As a child growing up in South Africa, National Geographic magazine was not just something to pick up idly in the dentist’s waiting room. It was a monthly magic carpet ride that enchanted me so much that a subscription bringing that familiar yellow cover to our mailbox each month was one of my favorite birthday presents.
It wasn’t only the spectacular photography of faraway places, it was also the advertisements. In my mind’s eye, I still clearly see that rapturous red 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air. There were intoxicating ads for cameras carrying names like Leica and Haselblad that I could but dream about. There were pictures of housewives in American kitchens that I gazed at in wonder.
Mostly, however, the magazine sparked my life-long love for travel and appreciation of scientific exploration. It taught me that wherever in this big, colorful world they were, humans want pretty much the same things. From icy landscapes to the Sahara Desert, from mountain top communities to valley villages, people try to build families and make it possible for their families to thrive.
I haven’t looked at the magazine for years now, so I was quite shocked by a recent issue of National Geographic. Its cover carried a picture of a boy dressed to look like a girl and bellowed out GENDER REVOLUTION. Huh? In National Geographic? Really?
I know of course that, prodded by secular fundamentalists in academia, politics and entertainment, American culture is trying to indoctrinate us into accepting that gender is of no significance. But why is joining this nonsensical crusade important enough for NatGeo to risk destroying a 125 year legacy?
The colossal cultural canyon cutting across this country divides those who believe the Bible is God’s Message to mankind from those who believe it to be no more than a repressive anachronism. Those who soothingly concede it to be a ‘literary masterpiece’ are actually on the latter side of the debate. Since the Bible is best defined as God’s depiction of how the world REALLY works, the debate underpinning nearly all political and cultural arguments can be defined this way. One side believes that there is a reality that includes many unchangeables, immutably implanted in human nature, while the other side insists that all can be changed.
Naturally, for the secular fundamentalist, if God is not the Ultimate Power, then human beings must be. Furthermore, anything the Bible decrees, is by definition wrong if not actually evil. This helps explain seeming paradoxes such as that most people who oppose the death penalty also support abortion. The explanation is simple; the Bible supports capital punishment and opposes abortion.
The irrational cultural fury against smoking is explained by the desire to demonstrate moral virtue by discovering a secular sin. The Bible prohibits suicide and discourages all activities that damage the body though it does not explicitly prohibit smoking. Not surprisingly, a secular fundamentalist culture encourages euthanasia (or assisted suicide), but fiercely fights tobacco.
Rejection of reality is a paramount characteristic of the belief system that I call secular fundamentalism. Anyone with eyes in their head (and without an advanced degree) knows that the nuclear family unit works best. Not only does it produce the best children and future citizens but it promotes societal stability and prosperity. But the Bible advocates for the basic unit of society to be a man and woman united in monogamous marriage along with the children they raise. Therefore, the obvious position for secular fundamentalism to adopt is implacable hostility toward the traditional family.
Again, most people whose souls haven’t been scarred by six or seven years in a university know that all of history but particularly the recent 20th century proves that large government running a centrally controlled economy doesn’t work. But secular fundamentalism routinely rejects reality. What is more, the Bible teaches a system of religious morality informing a free market system of what I call ethical capitalism. Thus it is inescapable that a secular fundamentalist culture must promote a progressive agenda tending to socialism.
Finally, and most importantly, the Bible entirely ignores skin color as a distinction between humans but no more than only three hundred words into its total of nearly half a million words, it unequivocally establishes male and female genders as the fundamental difference in humans. Male and female He created them. Naturally, secular fundamentalism has to take the opposite position. Defiantly screaming “Gender Revolution” is secular fundamentalism’s response to the Biblical, “Whoever is for the Lord, come with me” (Exodus 32:26)
Thank you National Geographic. You always teach me something. While you were still faithful to your original stated mission, “to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,” you taught me about world geography. Now that you have abandoned that mission in the hope of being admired by the world of secular fundamentalism, your recent issue helps me understand that almost all of so-called modern culture is based on rejection of the Bible and its values.
This means that much of modern culture is based on rejection of reality. Succumbing to this culture of secular fundamentalism that permeates almost every corner of our environment can disconnect us from our instinctive tie to reality. This will almost certainly inflict real damage upon our relationships and upon our finances. Meanwhile, a reliable anchor to reality remains the Bible. The more of it we absorb and the more clearly we grasp its inner meaning, the more firmly will be our link to reality and the more reliable and effective will be our actions and pronouncements.
