Give me that Old-Time Religion

In 2016, Ann Coulter described Trump the candidate as “the only one who will save the last Christian country on earth.” Her description of the US was right, but that’s not the whole story.

If you are reading this site, I don’t have to tell you that the South, though not politically independent, is a nation in the sense of being a distinct people – a nation within a nation, with many characteristics that differentiate us from the rest of the country. One of those characteristics is our tenacious hold on the Christian faith. God’s people exist all over the world, but the Southern Nation is the largest Western entity for whom strong Christian faith is still a defining characteristic.

I make no claim to be a prophet, but I have long believed that God preserved the Southern Nation for a purpose. Unlike the rest of America, we have suffered the trials of defeat, occupation and rule by a hostile government, and generations of severe poverty. From this, I believed, we have developed a deep appreciation for the importance of having riches stored in heaven, rather than earth. We know from the Bible, and probably from personal experience, that God sometimes gives individuals and peoples trials to prepare them for a greater purpose.

I’m not the first to point out that the question “Is the Pope Catholic?” is no longer rhetorical, and this site has addressed whether the leader of the Southern Baptist Convention represents actual Southern Baptists. Our religious institutions continue to shed members, despite attempts to adapt to the changing culture. A lapsed Catholic friend remarked to me recently, “If they aren’t going to stand by the Word, what’s the point?” Indeed. Myself a Protestant, I have changed denominations several times in recent years, disappointed each time another institution has chosen social acceptability over faithfulness to God’s word.

The Southern Baptist Church, one of the last holdouts to “progress,” has in recent years been going this same direction. We must disavow the modern, bureaucracy-controlled, money-driven church. It is time for a revival of authentic, bold, truthful and masculine Christianity.

Southern Christian men must stand up for that which they know to be true and right. It is no exaggeration to say that the future of the West depends on it.