It is time for our society to acknowledge a sad truth
writes
Dennis Prager in
Townhall:
America is currently fighting its second Civil War.
In fact, with the obvious and enormous exception of attitudes toward
slavery, Americans are more divided morally, ideologically and
politically today than they were during the Civil War. For that reason,
just as the Great War came to be known as World War I once there was
World War II, the Civil War will become known as the First Civil War
when more Americans come to regard the current battle as the Second
Civil War.
This Second Civil War, fortunately, differs in another critically
important way: It has thus far been largely nonviolent. But given
increasing left-wing violence, such as riots, the taking over of college
presidents’ offices and the illegal occupation of state capitols,
nonviolence is not guaranteed to be a permanent characteristic of the
Second Civil War.
There are those on both the left and right who call for American
unity. But these calls are either naive or disingenuous. Unity was
possible between the right and liberals, but not between the right and
the left.
Liberalism — which was anti-left, pro-American and deeply committed
to the Judeo-Christian foundations of America; and which regarded the
melting pot as the American ideal, fought for free speech for its
opponents, regarded Western civilization as the greatest moral and
artistic human achievement and viewed the celebration of racial identity
as racism — is now affirmed almost exclusively on the right and among a
handful of people who don’t call themselves conservative.
The left, however, is opposed to every one of those core principles of liberalism.
Like the left in every other country, the left in America essentially
sees America as a racist, xenophobic, colonialist, imperialist,
warmongering, money-worshipping, moronically religious nation.
Just as in Western Europe, the left in America seeks to erase
America’s Judeo-Christian foundations. The melting pot is regarded as
nothing more than an anti-black, anti-Muslim, anti-Hispanic meme. The
left suppresses free speech wherever possible for those who oppose it,
labeling all non-left speech “hate speech.” To cite only one example, if
you think Shakespeare is the greatest playwright or Bach is the
greatest composer, you are a proponent of dead white European males and
therefore racist.
Without any important value held in common, how can there be unity between left and non-left? Obviously, there cannot.
There will be unity only when the left vanquishes the right or the
right vanquishes the left. Using the First Civil War analogy, American
unity was achieved only after the South was vanquished and slavery was
abolished.
How are those of us who oppose left-wing nihilism — there is no other
word for an ideology that holds Western civilization and America’s core
values in contempt — supposed to unite with “educators” who instruct
elementary school teachers to cease calling their students “boys” and
“girls” because that implies gender identity? With English departments
that don’t require reading Shakespeare in order to receive a degree in
English? With those who regard virtually every war America has fought as
imperialist and immoral? With those who regard the free market as a
form of oppression? With those who want the state to control as much of
American life as possible? With those who repeatedly tell America and
its black minority that the greatest problems afflicting black Americans
are caused by white racism, “white privilege” and “systemic racism”?
With those who think that the nuclear family ideal is inherently
misogynistic and homophobic? With those who hold that Israel is the
villain in the Middle East? With those who claim that the term “Islamic
terrorist” is an expression of religious bigotry?
The third significant difference between the First and Second Civil
Wars is that in the Second Civil war, one side has been doing nearly all
the fighting. That is how it has been able to take over schools — from
elementary schools, to high schools, to universities — and indoctrinate
America’s young people; how it has taken over nearly all the news media;
and how it has taken over entertainment media.
The conservative side has lost on every one of these fronts because
it has rarely fought back with anything near the ferocity with which the
left fights. Name a Republican politician who has run against the left
as opposed to running solely against his or her Democratic opponent. And
nearly all American conservatives, people who are proud of America and
affirm its basic tenets, readily send their children to schools that
indoctrinate their children against everything the parents hold
precious. A mere handful protest when their child’s teacher ceases
calling their son a boy or their daughter a girl, or makes “slave owner”
the defining characteristic of the Founding Fathers.
With the defeat of the left in the last presidential election, the
defeat of the left in two-thirds of the gubernatorial elections and the
defeat of the left in a majority of House and Senate elections, this is
likely the last chance liberals, conservatives and the right have to
defeat the American left. But it will not happen until these groups
understand that we are fighting for the survival of America no less than
the Union troops were in the First Civil War.
Update: The Prager article was mentioned by
Newt Gingrich in a TV interview