Thanks Peter B–
your letter gives much food for thought as yours usually do. They do want to control us. Power is an aphrodisiac
Cordially
RDL
Hi my Rabbi:
This week’s Though Tools is a timely post, especially with the recent exposure to the light of day of so much of the main stream media as outlets of what a quite notable political figure has characterized as “fake news”.
I’ve been a National Geographic Magazine subscriber for so long that if I mention the number of years, my credibility with younger people may take a hit. I do try to find time to peruse every issue that arrives and at least enjoy the spectacular photography.
In my view, Nat Geo Magazine has always been an organ for the promotion of Darwinian evolution and as such, has been and remains the secular fundamentalist’s response to “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1) as well as to the rest of the first three chapters of the Bible’s book of Genesis.
With the passion of the convert, former man of the Left and playwright David Mamet says that the very purpose of establishing a newspaper or journal is for the promotion of one’s political point of view. Assuming that he is correct (and I’ve come to believe he is), I submit the following as Exhibit A in support of Mr. Mamet’s assertion:
“… But the victory of Darwinism was not by reason alone. It was the result of a well-planned intellectual and social revolution. As biographer Janet Browne notes, in the decades following the publication of On the Origen of Species,
Darwin’s defenders came to occupy influential niches in British and American intellectual life. Together, these men would also control the scientific media of the day, especially the important journals, and channel their other writings through a series of carefully chosen publishers – Murray, Macmillan, Youmans, and Appleton. Towards the end they were everywhere, in the Houses of Parliament, the Anglican Church, the universities, government offices, colonial service, the aristocracy, the navy, the law, and medical practice; in Britain and overseas. As a group that worked as a group, they were impressive. Their ascendancy proved decisive, both for themselves and for Darwin,
The strategy was largely defined very early by that small band of revolutionaries who were determined to make Darwin’s theory orthodoxy – Darwin himself, Hooker, Lyell, Huxley, and Gray. Huxley and several other devotees even started the “X Club”, something like Erasmus Darwin’s Lunarians, but devoted entirely to the task of dissemination of evolutionary theory. The strategy paid off as the circle widened, and soon pressure could be exerted from the top down, once scientific societies, publishers, universities, and journals were commandeered. (In fact, the prestigious journal Nature was founded in 1869 as an organ for disseminating Darwin’s thought.) Opponents were locked out, ignored, and mocked. As Browne reveals, Darwin made his contributions from behind the scenes, letting his more forceful proponents do the direct work of takeover. And such efforts were not confined to Britain. Darwin used Asa Gray at Harvard to help take America, and Darwin himself saw to the translation of the Origin into German and French, and urged his contacts on the continent to help spread his theory.”
– From The Darwin Myth, by Benjamin Wiker, Ph.D. pp. 104-105
Harvard University Botanist Asa Gray helped Charles Darwin establish an intellectual beachhead in America around the year 1869. Perhaps not coincidentally, National Geographic Society was founded in 1888 by a then 65 year old Boston native Gardiner Green Hubbard, Harvard Law graduate (1843) and later Cambridge Massachusetts resident. Hubbard was a hugely influential man in 19th century America, having organized the Bell Telephone Company in 1877 with himself the president – as well as Alexander Graham Bell’s father-in-law.
You, Rabbi Lapin, have taught us (I speak of we, your congregation) the following truth:
“Politics is nothing less than the practical application of our most deeply held values system.”
With the religion that is secular fundamentalism, the myth of Darwinian evolution is a key article of faith. Upon this false foundation stand so many more myths – like that of Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming, or perhaps its more recent iteration Climate Change (a necessary modification in nomenclature since there’s been no measurable global warming since 1998).
In the end, it’s not so much about evolution, climate change, or the gender revolution. Just like with gun control, it’s less about guns and more about control. Ultimately, it’s all about control. The goal of the Left is a government-run country (and world) while that of the Right the freedom of the individual from government.
And the essence of the impetus for this “colossal cultural canyon cutting across this country” (love that, btw) has never been explained more artfully and more cogently, than by you, our rabbi, in your essential two CD set titled “Tower of Power, Decoding the Secrets of Babel”.
