Social Construct

Inaugurating a new President is an American moment, but we are more “pluribus” than “unum.” Even the joint session of Congress to ratify the Electoral College results was contentious, with V.P. Biden gaveling the session closed with, “It’s over.”  But sharp differences remain.  How often have you thought, “How do those people even think like that?”  The answer is what’s behind those thoughts, even if the thinker is unaware.

The Declaration of Independence uses “created equal,” “endowed,” “unalienable rights,” and “laws of nature,” coinciding with a worldview that “all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Col. 1:16-17).  The founders understood the created order, self-evident truths, and natural law.  They and we can hold these truths and demand freedom without establishing a theocracy.

Since the tower of Babel, another worldview has seen man as building a new humanity of his own liking, with no need of the transcendent. This has become the modern philosophy of social constructionism.  This means that “we all take part in constructing the reality we share in our own society.  In other words, reality is not given us by nature.  There is no such thing as a creation order,” as explained by Os Guinness in “Impossible People.”  We make our own rules, and devise our own identity.  We are alone in the universe, so we can choose what matters.  What was once moral or true is just a social construct, and meaningless for today.

Worldview filters answers to: Does gender trump biology?  Can an unborn human have no value while the unborn of endangered species are protected?  Should unborn human parts be extracted, sold, and used for medical research and the survival of the fittest?  Will the responsibilities of family, church, and neighbors be shifted to government as provider and healer?  Are nations and marriage social constructs – no boundaries?  Is the environment god as per Nietzsche, “To sin against the earth, that is now the most monstrous crime of all”?  Should climate science remain open to sincere inquiry?  Should the Supreme Court shape our laws to the cultural mood?

We “think like that” because our worldviews filter how we perceive reality, including politics. Understand and settle your own worldview, and then you may understand your neighbor better.  As for our country, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”  The answer, “In the Lord I take refuge…the Lord is in His holy temple.” (Psa. 11)  May the Lord lead us His Way, teach us His Truth, and give us His Life.