or what it was. So, they created gods to represent ideas – the god of fertility, the god of rain, etc. – and they created images, idols, to represent the ideas, and made offerings and prayed to the physical representation of the idea, in the hope that they would receive a ‘blessing.’ In our modern society, our ‘idols’ are simplified, appearing in the form of colored rubber bracelets and bumper stickers and social media filters (and sometimes statues of George Floyd). But, in similarity to ancient ways, people now figuratively bow down to these idols (ideas), or praise them, seeking social acceptance.
In our country, we don’t have a King. But, our Federal Government fills that role, demanding obedience. While our government is not totalitarian like Kings of old, it is trending strongly in that direction.
Nebuchadnezzar demanded that everyone bow down and worship his 90 foot tall idol. In a similar vein, we are told by our government and by our media to respect ‘idols’ in the form of ideas that they propose. In 2020, we were told by our government and our media that as good citizens we must: “flatten the curve,” “wash our hands,” “wear a mask in public,” avoid contact with others, submit to multiple doses of unproven injections, use government recommended treatments, avoid non-government approved treatments, stay away from church meetings, don’t sing in church. In retrospect, MOST people can see that these ideas were FALSE. Yet, at the time, MOST people followed what they were told by government and media. Who stood up to the mandates from our government? Rodney Howard-Browne, Pastor of a church in Tampa was arrested for holding services during the government mandated ‘lockdown.’ Most other churches suspended services or held parking lot services. When they reopened, they typically required masks, limited or prohibited singing, required “social distancing” and recommended no touching.
The conclusion of the Sunday message I heard was that Christians need to Stand Up. But, Stand Up for what? In the Book of Daniel, Daniel, as well as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood up AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT because the government was WRONG. I believe that this is the conclusion we should reach from this section of the Bible.
The Pastor mentioned that he did not like ‘snitches,’ as in verses 8-11. Our government is now seeking snitches to make accusations against anyone who opposed ‘official’ positions – regardless of whether the accusations are true or false. False accusations and a rigged trial is also what happened to Jesus. This is what happens under totalitarian governments.
Our nation was founded on Christian principles. But, as a Nation, we have taken our Christian duty lightly. We have allowed evil and false doctrines to infect our society. We, as Christians, MUST Stand Up firmly and publicly AGAINST the evil in our society and in our government.