As regards the Jonestown cult this is today’s secular fundamentalism, I’ll close by sharing a quote from an article posted on Frontpage Magazine in January of this year:
“Hatred is their lifeblood and has been since the French Revolution. Hate is the Left’s political homeland and it’s reason for being. For the Left, hate is a mass movement. Left hate groups swim successfully in the American main stream, posturing as idealists and protectors of the down trodden while spewing hate.”
Strong words, but words that resonate with reality.
Thank you and Susan for all that you do.
What about the make or female born with the parts of the opposite gender. Like Hermophradites. Then, doctors have chosen to change them to what they thought they should be as an infant. They really struggle. Your thoughts?
Dear Sheri-
the percentage of births that are hermaphrodite or androgynous is microscopically small, and while the tiny number of individuals thus effected should have whatever medical treatment that will best alleviate their condition, their cases cannot be used to normalize faddish medical deformation.
Cordially
RDL
Dear Robin–
…and to bring that hope to fruition, here’s one idea. Strive not to show your age especially with people you hope to influence, like your children or perhaps grandchildren. The image of the old-timer warning of impending doom is so common as to have become cliched and younger folks routinely dismiss it with a knowing grin. Keep shocking them with how up to date you are and they’ll be inclined to take your views and perhaps even your warnings just a little more seriously.
That way you and yours can included in the remnant.
Cordially
RDL
Shalom Rabbi, thank you for the badly needed message in this post. Right on!
Perhaps you can post something on how this can be done–sharing God’s (always relevelant and simple) wisdom with younger generations.
Dear Robin–
Sure, but I can’t say it much better than ‘ole Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra
Don’t you know that it’s worth
Every treasure on earth to be young at heart
For as rich as you are
It’s much better by far to be young at heart
Cordially
RDL
Dear Rabbi and Susan:
I can understand your feelings about the implosion of ‘gender revolution’. I have watched the decline of the nuclear family and Judeo/Christian ethics in my lifetime. My own adult children struggle with taking a stance on gender and sexual issues. Millennials and now Generation Z seem to shun boundaries, identification, healthy relationships and genuine intimacy. It seems the mindset is “I am my own authority”. In the seventies (yes, I’m showing my age-lol), the Temptations recorded a song “Ball of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today)”. This proverial ‘ball’ has continued to grow in epic proportions–just ‘as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah’. The hope is God has promised there will always be a remnant that has not bowed to ‘secular fundamentalism’– and continue to be the voice ‘crying in the wilderness’.
Robin, I had to laugh because I saw your comment just after finishing my most recent Musing – a positive look at Generation Z! Read it here: https://rabbidaniellapin.com/three-cheers-for-generation-z/
As usual, Rabbi Lapin, you are spot on! When I saw the NG cover (online), I was completely repulsed…Not by the person, but by the fact that NG is pushing the SF (and LGBTQxyz) agenda. It seems that no matter where I turn these days, there it is. Shoved in my face yet again. Even the Hallmark (cards) channel was pushing the agenda in their Valentine’s Day commercials!
And then there was the Katie Couric “special” that was aired a couple of weeks ago on NatGeo – again pushing the agenda (and NG even re-aired it… either because the ratings were so low, or because people were asking for it. I don’t know which, although I hope the former.)
I tell people: “In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve – not Adam and Everett”. Most don’t like to hear that. LOL
I love your teachings, Rabbi! I wish you had time to de-code all of the Torah! 😉
Best regards,
Judi Gad
Thanks Judi–
we’re working on it, we’re working. Hope you occasionally hear the podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/rabbi-daniel-lapin-show
Cordially
RDL
Just the other night while doing dishes I was pondering a movie our family watched, Priceless, based on a true story of human trafficking. In this movie it brought out how very real and how very sad it is, especially for the woman trapped in it. A very good story line brought out the basic realities of corruption, violence, hopelessness and the sad concept of the buying and selling of woman as property. The short of it is that in the end- the main characters marry and work together to rescue young ladies trapped in this slavery with one simple message- that they are priceless. Back to the dishes….I thought why is this movie not acclaimed from the roof tops? So very powerful with the only true answer for this despicable thing. Then I thought of the secular humanists who would naturally sympathize with this plight but stop dead short of endorsing this movie because they would have to accept that the woman are priceless…meaning their value is from God, supernatural. The reality of this will swamp their canoe.
Exactly George–
and I particularly like your metaphor about the canoe. Exactly. Same thing with trying to get the Secular Fundies to condemn violent Moslems. They can’t do it. Again, it would inundate their canoes with very filthy bilge-water. Ugh! I think I may have tried to improve on an already adequate metaphor. Didn’t work very well. Neither does the religion of Secular Fundamentalism.
