The State vs. The Family

The rise of secularism has created a serious problem in the West. Europe and America were founded as Christian societies. This meant God was the supreme ruler of society, the family was the cornerstone, and the state was subservient to both. The goal of the state was to uphold civil justice, primarily through protecting life, liberty, and property. 

Sadly, secularism has undermined all of this. Secularism has sought to oust God from the public sphere (and hence from all of life), and has thus been forced to find a new god. Secularism has found such in the state. The modern state has become the ruler of all. Whatever the state says is right, and it is guided by almighty democracy—the will of the people! The modern conception of the state is one of Messiah. The state is there to solve all our problems and save us from our ills. Enter the Welfare State. The state helps the poor by providing them with schools, healthcare, and financial assistance. But it has not stopped there. Citizens cannot be trusted to save for their own retirement, so the government will force them to save through Social Security. Such programs keep expanding, and there is a continued demand by secularists for more programs—government daycare, universal healthcare, and "free" college. 

The Totalitarian Monster

The all-encompassing nature of the modern state is the natural result of a secular society. Once a people has abandoned God and His way set down in His Word, there is only one outcome—idolatry. But today we are too smart for gross idolatry. We are much too “educated” to set up statues of idols. So instead we turn to more tangible things. We worship at the alter of civil government.  

The problem is that the state today has become a totalitarian monster. As the god of our day, it demands that everything and everyone bow down before it. Thus the state has usurped both the church and the family. The church is still allowed to exist, but it must be relegated to the private sphere. Do not dare to speak of the old religion in school or in public. And while you used to give your money to charity voluntarily, you will now give by compulsion at the state’s command. You retained too much of what you earned back then. Now the state will take it from you and direct it to better causes—government programs.

But most of the state’s damage has been done in the sphere of the family. Parents are no longer regarded as the real authorities over their children. The state is. For the past 150 years in America, the state has been taking children from their parents from age 5 to 18 for 30 hours per week in order to train them and "socialize" them as citizens. The state teaches them how to think and behave in society, like fathers used to do. And don’t worry if both parents work, the state will now provide childcare while mothers go off and do more important things. Women no longer need to be dependent on husbands like they used to. Today, they no longer even need to marry. They can have children and hand them off to state daycares and schools. Mothers can enter the workplace, and if they have trouble making it, the state will provide for them. The state will be their husband and a father to their children. 

Rescuing Civilization

The scary thing is that those who ascribe to such statism actually believe it helps people—all the while it destroys civilization. Statism rots civilization from the inside by creating dependent rather than independent citizens. What we are witnessing is not "progress." It is regress of this worst kind. It is not just a return to pre-Christian days; it is a rejection of the light in favor of the darkness. The West is therefore in a far worse state than ever before. Our families are broken, destitute, and dependent on the state. Only the God of old can rescue us now.