Civil War?

There is open talk of civil war in America. The Washington Examiner last week published results of a poll showing 61 percent of Americans say the U.S. is on the verge of a civil war, and 52 percent of respondents said they’re taking steps to prepare for one. Why is this happening?

Dr. John MacArthur, one of America’s most well-known pastors and an expert in biblical exposition, penned an op-ed piece for “The Daily Wire” last week in which he basically echoed what I wrote in these pages on September 9th when I referenced Romans 1:18-32 in the Bible, which points to a series of progressive events that inevitably lead to the downfall of a society or culture. Read the passage yourself and you’ll see America in it. This year’s election will decide which of two philosophies of government America will have – the one we need or the one we deserve. The two have become incompatible. That’s the tinder.

We’re not a democracy. America is a representative republic designed to operate with democratic underpinnings. To function, various factions and ideologies must debate in the public arena, attempt to persuade the opposition, be willing to compromise in order to arrive at solutions, and graciously accept defeat as a means of learning how to improve arguments the next time around. But this system is doomed when a significant number of those participating don’t know how to lose (participation trophy generation), cannot deal with disappointment (to feel good is a right), cannot accept personal failure (self-esteem is paramount) and won’t tolerate even the existence of dissenting opinion. When people can no longer agree to disagree, violence results. That’s the spark. And just one disgruntled person with enough resources, triggered by the right circumstances, could turn the spark into an inferno.

Unlike our first civil war, the next one won’t involve groups nicely lining up in colored uniforms to shoot at one another. It will be an insurgency. Nor will there be defined boundaries outlining respective territories. The Transition Integrity Project war-gamed one scenario in which Washington, Oregon and California (Cascadia) move to secede from the Union if President Trump is re-elected. Some might be tempted to say, “please God, let them,” but such talk is short-sighted.

The U.S. interior relies on the West Coast for fruit, vegetables, timber, technology (Amazon, Microsoft, etc.), and more. The West Coast relies on the interior for meat, dairy, poultry, energy and manufacturing. If the U.S. disowns Cascadia, those states will have to form their own military, treaties, trade deals, economies and currencies. Get real, folks, that won’t happen.

But of great concern is how the international community will respond to armed conflict inside America’s borders. Plan on China invading Taiwan. Watch Russia move against Eastern Europe. And the Middle East would explode when extremists, no longer concerned about American intervention, unleash new conquests.

And talk of Red States being better armed, thereby able to annihilate Blue State raiders might make for a good action movie, but isn’t helpful. No, the single best thing we can do to ensure a favorable outcome to America’s next civil war is pray we don’t have one.