The Coming Battle for America’s Soul
[Editor’s Note: I wrote the following post on social media, and it was picked up by Tim Stratton at FreeThinkingMinistries.com. The opening section, below, has been added to clarify how this kind of political commentary bears upon Christian theology and apologetics.]
A Brief Theology of Politics
You’re about to hear a rant on Democratic Socialism. So, I want you to hear the heart behind that rant first. As a Christian, I care about people. Caring about people, I have to care about politics, at least insofar as it affects people.
I want people to follow Christ. I want to see marriages restored, families healed, within thriving communities, and a flourishing society. All of that, for me, stems from the humanitarian heart of Christ’s life and teaching.
And bringing my Christian faith to political questions, I tend to favor conservative politics because I understand humanity in light of Biblical teaching, including the image of God, stewardship, the fall of man, total depravity, etc. My faith in God leaves no room, nor need, for my religious commitment to latch onto a political party or the current candidate.
I expect all political parties on earth to be flawed, some more than others. And no earthly answers in the political realm will be perfect, complete, or immune to corruption. Yet, as we long for Christ’s return and the day when all wrongs will be made right, we still live in the meantime in a fallen world.
So, when I weigh in on political issues, I can’t naively assume that everyone is basically good, or that equal distribution would solve the world’s problems, or that bigger and bigger government is a safe, smart direction for society. Yet I still want real answers to society’s problems. Virtue signals and sloganeering aren’t enough. We still must make the most of our days till Christ returns. So, I have to care about politics. Christian conscience compels it.
A Storm is Brewing
With that said, I believe America is on the verge of a major political realignment. Over the next two election cycles, I expect a significant push toward democratic socialism.
People are generally pretty ignorant about Marxism and capitalism both. People are also pretty reactionary and emotionally biased, and pseudo-informed. And that’s a dangerous combination.
The masses are devolving into animalistic mobs, outsourcing their thinking, bypassing discernment, and swallowing-whole anything packed into their preferred feedback loops. It’s like watching Tolkien’s Elves devolving into Orks in real time.
The Perfect Storm
We’ve had (1) at least three years of constant, well-financed misinformation feeding on the Gaza war, (2) twelve years of Trump derangement syndrome (some of which is legitimately Trump’s fault). Then (3) Mayor Mamdani’s win in New York proved that concentrated political spending can turn blue cities socialist, at least for an election cycle. Cap that all off with (4) Charlie Kirk’s assassination leaving a void where the unifying heart of the republican party and conservative movement used to be.
The Left can smell blood in the water
With Trump’s win in 2024, the right had an opportunity to tame/banish its own political demons and get their spiritual house in order. But most of the revivalism since last October fizzled as pseudo-right-wing opportunists interrupted the church invitation call to pillage Charlie’s wake: Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, and Nick Fuentes, to name a few.
And that brings us to the deeper problem—not simply what the Left is doing, but what the Right has failed to become.
Blame the Jews!
Tangled in with them is a conspiracy-driven “everything is Israel’s fault” bot army, the Tucker PAC third-way schism, and the woke right groypers. Together they’ve created enough disunity and confusion that the right will struggle to capitalize on the ideological weakness of the Left. By “weakness” I mean that most democrats aren’t sold on Marxism, even though they can be coaxed into voting Marxist as long as they don’t understand Marxism or capitalism very well, and as long as they’re concerned enough about threats on the right, whether genuine or illusory. People can politically unify against something fearsome or loathsome like white nationalist theocracy or “Orange-man Bad”, even if that unity doesn’t offer any real solutions or workable policies.
In recent days, Tucker Carlson’s departure from the Republican Party is a slow-motion crash-out as predictable as a telenovela. He has even discussed owning a home in Qatar, which critics speculate could serve as an exit should his legal exposure swell into federal charges (conspiracy or treason). Meanwhile, he seems to think he’ll be a major player in some third-way schism group. Time will tell if he can maintain enough of a fan base and enough influence to avoid becoming just another punch line by the next election cycle.
The Conservative Civil War
The Republican Party right now is acting a lot like a trailer park riot. Gossip, outrage, insults, and accusations are replacing serious argument, careful reading, and principled debate. Reactionary mob mentality is devouring our critical thinking like a junkyard dog eating your master’s thesis.
While we’re wrestling through a WWE-style family feud on the right, there’s a serious storm brewing on the left. There is big money and big influence at the intersection where the Democratic socialists and the Islamists are aligned against the right.
The right is wrestling for its identity against “jew-blaming” conspiracists, an online army of Hitlerian trolls, theocratic ideologues, and a general lack of principled conservative thought among their base. That identity crisis was submerged from 2016-2024, while the party was able to superficially unite against progressive woke overreach. It was not, however, united on independent conservative principles. In the last two years, we weren’t really able to leverage that reactionary agreement to create principled unity. The political right has numbers but no unity. It has power potential, but it’s still unplugged. A wasted opportunity.
The Missing Foundation
Most Republicans cannot clearly explain the philosophical ideas that distinguish conservatism from progressivism, capitalism from Marxism, constitutional government from populism, or Christian conservatism from libertarianism. That intellectual vacuum is dangerous.
In that worldview-void lurks a structural weakness setting up the Republican Party for big losses in the next 4 years. We’re liable to see a wave of democratic socialists, enough to shift the identity of the left from “progressive” to “Marxist.” In the same way that we’re having to resurrect 100-year-old rebuttals to ancient antisemitic blood libels debunked in the1920’s, we likewise need to resurrect 100-year-old responses to Marxist tropes.
The Battle of Ideas
The next political battle will not be won primarily with personalities, podcasts, or viral clips. It will be won or lost in the battle of ideas. If Americans cannot explain exactly why we need limited government, free markets, private property, individual responsibility, healthy families, strong churches, and voluntary charity to produce human flourishing, then others will gladly fill that intellectual vacuum with empty promises, state control, and centralized power. That battle of ideas has already begun.
Stay frosty, my friends, and brace for impact.
Recommended Resources:
Correct not Politically Correct: About Same-Sex Marriage and Transgenderism by Frank Turek (Book, MP4, )[Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]Stealing From God by Dr. Frank Turek (Book, 10-Part DVD Set, STUDENT Study Guide, TEACHER Study Guide)
Legislating Morality: Is it Wise? Is it Legal? Is it Possible? by Frank Turek (Book, DVD, Mp3, Mp4, PowerPoint download, PowerPoint CD)
The Case for Christian Activism (MP3 Set), (DVD Set), and (mp4 Download Set) by Frank Turek
You Can’t NOT Legislate Morality mp3 by Frank Turek
Dr. John D. Ferrer is a speaker and content creator with Crossexamined. He’s also a graduate from the very first class of Crossexamined Instructors Academy. Having earned degrees from Southern Evangelical Seminary (MDiv) and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (ThM, PhD), he’s now active in the pro-life community and in his home church in Pella Iowa. When he’s not helping his wife Hillary Ferrer with her ministry Mama Bear Apologetics, you can usually find John writing, researching, and teaching cultural apologetics.
A version of this blog was originally posted at: https://bit.ly/3Td2G1G
