Is the "Cancel Culture" In America Really a New Thing?

          I have been a Christian for 27 years, and during those 27 years, it appears to me that the culture in America is becoming more sinful with the passing of each day. It seems that the “cancel culture” or “WOKE culture” which is so popular in the mainstream media is penetrating every aspect of our lives, as well as in the lives of our children. For example, the new “Barbie” movie, which promotes vulgarity and homosexuality, tries to “normalize” these sins in the eyes of our young girls, while the promotion of homosexuality is also seen in children’s books and T.V. shows.
       Even some of our beloved restaurants are supporting the LGBTQ agenda. At the same time, those who stand against these popular culture items and the sins that they promote are seen as “homophobic” and “too strict” and are not supported by those who support this “cancel culture.”
     Even some Christians will not publicly support other Christians who speak out against sin being displayed in our popular culture for fear of being criticized by those who follow the mindset of the world.  Thankfully, there are still Christians out there trying to shine their lights into this dark world of “wokeness,” no matter what the cost is to their social standing and reputation.  Situations like these make it seem as if we are living in a time that is more perverse and corrupt than any other time in history. However, this is not the case. Perverse and corrupt societies have always been in existence, even in Bible times. The first case of this mentioned in the Bible is in the time of Noah in Genesis chapter 6.
        “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:5-7)
         The world in Noah’s time was so corrupt that only Noah and his 7 other family members were faithful to God. When we compare our world today with the world of Noah, we can most likely think of more than 8 faithful Christians that we of which we alone are aware. We can take comfort in this as well as knowing that there are many more faithful Christians out there in the world that we do not even know about!
         As we can see, the idea of a “cancel culture” that strives to normalize sin is nothing new. Even the prophet Isaiah saw this in the city of Jerusalem during his time. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”(Isaiah 5:20). As we can see from these verses, the promotion of homosexuality and other perverse sins is nothing new.
       Something else that is not new is the trend in today’s American culture is to disregard and/or silence those who speak out against this “cancel culture.” For example, Christians who speak against homosexuality on social media may be attacked verbally in a public way by those who support the “cancel culture.” These attacks are intended to silence the Christian so that the corruption can continue without interruption. We can see in the Bible how various prophets of God, such as Elijah and Jeremiah, were seen as the enemy and beaten and imprisoned for speaking out against the “cancel culture” of their time. Thankfully, most Christians in America do not have to face beatings and death for speaking the Truth. Most of our persecutors will either verbally attack us, give us the “silent treatment,” or give us some variation of these two responses.
       We can take comfort in the fact that we are not living in circumstances unseen by history. Many prophets, and Christians suffered persecution and even death for speaking out against the sinful “cancel culture” of their day, but no one dealt with this more than Jesus Christ. While in infancy, an attempt was made to get rid of Jesus by King Herod who, sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its coasts from two years old and under (Matthew 2:16).
        Once Jesus had grown up and began to meekly reveal Himself as the Son of God, those evil and corrupt factions of the Jews who opposed Jesus tried to “cancel” Him out as well. Their agenda went so far as to have Jesus crucified, which they thought would silence Him forever. However, as all faithful Christians know, Christ gained the real Victory, and paved the way for us to follow His Example by continuing to openly speak out against the “cancel culture” of our time.
​           By fearlessly doing so, we can reach our reward in Heaven in the end! “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)  Let us rejoice in persecution!  Let us support those standing for the Truth!  In so doing, we shall be truly blessed by our Unchanging God!
 
 

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