In recent weeks, we have witnessed a rising frequency of complaints of sexual indecency against prominent people, mostly male. For most of us, this began with the eruption of allegations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein, but since then there seem to be new people being thrust into the spotlight more and more often. It can be hard to practice the American principle of "innocent until proven guilty" in the cases of Weinstein and others involved in movie production and entertainment in general, since "Hollywood" immorality has been a matter of legend for years. The unveiling in 2016's Presidential campaign of the "Access Hollywood" video made by Billy Bush of now-President Trump making unwise comments about how easy he perceived it to be to get drawn into self-gratifying touching or groping of others certainly made it a major issue. The more I have learned about President Trump's personal life, although on one hand it made it impossible to say Billy Bush had plied him with drinks on the bus, because he has long-standing policies against drinking because of his late brother's issues with it, on the other hand it reinforced my view of the extreme irony that after repeated criticism of "all talk, no action" politicians, "all talk and no action" became his line of defense there. I still believe that because of his involvement with the entertainment world doing "The Apprentice" and "Celebrity Apprentice" his analytical instincts could not help observing and processing what went on around him or was discussed in conversations. It was not the first time he got involved in a field of business other than building and managing real estate because the two fields had intersected. He got involved in casinos because he had built hotels, but other businessmen later commended his wisdom in recognizing it was a financial morass and declaring bankruptcy in certain business entities, (never personally), to get out of it when he did. Perhaps he should have gotten out of television production sooner also. Although I do not believe what he said indicates he was drawn into doing what he had talked about, he was beginning to recognize the Jupiter-like downward pull being exerted. Long before this happened, it was the custom of many professing Christians to stay away from movie theaters because they were taught it would lend financial support to an immoral business. Cecil B. DeMille made his blockbuster hit film, "The Ten Commandments," partly to counteract widespread criticism of another film he had made shortly before, called "Man and Woman." (He certainly was able to depict convincing excerpts of the Israelites' descent into debauchery about the Golden Calf when Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai and they decided to practice idolatry.) The resounding success of "The Ten Commandments" then and afterwards as a perceived reinforcement of Christian faith probably is also a major illustration of Romans 8:28, that God works all things together for the good of those who love God. Even some very unpredictable things. As a Christian man, and even before I had any interest in Biblical Christianity, I never believed men should touch women improperly or make unwanted sexual advances. This makes it too easy to sit back and say, "Well, well, well, they had it coming." Like the devastating wildfires that recently plagued California the currently developing "fire" of indignation about "sexual harassment" and similar conduct is going to spread far beyond its origins and cause out-of-control and out-of-proportion destruction. It may turn out to be the Left's counterpart of the "Red Scare" that brought Senator McCarthy to fame and left many careers in ruins. Similar behavior already appears to be happening: mass abandonment of the person accused, with public statements to distance oneself as far as possible, immediate removal from films or other projects, and so on. After making the evils of "McCarthyism" a decades-long rallying cry of the liberal movement nationwide, the Left may be about to trump Trump with their irony. They may have done so already. The fervent enforcement of "political correctness" in recent years by those in the movement which so long asserted, "You can't legislate morality," has only proven that government will always tend to seek enforcement of what it defines as morality. "Political correctness" regarding practices and lifestyles amounts to declaring all criticism of them "immoral," and seeking to legislate that "morality." The definition may have changed but the tendencies of those in power have not. It hardly seems irrational or illogical, therefore, to anticipate this latest movement becoming a parallel of McCarthy's. As Christians, we ought to pray for our nation that God exercises restraint and protects innocent individuals. Like certain people weathered the wildfires by hiding in swimming pools, God can work preservation in unlikely circumstances. I think there is clearly political planning behind the developing trend and I don't think that planning has heavenly direction. Our nation is always in need of our prayers, as much now as ever. Especially for the protection of our sacred principle of presuming innocence. Many countries in this world, and some people in this country, both Left and Right, consider it a nuisance and would like to help drown it. Pray that they don't.
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