Cordially
RDL
Dear Rabbi,
So glad I found you and Susan. I listen to your teachings and have purchased most of your books and CD’s. I would love to be a part of your congregation, but I live in MS.
Blessings to you both and thank you for sharing your godly wisdom.
Warmest regards,
Elise Green
Hello Elise–
How DID you find us Thanks for your friendship and support. You ARE a part of our congregation–we don’t have a bricks and mortar synagogue–this is it!! And you’re right here. Happily.
Cordially
RDL
Dear Rabbi,
I really cannot remember how I came across you, but i’ve been listening to you for aprroximately a year and a half, maybe longer. Anyway, I feel like you and Susan are old friends. Maybe one day I will meet you in person. Until then I’ll continue to tune-in, read your post, buy your products and tell family and friends about your “Ancient Jewish Wisdom”.
Warmly,
Elise
Secular fundamentalism as a philosophy needing to be exactly opposite the truths revealed through scripture…Wow, my mind exploded with the possibilities this morning. Thank you Rabbi for your insights. You have given my brain a workout – from socialism (governmental theft) to public education as a surrogate parent. This explains so very much.
Hello Judy–
SF is not only a philosophy–it’s more! It’s a religion! And it treats heretics considerably more severely than the Medieval Catholic church did.
Do you ever listen to the podcast show? If you enjoy the sensation of mind-explosion, you’ll love it. Try it here: https://soundcloud.com/rabbi-daniel-lapin-show
Cordially
RDL
Dear Rabbi Lapin, thank you for making it so clear. When I don’t understand the “contradictory” secular positions , it IS all explained by the simple fact that they are going against the Word. So obvious but I missed it. Thank you so much!
Dear Julie–
Susan and I love providing the road-map to how the world REALLY works and we love hearing from folks who ‘get it’. Thanks for writing.
Cordially
RDL
I have your The Gathering Storm: Decoding the Secrets of Noah, and also several other of you audios.
It is fascinating.
Fascinating is all very well, dear Lenore,
And fascinating is relatively easy. But is it also useful? Does it add value to your life? Those are the targets for which we aim.
Cordially
RDL
I thank God so much for leaders such as yourself, that stand up for what is right according to God and His word. It leads us in the right direction and gives us the courage to stand with you. I agree with every point that you made and believe it with every fiber of my being. Thank you.
Dear Rebecca–
Thanks for writing–we feel privileged to add to the store of courage among the faithful.
Cordially
RDL
Hello Dear Lyudmila–
Yes, I know what you mean; I feel close to those who read our words or watch our show and write to us; though we haven’t met, it doesn’t matter. We share a commonality which gives us genuine rapport.
My father once hired a rabbi to teach me. He knew no English and at the time I knew no other language. When this rabbi protested that he couldn’t speak English my father said to him, “If you know your stuff well enough, you’ll be able to explain it to my son regardless of language difficulties.” You know what? He was right. This rabbi taught me Bible and also taught me his language. We became fast friends. You take care
Cordially
RDL
As always, clear and simple. My grandma used to say: If you understand the concept really well, you should be able to explain it to a 5 year old. I’m always amazed how you, Rabbi Lapin, can explain complex and somewhat convoluted issues, clearly, logically, simple. Thank you for that!
I can’t stress enough how essential your teachings are to me. You are my rabbi and a very close friend – that’s how I feel about you, despite the fact that we’ve never met personally. Sincerely.
Great Post!
Thanks Jesse–
regards to your family please.
Cordially
RDL
Thanks Rabbi Lapin – Love your work!
Hello RC from Australia–
Much appreciated. I hope you occasionally (regularly 🙂 ) get to hear the podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/rabbi-daniel-lapin-show
Cordially
RDL
As a Professional Fraud investigator/Trainer I always tell students who sniff the hint of a lie to always look to the speed of the action which follows the lie.
The Speed with which “secular fundamentalists” went after Children, and their core conception of themselves (their natural gender) tells you that the “secular fundamentalists” are not about trans-peoples rights (I genuinely feel sorry for trans people and hope they find truth, health and happiness) .
Their use of Children tells you that their goal is “something else” and truly evil.
Excellent observation RC from Australia–
I hadn’t thought of that. Sounds very true.
Thanks!
Cordially
RDL